A Panoramic View of Hospitalized Young Children in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico during COVID-19

Background: Latin America has been one region most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, taxing the various healthcare systems, although much of the attention was centered on the adult population. Our mission was to provide an encompassing view of young children, exploring the link between various comorbid conditions, COVID-19 and death rate.Methods: Public data on hospitalized young children was obtained from national databases. These registries included information on age, year of entry, gender, date of death, comorbidities, and admissions to the intensive care unit. We calculated frequencies on all variables, regarding the general population and to the COVID-19 positive population. The creation of binary regression models followed this to ensure we could determine the correlation of comorbidities to death, including their influence as calculated by the odds ratios.Findings: Over the two-year span of 2020 to 2022, there were 11815 hospitalizations among young children, of which 15.98% were due to COVID-19 and 32.45% of those affected resulted in fatalities. Remarkably, there was a persistent dip in fatalities, almost cut in half yearly in succession. Ages 0 to 2 were the most impacted group of children, and the most frequently seen comorbidities associated with their hospitalization and death were pneumonia, intubation, and diabetes.Interpretation: Children's hospitalizations and deaths were not uncommon during the pandemic, and as a result, emphasis must be placed on major comorbidities, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Effective comorbidity management and vaccination programs are essential to reduce hospitalizations and death.Funding: This work received no funding.Declaration of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.