Comparison between SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative pneumonia in children: A retrospective analysis at the beginning of the pandemic

Table 1 Clinical and demographic characteristics of the study participants at the hospital admission

	Group 1	Group 2
	(PCR+ pneumonia)	(PCR- pneumonia)
Patients
Number	24	20
Gender
Male	16 (66. 7%)	9 (45.0%)
Female	8 (33. 3%)	11(55.0%)
Age
0-5 yr	14 (58. 3%)	11 (55.0%)
5-10 yr	4 (16. 7%)	4 (20.0%)
> 10 years	6 (25. 0%)	5 (25.0%)
Clinical manifestations
Cough	17 (70. 8%)	15 (75.0%)
Fever	17 (70. 8%)	16 (80. 0%)
Dyspnea	7 (29. 2%)	7 (35. 0%)
Loss of appetite	15 (62. 5%)	13 (65.0%)
Fatigue	15 (62. 5%)	13 (65. 0%)
Weakness	15 (62. 5%)	13 (65. 0%)
Vomiting/nausea	2 (8. 3%)	3 (15. 0%)
Diarrhea	1 (4. 2%)	0 (0. 0%)
Flatulence	1 (4. 2%)	0 (0. 0%)
Rhinorrhea	8 (33. 3%)	9 (45. 0%)
Sweating	0 (0. 0%)	0 (0. 0%)
Chest pain	0 (0. 0%)	0 (0. 0%)
Dizziness	1 (4. 2%)	0 (0. 0%)
Joint pain	1 (4. 2%)	0 (0. 0%)
Seizures	0 (0. 0%)	0 (0. 0%)
Chest X ray findings
Bilateral pneumonia	17 (70. 8%)	15 (75. 0%)
Segmental pneumonia	5 (20. 8%)
Subsegmental pneumonia	2 (8. 3%)	5 (25.0%)
Comorbidity
CHD	1 (4. 2%)	0 (0. 0%)
PTI	1 (4. 2%)	0 (0. 0%)
AML	1 (4. 2%)	0 (0. 0%)
Partial epilepsy	0 (0. 0%)	0 (0. 0%)

CHD: Congenital heart disease; PTI: Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, AML: Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Table 2 Laboratory parameters in the two study groups of children

Laboratory parameters	Group 1	Group 2
	(PCR + pneumonia)	(PCR - pneumonia)
	n = 24	n = 20
HGB (g/L)	120 ± 3.97	119 ± 3.4
MCV (fL)	85.2 ± 2.6	83.9 ± 1.59
PLT (109/L)	280 ± 19.4	338 ± 18.6
WBC (109/L)	10.3 ± 0.85	9.5 ± 0.77
Lymphocytes (%)	28.3 ± 2.91	32.9 ± 3.4
Lymphocytes (109/L)	2.7 ± 0.31	3.1 ± 0.35
Neutrophils (%)	64.3 ± 3.35	60.8 ± 3.8
Neutrophils (109/L)	7.3 ± 0.75	6.3 ± 0.69
Monocytes (%)	5 ± 0.47	6.1 ± 0.64
Monocytes (109/L)	0.5 ± 0.06	0.5 ± 0.06
ESR (mm/h)	19.1 ± 2.36	18.4 ± 1.88
CRP (mg/L)	41.5 ± 11.2	15.1 ± 4.21
Total bilirubin (µmol/L)	7.2 ± 0.67	9.07 ± 0.94
Total proteins (g/L)	66.5 ± 1.85	62.3 ± 1.56
Creatinine (µmol/L)	43 ± 2.84	41.6 ± 4.32
Urea ( mmol/L)	3.24 ± 0.29	3.47 ± 0.41
Ca (mmol/L)	2.25 ± 0.04	2.24 ± 0.05
K (mmol/L)	4.53 ± 0.24	4.79 ± 0.21
Na (mmol/L)	137 ± 0.50	138 ± 0.71
Cl1 (mmol/L)	102 ± 1.22	104 ± 1.18
Glucose1 (mmol/L)	4.66 ± 0.18	5.54 ± 0.58
ALT1 (U/L)	24.6 ± 8.24	24.4 ± 4.78
AST1 (U/L)	29.6 ± 3.88	30.5 ± 5.42
CK1 (U/L)	70.2 ± 18.7	64 ± 14.3
LDH1 (U/L)	399 ± 120	323 ± 189
PCT1 (ng/mL)	0.5 ± 0.11	0.3 ± 0.09
D dimer1 (μg/mL)	1.4 ± 0.35	0.1 ± 0.02
25 OH vitD1 (ng/mL)	27.3 ± 3.79	25.3 ± 2.67

¹The information is not available for all patients.

HGB: Hemoglobin; WBC: White blood cells; MCV: Mean corpuscular volume; ESR: Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; PLT: Platelets; CRP: C reactive protein; Ca: Total Calcium.; K: Potassium; Na: Sodium; Cl: Chloride; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; CK: Creatinkinase; LDH: Lactate dehydrogenase; PCT: Procalcitonin.