The clinical case: COVID-19 in a child with chronic kidney disease

Since the spread of the novel coronavirus infection, most researchers have noted a low proportion of sick children in general pediatric cohort compared to adults, who had a mild disease course and rare complications. The most frequent clinical manifestations of the disease are respiratory and, some less frequently diarrheal syndromes. The disease has predominantly mild or asymptomatic course. The risk of adverse outcomes in children, similar to adults, clearly correlate with the presence of background chronic pathology. The need for respiratory support prevails in children with a severe premorbid burden. Here, a clinical case of ongoing novel coronavirus infection in adolescent patient comorbid with chronic kidney pathology is described. In adolescence, the patient was diagnosed with mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis (IgA-nephropathy), and further registered at the dispensary receiving a combination therapy with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and disaggregation drugs. The epidemiological history contained no established contacts with infectious patients. The clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in the patient are represented by catarrhal and diarrheal syndromes, transient renal dysfunction in the acute period of the disease. The onset of coronavirus infection was clinically characterized by symptoms of damaged gastrointestinal tract and was considered as acute gastroenteritis of infectious etiology. Empirically prescribed antibacterial therapy in combination with antiplatelet agents and symptomatic drugs had no effect. The diagnosis of the novel coronavirus infection was verified only on day 4 of hospitalization, clinical and laboratory signs of lung damage emerged. The inflammatory process developed in the patient lungs was secondary to the main pathology. The severity of the patient’s condition was determined by the presence of respiratory and renal insufficiency. Lung damage with minimal severity complaints and clinical data had a bimodal pattern and required respiratory support. A comprehensive approach to treatment, including respiratory, antiviral, enterosorption, anticoagulation, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, hepatoprotective, symptomatic therapy with change in antibacterial drugs allowed to achieve positive dynamics. On day 12 of the illness, the patient required no respiratory support. The presence of symptoms of gastrointestinal tract damage in COVID-19 necessitates the mandatory inclusion of PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 into diagnostic protocol in patients with diarrheal syndrome to perform etiological disease interpretation.