Introduction:

SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pediatric population showed an increase in the morbidity of the pandemic in 2021. The number of patients also increased, so it was necessary to open suitable hospitals.

Objective:

To characterize from the epidemiological aspect the patients treated at Cerro Pediatric Hospital with a diagnosis of COVID-19.

Methods:

Observational, descriptive cross-sectional study on the epidemiological characteristics of admitted patients, between April 3 and October 7, 2021. The universe consisted of 2699 patients under 18 years of age with a diagnosis confirmed by the polymerase chain reaction test. The variables analyzed were: age groups, sex, origin according to municipality and territory, month and admission to the therapy room, symptomatic characteristics and evolution. The results were expressed in absolute and relative values and the odd ratio was estimated with its 95% confidence interval (p<0.05).

Results:

The age group between 5-10 years (31.83 %), the male sex (50.46 %) and patients from Cerro municipality (12.41 %) predominated. From April to June there was an average range of 300 monthly cases with an increase from July to September and a decrease in October. Symptomatic patients reached 76.0 % and 1.66 % were hospitalized in intensive care.

Conclusions:

The symptomatic school age group reached the highest frequency, with a higher number of cases from July to September, especially in the municipalities of Cerro and Arroyo Naranjo. There were few admissions to intensive care because most of them showed a favorable evolution.

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