Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, which has had a negative impact worldwide. We aimed to contribute to the medical literature by sharing the knowledge and experience of pediatric patients who were diagnosed as having COVID-19 in a one-year period. Method: Patients aged 1 month to 18 years who were diagnosed as having COVID-19 in our clinic, between March 2020 and April 2020, from when COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic, were included in the study. Results: Four hundred sixty-seven children were included in the study. There were 34 (7.3%) patients under one year of age, 111 (23.8%) between 1-5 years, 98 (30.4%) between 5-10 years, 142 (30.4%) between 11-15 years, and 82 (17.6%) age over 15 years. Fever (88.2%), vomiting (32.4%), and diarrhea (29.4%) in patients aged under 1 year, sore throat (36.6%) in patients aged 11-15 years, and dysgeusia (11%), anosmia (14.6%), headache (18.3%), malaise (40.8%), myalgia (28%), and dyspnea (17.1%) in those aged over 15 years of age were found significantly more common compared with the other age groups. Thirty-five (7.5%) patients were asymptomatic, 365 (78.1%) had mild disease, 35 (7.5%) were moderate, 27 (5.8%) were severe, and five (1.07%) were critical. Leukocyte count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, ferritin, and C-reactive protein values were significantly higher in hospitalized patients. Four patients died during the study period (0.8%, 4/494). Conclusion: Although COVID-19 has an asymptomatic and mild course in children, it should be kept in mind that it may have a severe course.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, which has had a negative impact worldwide. Our aim was to describe clinical findings and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 viral infection and Covid-19 disease cared for at a large pediatric tertiary care hospital during the first year of the pandemic. Methods: Patients aged 1 month to 18 years who were diagnosed as having COVID-19 between March 2020 and April 2021 were included. The files of patients diagnosed with covid-19 were reviewed retrospectively. Results: 467 children were included in the study. There were 34 (7.3%) patients under one year of age, 111 (23.8%) between 1-5 years, 98 (30.4%) between 5-10 years, 142 (30.4%) between 11-15 years, and 82 (17.6%) age over 15 years. Fever (88.2%), vomiting (32.4%), and diarrhea (29.4%) in patients aged under 1 year, sore throat (36.6%) in patients aged 11-15 years, and dysgeusia (11%), anosmia (14.6%), headache (18.3%), malaise (40.8%), myalgia (28%), and dyspnea (17.1%) in those aged over 15 years of age were found significantly more common compared with the other age groups (p<0.05). Thirty-five (7.5%) patients were asymptomatic, 365 (78.1%) had mild disease, 35 (7.5%) were moderate, 27 (5.8%) were severe, and five (1.07%) were critical. Leukocyte count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, ferritin, and C-reactive protein values were significantly higher in hospitalized patients. Four patients died during the study period (0.8%, 4/467). Conclusion: While SARS-CoV-2 infection may be asymptomatic and Covid-19 disease usually has a mild clinical course, some children have severe disease or mortality.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral disease caused by a novel coronavirus that can lead to severe acute respiratory failure. Recent studies have shown that aggravating factors in the etiology of COVID-19 disease include genetic defects and autoantibodies against type 1 interferon. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an immobile aerobic bacillus that causes tuberculosis disease. SARS-CoV-2 infection and immunosuppressive drugs may temporarily inhibit immunologic system, then may lead to active tuberculosis by reactivation or infection of M. tuberculosis. We aimed to show that there is a relationship between covid-19 infection and an increase in the number of tuberculosis patients. Eight patients diagnosed with tuberculosis in the Pediatric Pulmonology and Pediatric Infectious Diseases Clinics of Necmettin Erbakan University, Meram Medical Faculty between March 2020 and May 2021 were enrolled in this study. The presence of COVID-19 infection was confirmed by COVID-19 antibody test and patient’s detailed medical history. The patient with negative antibody test was also included in the study if other family members confirmed for COVID-19 infection by RT-PCR. We evaluated demographic data, laboratory findings, imaging tests and pathology results of all patients. The remarkable increase in the number of tuberculosis activation in the recent year suggests the role of COVID-19 infection. The pathologic structure of the virus may be responsible of the increase, although the mechanism is not fully understood. Further research should be done on this topic.

Isoniazid for 6-9 months is the most widely used form of tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment. We aimed to assess the side effects of isoniazid by using the serum levels of aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and uric acid (SUA) in children and adolescents receiving long term isoniazid for latent tuberculosis infection. The study included children ≤18 yrs of age who underwent TB preventive treatment with isoniazid (IPT) between 2015 and 2019 at an university hospital. Serum transaminase, SUA, urea, and creatinine levels of patients were measured before the initiation of IPT, 15th day, and once a month during treatment. Patients with either ALT, AST, or SUA results above cut-off levels during treatment were evaluated. The final values in follow up were included in the analysis of the data. A total of 141 children who underwent IPT were included. Seventy children had family members with confirmed tuberculosis disease and 71 children had TST positivity. SUA increased above cut-off values in 16 children (11.3%) and half of them had uric acid levels over 7 mg/dL. The median duration of the development of hyperuricemia was 4.0 months. ALT or AST increased above cut-off values in 23 children (16.3%). ALT was above cut-off values in 7 patients, AST was high in 20 patients. The median duration to the development of AST and/or ALT levels above cut-off was 4.0 months. Two patients had hepatotoxic transaminase levels. Three patients had both elevated transaminases and SUA levels. İsoniazid may also cause hyperuricemia beside elevation in transaminases in children.