Epidemiological and clinical profiles of children with COVID-19 in Lomé

Abstract

Objective: Description of the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic characteristics in children with COVID-19 in Lomé. Design: This was a retrospective study from March 6 to June 13, 2020, 3 months after the first case report in Togo.This study was conducted at the CHR Lomé-commune, a COVID-19 management center in Lomé and covered all the children up to 17 years of age with positive RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal swabs. Results: Eighteen children out of 274 confirmed cases were reported, that is, a rate of 6.6%. This included 11 boys and 7 girls. Their average age was 9.1 years with extremes of 28 days to 17 years. The clinical presentations were distributed as follows: 15 asymptomatic; 2 mild forms and one critical form. The mild signs were marked by nasal discharge or cold (1 case), dry cough (1 case), throat irritation (1 case) and asthenia (1 case). 15 children were treated with the Chloroquine/Azithromicin protocol treatment. The death was recorded in the critical form. The average length of hospitalization was 14.8 days [6 - 25 days].Conclusion: The infection with the new coronavirus in children is most often asymptomatic.