{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T18:27:45Z","timestamp":1772648865887,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,18]],"date-time":"2021-01-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1610928000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pediatr."],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:bold>Aim:<\/jats:bold> In this retrospective single-center study, we report our experience with a cohort of children admitted to our hospital in Al Ain City, United Arab Emirates, with confirmed COVID-19. We also compare our findings to similar reports in the literature.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Patients and Methods:<\/jats:bold> Between 1st March and 31st May 2020, we reviewed the electronic patient medical records of all children with confirmed COVID-19 (ICD-10 code U07.1) managed in Al Ain hospital, designated as the only COVID-19 center in the city.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold> There were 288 children admitted with a confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19 during the study period (mean age 7.3 years, median 6.5, range 1 month to 16.9 years). The age-specific point prevalence was the highest under the age of 5 years (mean 2.0 per 1,000, 95% ci 1.7, 2.4) and decreased progressively to 0.6 per 1,000 (95% ci 0.4, 0.9) over the age of 14 years. Hospital admission was required for 193 (67%) children while 95 (33%) were discharged from the emergency department. Most children (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 214, 74%) had been exposed to a family member with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and asthma which was the most frequent comorbidity (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 37, 13%). The most common symptoms were cough (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 130, 45%), fever (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 14, 4.8%), upper respiratory tract infection (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 93, 32.3%), and lower respiratory tract infection in 28 (9.7%). None of the children presented with acute respiratory distress syndrome, neurological symptoms, sepsis, or septic shock. Neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count or ANC&amp;lt; 1.5 \u00d7 10<jats:sup>9<\/jats:sup>\/L) was observed in 10.4% and thrombocytopenia (&amp;lt;150 platelets \u00d7 10<jats:sup>9<\/jats:sup>\/L) in 72% of children. Nineteen patients (9%) had abnormal imaging studies (chest X-ray and chest computed tomography). Abnormalities were bilateral in six (43%), right-sided in seven (50%) with only one child (7%) with left-sided involvement. None of the children required invasive respiratory support, but four (1.4%) required noninvasive respiratory support. The median length of hospital stay was 3.3 days [1.9, 5.9]. There were no deaths in the hospital even in those with comorbidities.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusions:<\/jats:bold> Our results confirm previous reports of mild illness of COVID-19 in our child population, even in those with comorbidities. The age-standardized prevalence was higher in children (&amp;lt;5 years) compared to young adolescents.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2020.603741","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,18]],"date-time":"2021-01-18T05:58:06Z","timestamp":1610949486000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Covid-19 in Children and Young Adolescents in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates- a Retrospective Cross-Sectional 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