Aims: Limited data about disease management strategies are available for pediatric patients with coronavirus disease-20I9. particularly in Turkey. This study aimed to share the data on patients aged under 18 years in our country to be beneficial for understanding the disease course in children. Methods: A retrospective review of the medical records of pediatric patients aged under 18 years who were confirmed as coronavirus disease-2019 between March 11, and June 23, 2020, and were admitted to our hospitals was conducted. Results: A total of 220 pediatric patients with coronavirus disease-2019 were evaluated, of which 48.2% were boys. with a median age of 10 years, and 9.5% had underlying diseases. Patients were classified according to severity. with the percentages of asymptomatic, mild, moderate, and criticaksevere cases determined to be 25.5%, 45%, 26.8%, and 2.7%, respectively. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was required in two patients (0.9%) and mechanical ventilation in three (1.4%). Targeted therapies were used in six patients (2.7 degrees 0,. with hydroxychloroquine being the most commonly used agent either alone (one patient) or in combination with favipiravir (five patients). Two patients (0.9%) died, and nine (4.1%) were still hospitalized during the study period. Conclusion: Although the disease course of coronavirus disease-2019 seems to be mild in children, critical illness is significant, and the treatment strategy primarily should consist of supportive care according to our preliminary observations.

Background: A crucial balance exists between oxidant and antioxidant mechanisms in the functional immune system. We aimed to evaluate the contributions of balance between these systems to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), a devastating pandemic caused by viral infection.Method: We analyzed serum oxidant and antioxidant stress parameters according to the clinical and demographic characteristics of children and adults with COVID‐19 and compared them against the values of healthy controls. Serum native thiol (NT), total thiol (TT), disulfide, total antioxidant status, total oxidant status, and ischemia‐modified albumin levels were evaluated and compared between groups.Results: A total of 79 children and 74 adults were evaluated in the present study, including 46 children and 40 adults with COVID‐19, 33 healthy children, and 34 healthy adults. TT, NT, and disulfide levels were significantly lower in the adult COVID‐19 group than in all other groups (p = .001, p = .001, and p = .005, respectively). Additionally, TT and NT levels were significantly lower in both pediatric and adult COVID‐19 cases with severe disease course than mild/moderate course. TT and NT levels were identified as predictors for the diagnosis of the adult COVID‐19 cases and as independent predictors for disease severity in both children and adults with COVID‐19.Conclusion: Parameters that reveal the oxidant and antioxidant capacity, including TT and NT, appear to be good candidates for the accurate prediction of the clinical course among patients with COVID‐19.

It is still not fully understood how to predict the future prognosis of patients at the diagnosis coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) due to the wide clinical range of the disease. We aimed to evaluate whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) viral load could predict the clinical course of pediatric patients. This study was conducted retrospectively with medical records of pediatric patients who were tested for SARS‐CoV2 between April 12 and October 25, 2020 in the University of Health Sciences, Ankara Educating and Training Hospital and Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. We evaluated 518 pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 and classified according to severity as asymptomatic (16.2%), mild (59.6%), moderate (20.2%), and critical/severe (3.9%) cases. We analyzed patients in four groups in terms of ages: <4, 5‐9, 10–14, and 15–17 years. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of ∆C_t value among age groups, different gender and the existence of underlying diseases in each disease course. The ∆C_t values were relatively lower in the first 2 days of symptoms than after days in all groups. Our study has indicated that children with COVID‐19 have similar amount of viral load in all disease courses irrespective of the age and underlying disease. It should be taken into account that, regardless of the severity of the disease, pediatric patients may have a role in the transmission chain.

Severity of disease caused by influenza virus and the influencing factors that may be different. Moreover, the disease course actually may not be determined specifically in children because of lower seroprotection rates of children. Herein, the results clinic and outcome data of children with influenza from Turkey were reported. We present here the results from 2013 to 2017. Nasopharyngeal swab samples of the children with influenza were investigated via multiplex polymerase chain reaction. A total of 348 children were diagnosed with influenza; 143 (41.1%) were influenza A, 85 (24.4%) were influenza B, and 120 (34.5%) were mixt infection with other respiratory viruses. Fifty‐four percent of children admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) were under 2 years of age (p = .001). Having an underlying disease was detected as the main predictor for both hospitalization and ICU stay according to multiple logistic regression analysis (odds ratio [OR], 11.784: 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.212–26.643; p = .001 and OR, 4.972: 95% CI, 2.331–10.605; p = .001, respectively). Neurological symptoms most frequently seen in cases who died (44.4%; p = .02). Lymphopenia was relatively higher (55.6%) and thrombocytopenia was most frequently seen in cases who died (77.8%) with a significant ratio (p = .001). Underlying diseases was found a risk factor for influenza being hospitalized and being admitted to ICU. Children under 2 years of age and with underlying diseases should be vaccinated particularly in countries where the influenza vaccination is still not routinely implemented in the immunization schedule.Highlights Underlying diseases is a risk factor for influenza to be hospitalized and admitted to ICU. Influenza vaccination is of great importance to prevent life‐threatening complications of influenza, particularly in children require ICU admission. The possibility to reduce the outpatient visit number by vaccination has a great impact on disease burden in addition to the underestimated crucial social benefits, as well.