Characteristics and management of children with suspected COVID-19 admitted to hospitals in India: implications for future care

Santosh Kumar, Mainul Haque, Arvind Shetty, Sumesh Choudhary, Rohan Bhatt, Vivek Kumar Sinha, Balaji Manohar, Kona Chowdhury, Nadia Nusrat, Nasim Jahan, Amanj Kurdi, Zia Ul Mustafa, Johanna Meyer, Israel Sefah, Adnan Abdullah, Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun, Brian Godman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Introduction: There is a growing focus on researching the management of children with COVID-19 admitted to hospital, especially among developing countries with new variants alongside concerns with the overuse of antibiotics. Patient care can be improved with guidelines but concerns with continued prescribing of antivirals and antimalarials. Objective: Consequently, a need to document the current management of children with COVID-19 across India. Key outcome measures included the percentage prescribed antimicrobials, adherence to current guidelines, and mortality. Methodology: A point prevalence study using specially developed report forms among 30 hospitals in India. Results: The majority of admitted children were aged between 11-18 years (70%) and boys (65.8%). Reasons for admission included respiratory distress, breathing difficulties, and prolonged fever. 75.3% were prescribed antibiotics typically empirically (68.3% overall), with most on the Watch list (76.7%). There were no differences in antibiotic prescribing whether hospitals followed guidelines or not. There was also appreciable prescribing of antimalarials (21.4% of children), antivirals (15.2%), and antiparasitic medicines (27.2%) despite limited evidence. The majority of children (92.2%) made a full recovery. Conclusion: It was encouraging to see low hospitalization rates. However, concerns about high empiric use of antibiotics alongside high use of antimalarials, antivirals, and antiparasitic medicines. These can be addressed by instigating appropriate stewardship programs.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere27230
Number of pages11
JournalCureus
Volume14
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jul 2022

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • India
  • children
  • hospitals
  • antibiotics
  • hydroxychloroquine
  • AWaRe list of antimicrobials
  • anti-virals
  • ivermectin

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Characteristics and management of children with suspected COVID-19 admitted to hospitals in India: implications for future care'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this