Introduction: We aimed to characterize epidemiological and clinical characteristics of children and adolescents with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and to evaluate relationship of cycle threshold value (CT value) of Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test (As surrogate marker of viral load) with patient age and severity of infection. Methods: We retrospectively collected data of children and adolescents admitted in our center from April 2020 to July 2020 with positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2. Results: Total 62 children, with median (IQR) of age 96 (54 - 122) months and 39 adolescents with median (IQR) of age 19.5 (18.2 - 20) years were included. 56 (90%) children and 34 (87%) adolescents had history of SARSCoV-2 positive cases in their family. Only nine (14%) children had associated risk factor for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Fever was the commonest symptom which was present in 24 (39%) children and 16 (41%) adolescents. Cough was present in 17 (27%) children and 10 (26%) adolescents. Diarrhea was found in 14 (23%) children and three (8%) adolescents. CT values of RT-PCR test were similar in children and adolescence (p = 0.48). However, asymptomatic children had higher CT values than symptomatic children (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Majority of children have asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection with similar CT values in children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND:Pulmonary embolism (PE) has been identified as one of the deadliest complications of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Western literature reminds us of the high prevalence of PE in COVID. Here, we report a series of 13 cases of PE diagnosed and managed at our hospital.METHODS:Retrospective analysis of medical records of 13 cases of PE admitted at our hospital from February 1, 2020, to September 31, 2020, were done. Their clinical, laboratory, and radiologic data were assessed in detail.RESULTS:Computed tomography pulmonary arteriography was used to make the diagnosis in eight patients (61.53%), and clinical findings with corroborative ultrasound and laboratory parameters were used to label PE in five patients (38.46%). Five patients were hemodynamically unstable, requiring thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, and four patients (30.76%) suffered a fatal outcome.CONCLUSION:COVID-19 is a highly prothrombotic state, and all physicians should keep a high vigilance for PE. All hospitalized patients with COVID-19, especially those admitted in ICU, should be on prophylactic anticoagulation and, if there is any worsening, should be started on therapeutic regimen. Patients at the time of discharge should be switched to oral anticoagulation, which should be continued for at least 3-6 months.

COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of many especially those living with chronic diseases. India has the highest burden of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) in the world. The pandemic and the lockdown created multiple bottlenecks in the provision of healthcare as well as the distribution of medications. The stigma of tuberculosis leads to mental trauma, suffering, delay in diagnosis, and non-compliance to therapy. Lockdown imposed due to COVID-19, aggravated the fears of each patient and had made medical care access difficult. Here we describe a patient with MDR TB and chronic hepatitis B and how the course of the disease and its management was affected by COVID-19.