SARS-CoV-2 Positivity in Early Infancy: A National Cohort From Saudi Arabia

Lana A Shaiba; Adnan Hadid; Khalid Altirkawi; Mahdi A Alnamnakani; Abdulaziz A Almutayliq; Areen T Alharbi; Asmar M Hijazi; Khalid M AlMoosa; Nora F AlSaud; Rozan E Murshid; Wejdan S AlMuhanna; Nasser A Aldawsari; Maryam F Bin Hadyan; Rana Almaghrabi; Yousef M Alsofayan; Ahmed A Alahmari; Yasir S Almuzaini; Fahad A Alamri; Anas A Khan; Prakesh S Shah

doi:10.3389/fped.2022.849659

SARS-CoV-2 Positivity in Early Infancy: A National Cohort From Saudi Arabia

Front Pediatr. 2022 Mar 28:10:849659. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.849659. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Lana A Shaiba^{1

2}, Adnan Hadid^{1

2}, Khalid Altirkawi^{1

2}, Mahdi A Alnamnakani^{1

3}, Abdulaziz A Almutayliq^{1

2}, Areen T Alharbi^{1

2}, Asmar M Hijazi^{1

2}, Khalid M AlMoosa^{1

2}, Nora F AlSaud^{1

2}, Rozan E Murshid^{1

2}, Wejdan S AlMuhanna^{1

2}, Nasser A Aldawsari¹, Maryam F Bin Hadyan⁴, Rana Almaghrabi⁵, Yousef M Alsofayan⁶, Ahmed A Alahmari⁶, Yasir S Almuzaini⁶, Fahad A Alamri⁶, Anas A Khan^{6

7}, Prakesh S Shah^{8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Neonatology, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Pediatrics, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Global Center for Mass Gatherings Medicine, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics, Toronto University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ Maternal-Infant Care Research Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Data on SARS-CoV-2 in infants ≤ 90 days are limited with conflicting reports regarding its presentation and outcomes.

Methods: We conducted an ambispective cohort study using prospectively collected Health Electronic Surveillance Network Database by the Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Infants of ≤ 90 days of age who had a positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 virus were included. Patients were divided in Early neonatal (0-6 days), late neonatal (7-27 days), and post- neonatal (28-90 days) groups and were compared for clinical characteristics and outcomes by contacting parents and collecting information retrospectively.

Results: Of 1,793 infants, 898 infants were included for analysis. Most infants in the early neonatal group had no features of infection (tested based on maternal positivity), whereas most infants in the late and post- neonatal groups were tested because of clinical features of infection. Fever and respiratory signs were the most common presenting feature in the late and post-neonatal groups. Hospitalization was higher in the early neonatal group (80%), compared to the two other groups. The overall mortality in the cohort was 1.6%.

Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 infection in infants ≤ 90 days might not be as rare as previously reported. The clinical presentation varies based on age at positive RT-PCR result.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; Saudi Arabia; cohort; early infancy; national; positivity.

Copyright © 2022 Shaiba, Hadid, Altirkawi, Alnamnakani, Almutayliq, Alharbi, Hijazi, AlMoosa, AlSaud, Murshid, AlMuhanna, Aldawsari, Bin Hadyan, Almaghrabi, Alsofayan, Alahmari, Almuzaini, Alamri, Khan and Shah.