MODERN FEATURES OF THE COURSE OF A NEW CORONAVIRUS INFECTION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
An open prospective comparative study of the clinical and laboratory features of the manifestations of a new coronavirus infection was carried out in 120 children and adolescents with moderate and severe disease who were treated for COVID-19 in an infectious diseases hospital. The diagnosis of novel coronavirus infection was established based on the verification of virus RNA in nasopharyngeal swabs by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The comparison group consisted of 35 patients with asymptomatic and mild severity of COVID-19, who were observed on an outpatient basis. The study showed that the main manifestation of a new coronovirus infection in children and adolescents was a clinical tetrad of symptoms, inherent in 96.7% of patients. It was manifested by severe weakness, sweating, headache in combination with pain in the muscles, joints and fever. Laboratory features of moderate and severe COVID-19 in 78.4% of children and adolescents was the absence of a significant increase in inflammation markers: C-reactive protein, leukocytes, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), blood coagulation parameters, platelet count. An analysis of the health status of patients who underwent asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 showed that 71.4% of children and adolescents had morphological and functional signs of damage to the central nervous system (CNS), combined with disorders of the musculoskeletal system in 48.5 % of patients and changes in the cardiovascular system in 42,8% of the examined. These patients should be classified as at increased risk for infection with a new coronavirus infection, who are subject to regular testing for SARS-CoV-2 and priority vaccination for timely prevention of the disease in the child and adolescent population.