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Introduction: The current evidence indicates that the severity of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is lower in the pediatric population but local data are still limited. Objective: To characterize the clinical and epidemiological aspects of COVID-19 infection in patients younger than 18 years in Argentina., Population and Methods: Cross-sectional, observational, and analytical study of confirmed COVID-19 patients aged 0-18 years seen between March 2020 and March 2021 at 19 referral children's hospitals of Argentina. A multivariate analysis was done to identify predictors of severe cases., Results: A total of 2690 COVID-19 cases were included: 77.7% lived in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires; 50.1% were males; patients' median age was 5.6 years. Of them, 90% were seen during epidemiological weeks 20-47 of 2020; 60.4% had a history of contact with COVID-19 patients; and 96.6% in their family setting. Also, 51.4% had respiratory symptoms; 61.6%, general symptoms; 18.8%, gastrointestinal symptoms; 17.1%, neurological symptoms; 7.2%, other symptoms; and 21.5% were asymptomatic. In addition, 59.4% of patients were hospitalized and 7.4% had a severe or critical course. A total of 57 patients developed multisystem inflammatory syndrome. A history of asthma, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, congenital heart disease, moderate to severe malnutrition, obesity, chronic neurological disease and/or age younger than 6 months were independent predictors of severity. Living in a vulnerable neighborhood was a protective factor., Conclusions: More than half of cases referred a history of contact with COVID-19 patients in the family setting. Hospitalization was not based on clinical criteria of severity. Severity was associated with the presence of certain comorbidities.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children related to COVID-19 is defined as the presence of persistent fever, inflammation, and organ dysfunction, with evidence of past or recent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, and excluding other microbial causes. It overlaps with other inflammatory diseases (Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome) and shares some features with hypercytokinemia conditions (hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and macrophage activation syndrome). It differs from these and severe acute COVID-19 in its clinical presentation and laboratory parameters. It has a potentially severe course and may occur with cardiovascular failure; mortality is low (2 %). Here we provide an update on this syndrome and describe the presentation of two clinical cases with cardiovascular dysfunction who required vasoactive support and invasive ventilation. Serum lab tests showed inflammation parameters. Both patients were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin and systemic corticosteroids and had a favorable course., Competing Interests: None, (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)

Introduction: Despite the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, the information about its development in pediatrics is still limited. This report describes the characteristics of patients admitted to a children's hospital due to COVID-19 during the first three months of the pandemic., Method: Descriptive study including all patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 between 4/1/2020 and 6/30/2020., Results: A total of 191 patients were hospitalized due to COVID-19; their median age was 7.7 years; 89% had a history of close contact. Of them, 35.6 % were considered asymptomatic; 61.2 %, mild cases; and 3.2 %, moderate cases (no severe cases). None of them received a specific treatment for the disease. The most common symptoms were fever, sore throat, and cough. The median length of stay was 6 days., Conclusion: A total of 191 cases of children and adolescents admitted due to COVID-19 are reported. Most were asymptomatic or presented with a mild disease., Competing Interests: None, (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally related to COVID-19 in children and adolescents is a clinical presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection. It shares some features with Kawasaki disease, toxic shock, sepsis, macrophage activation syndrome, and myocarditis. Few publications have addressed its initial management, which is similar to that proposed for septic shock. This review analyzes such approach based on the characteristics typical of multisystem inflammatory syndrome related to COVID-19 in accordance with the paradigm of an "institutional practice guideline" and suggests therapeutic approach strategies, including early detection, stabilization, referral, specific treatment, and process analysis., Competing Interests: None, (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)

Introduction: In just a few months, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a pandemic, causing millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths. Due to its high infectiousness, the health care staff is even more exposed. Nevertheless, there is still very limited information about it, especially among pediatricians., Objective: To assess the seroprevalence of SARSCoV- 2 antibodies among physicians from a children's hospital 3 months after the first case in Argentina. To explore if certain demographic, occupational, and epidemiological characteristics are risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity., Methods: Cross-sectional study of physicians randomly selected from the list of workers of a children's hospital. All of them were screened for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by chemiluminescence (immunoglobulins G/M [IgG/IgM]) and their epidemiological history was collected (age, place of residence, professional category, contact with infected people) in order to explore the association between predictors and seropositivity., Results: A total of 116 physicians were included; their average age was 45.6 ± 13.3 years. Of them, 62.9 % were staff physicians, and the rest, residents; 42.2 % worked in areas designated for direct care of COVID-19 patients. Four (3.5 %) referred contact with infected people without the appropriate protection, and 6 (5.2 %), having traveled to risk areas. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgG) were only detected in one of the professionals. Because of this, it was impossible to assess the association between potential predictors and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies., Conclusion: It was observed that only 0.9 % of the physicians from a children's hospital had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies., Competing Interests: None, (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has grabbed worldwide attention. The different national governments are making an effort to optimize resources and provide effective treatments inasmuch as they are supported by the evidence, at a rate of production in line with the pressing needs. In the field of pediatrics, COVID-19 has a low severity rate compared to the adult population. Approximately 6 % of cases present with a severe course, accounting for patients younger than 1 year and/or with underlying conditions. The therapeutic approach to pediatric patients with COVID-19 is unclear. The small number of pediatric cases hinders the possibility of making evidence-based recommendations for criticallyill patients. The objective of this review is to summarize the different current publications about the clinical course of COVID-19 and its management in critically-ill pediatric patients., Competing Interests: None, (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)

Introduction: The objective was to determine the relationship between mother and infant vitamin D levels and late onset sepsis., Population and Methods: Infants born > 37 weeks of gestational age who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of late-onset sepsis were enrolled to this prospective case control study. VitaminD levels of the infants and their mothers in the study and a control group were compared., Results: Fourty six term patients with late-onset sepsis composed the study group, 46 patients with hyperbilirubinemia as the control group. Vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy was lower in mothers of study group compared to the control group (p = 0.001). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of infants and mothers in the study group were significantly lower than the control group (p < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of mothers and infants in both groups (r: 0.38, p < 0.001). The best cut off value of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which determines the risk of late-onset sepsis in neonates, was detected as 15.45 ng/ml (sensitivity: 91.3 %, specificity: 71.7 %, area under the curve: 0.824, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: In this study, 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were found to be lower in term infants with late-onset sepsis and among their mothers compared to the control group. Positive correlation was found between serum 25(OH)D levels of infants and their mothers., Competing Interests: None, (Sociedad Argentina de Pediatría.)