Since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) to be a pandemic, children's COVID-19 cases were generally less severe than adults. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 cases among children with hemoglobinopathies and other inherited anemias living in El-Minya Governorate, Egypt, who are at high risk of exposure to infection. This cross-sectional study evaluated data from 258 children with hemoglobinopathies and inherited anemias. A questionnaire was used to collect data about COVID-19 symptoms coupled with appropriate investigations (complete blood count, d-dimer, anti-COVID antibodies, chest computed tomography scans, and polymerase chain reaction). We found 38 of 258 (14.7%) children had mild to moderate COVID-19, while there were no cases with severe form of COVID-19. COVID-19 cases were significantly older (8.63±3.37 vs. 6.71±3.56 y, P=0.01), noncompliant to iron chelators (63.2% vs. 11.8%, P=0.01), had higher serum ferritin (2639.47±835.06 vs. 1038.95±629.87 ng/mL, P<0.0001) and serum iron levels (803.68±261.36 vs. 374.18±156.15 µg/dL, P<0.0001) and more frequently had undergone splenectomy (78.9% vs. 25.5%; P<0.0001) than non-COVID-19 cases. In conclusion, only 14.7% of children with hemoglobinopathies and inherited anemias were recorded to have contracted mild to moderate COVID-19, with no reported severe cases.

中文翻译：

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患有血红蛋白病和遗传性贫血的埃及儿童中 COVID-19 的患病率。

自世界卫生组织 (WHO) 宣布 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 为大流行病以来，儿童的 COVID-19 病例通常不如成人严重。该研究的目的是确定居住在埃及明亚省的患有血红蛋白病和其他遗传性贫血的儿童中 COVID-19 病例的患病率，这些儿童接触感染的风险很高。这项横断面研究评估了 258 名患有血红蛋白病和遗传性贫血的儿童的数据。使用问卷收集有关 COVID-19 症状的数据以及适当的调查（全血细胞计数、d-二聚体、抗 COVID 抗体、胸部计算机断层扫描和聚合酶链反应）。我们发现 258 名儿童中有 38 名 (14.7%) 患有轻度至中度 COVID-19，而没有严重形式的 COVID-19 病例。COVID-19病例年龄明显较大（8.63±3.37 vs. 6.71±3.56 岁，P=0.01），对铁螯合剂不依从（63.2% vs. 11.8%，P=0.01），血清铁蛋白较高（2639.47±835.06 vs. 2639.47±835.06）。 1038.95±629.87 ng/mL，P<0.0001）和血清铁水平（803.68±261.36 vs. 374.18±156.15 µg/dL，P<0.0001）并且更频繁地接受脾切除术（78.9% vs. 25.5%；P<0.0001）比非 COVID-19 病例。总之，只有 14.7% 的血红蛋白病和遗传性贫血儿童被记录感染轻度至中度 COVID-19，没有报告严重病例。