engleski

Prevalence of covid-19 infection in children in Split-Dalmatia county, Croatia

In December 2019, a new illness named COVID-19 and caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in China. Soon after, infection spread worldwide and was declared as pandemic. COVID-19 affects most severely elderly people and, so far, is responsible for more than 6.2 million deaths. The first case in Croatia was reported in February 2020 leading to closure of educational institutions on March 16, 2020. A few days later a total lockdown was implemented. Since then, various measures were used to prevent spreading of COVID-19. So far, five waves of infections were observed causing more than 15, 000 deaths in Croatia. The aim of this study is to present the data about children (aged 0-18 years) who tested positive to SARS-CoV- 2 on PCR in Split-Dalmatia Country, from the beginning of the pandemic, until March 31, 2022. During this time, among all tested persons, a total number of positive children was 26.995 (18.4%). Most of them (13.205, 48.9%) tested positive in the fifth wave. When analyzing all waves, the highest number of positive tests was found among children aged between 7 and 14, and it ranged from 37.9% in the first wave to 54.7% in the fifth wave. According to the 2021 census, the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 positive children in Split-Dalmatia County is 33.5%. The prevalence in males is 32.7% and in females 34.4% which is not significant. The lowest prevalence was found in the age group 0-4 and 5-9 years (16.5% and 29.9%, respectively), while the highest was in the age groups 10-14, and 15-19 years (42.8% and 42.5%, respectively). Although the clinical presentation of COVID-19 in children is usually mild, the high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 positive minors should not be neglected. The health system should be prepared to deal with post-COVID-19 consequences, among which the mental problems and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children should be outlined. Also, closure of schools, especially for children > 10 years should be considered as part of the regular non- pharmaceutical interventions when dealing with similar pandemics or when normal functioning of the healthy system might be jeopardized.

COVID19 ; prevalence

nije evidentirano