Clinical and epidemiological features of the spread of novel coronavirus infection in the children of Chelyabinsk during the first 12 months of the pandemic

Vasilkova D.S., Abramovskikh O.S., Pishchalnikov A.Yu.

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education «South Ural State Medical University» of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Chelyabinsk, Russia

The purpose of the study is to assess and identify patterns of the spread and course of novel coronavirus infection in the children of Chelyabinsk during the first 12 months of the pandemic.
Results. The spread of novel coronavirus infection in Chelyabinsk during the first 12 months of the pandemic had two waves of rising morbidity with peaks in June 2020 and January 2021. The peak of the first wave corresponded to the time intervals of the peak of the spread of novel coronavirus infection in children in the Russian Federation, the peak of the second wave was observed 1.5-2 months later. The received data seems to be the regional feature of the epidemiological process of novel coronavirus infection. There were no gender differences in morbidity. The average age of the sick children was 9 years. Most of them were school-age children. The asymptomatic form of infection was recorded in 33% of children, mild course of infection – in 57% of children, and moderate – in 10%. Among the children hospitalized with the symptoms of novel coronavirus infection patients under the age of one year accounted for 22%. The prevalence of novel coronavirus infection in Chelyabinsk among children was lower than in other cities of the Russian Federation comparable in terms of population.