Table 1 General characteristics of children and adolescents hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, with data compared according to admission to general pediatric wards vs. intensive care units.

From: Epidemiology of 7375 children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 in Germany, reported via a prospective, nationwide surveillance study in 2020–2022

 

All

N = 7375

N (%)

General pediatric ward

N = 7152

N (%)

Intensive care unit

N = 223

N (%)

p value**

Clinical symptoms and complications during hospitalization

5518

74.8

5315

74.3

203

91.0

 < 0.001

General Symptoms (including fever), n (%)

4279

58.0

4116

57.6

163

73.1

 < 0.001

Fever (> 38.0 °C), n (%)

3796

51.5

3648

51.0

148

66.4

 < 0.001

ENT, n (%)

2102

28.5

2047

28.6

55

24.7

0.49

Respiratory, n (%)

2163

29.3

1975

27.6

188

84.3

 < 0.001

Cardiovascular, n (%)

253

3.4

198

2.8

55

24.7

 < 0.001

Gastrointestinal, n (%)

1297

17.6

1264

17.7

33

14.8

0.2

Hepatic, n (%)

66

0.9

57

0.8

9

4.0

 < 0.001

Renal, n (%)

68

0.9

46

0.6

22

9.9

 < 0.001

Neurological/Neuromuscular, n (%)

558

7.6

516

7.2

42

18.8

 < 0.001

Musculoskeletal, n (%)

137

1.8

128

1.8

9

4.0

 < 0.001

Psychiatric, n (%)

31

0.4

28

0.4

3

1.4

0.06

Hematological, n (%)

251

3.4

220

3.1

31

13.9

 < 0.001

Autoimmune, n (%)

16

0.2

11

0.2

5

2.2

 < 0.001

Other, n (%)

736

10.0

717

10.0

19

8.5

0.42

Discharge diagnosis

 COVID-19 (symptomatic disease), n (%)

5998

81.3

5784

80.9

214

96.0

 < 0.001

 Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, n (%)

863

11.7

862

12.1

1

0.5

 < 0.001

Upper respiratory tract infection (including ENT, pseudocroup), n (%)

2171

29.4

2118

29.6

53

23.8

0.2

Pseudocroup / Laryngotracheitis, n (%)

283

3.8

275

3.9

8

3.6

1

Lower respiratory tract infection (including bronchitis, pneumonia, pARDS), n (%)

1119

15.2

952

13.3

167

74.9

 < 0.001

Bronchitis / Bronchiolitis, n (%)

809

11.0

781

10.9

28

12.6

 < 0.001

Pneumonia, n (%)

355

4.8

209

2.9

146

65.5

 < 0.001

pARDS, n (%)

56

0.8

6

0.1

50

22.4

 < 0.001

Gastroenteritis, n (%)

605

8.2

596

8.3

9

4.0

0.04

Meningitis, n (%)

10

0.1

9

0.1

1

0.5

0.2

Encephalitis, n (%)

21

0.3

14

0.2

7

3.1

 < 0.001

Sepsis/SIRS, n (%)

60

0.8

35

0.5

25

11.2

 < 0.001

SARS-CoV-2-associated therapy, n (%)

1443

19.6

1231

17.2

212

95.1

 < 0.001

 Pulmonary support*, n (%)

635

8.6

445

6.2

190

85.2

 < 0.001

 Respiratory support*, n (%)

178

2.4

26

0.4

152

68.2

 < 0.001

Invasive ventilation*, n (%)

58

0.8

3

0.0

55

24.7

 < 0.001

ECMO, n (%)

14

0.2

0

0.0

14

6.3

 < 0.001

Catecholamines / Inotropes, n (%)

58

0.8

9

0.1

49

22.0

 < 0.001

Immune modulators, n (%)

584

7.9

443

6.2

141

63.2

 < 0.001

Antibiotics, n (%)

403

5.5

253

3.5

150

67.3

 < 0.001

Antiviral treatment, n (%)

80

1.1

35

0.5

45

20.2

 < 0.001

Outcome at discharge

 No/mild residual symptoms, n (%)

7273

98.6

7088

99.1

185

83.0

 < 0.001

 Sequelae, n (%)

27

0.4

14

0.2

13

5.8

 < 0.001

 Death, n (%)

33

0.5

13

0.2

20

9.0

 < 0.001

 Death due to COVID-19, n (%)

18

0.2

5

0.1

13

5.8

 < 0.001

  1. *Pulmonary support: top-level category includes oxygen supplementation, bronchodilatation, respiratory support (invasive or non-invasive ventilation, such as high-flow oxygen therapy or CPAP) and ECMO.
  2. **Statistical analysis was performed with the Chi-Square-Test.
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