Pediatrics, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia
Pediatrics, Fundacion Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud, Bogota, Colombia.
Arch Dis Child. 2021 Jul 19;106(8):808-811. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2020-320469.
The COVID-19 pandemic reached the Southern Hemisphere in the autumn of 2020, thus coinciding with its expected annual viral respiratory season. The potential impact of national strategies aimed at mitigating COVID-19 during the pandemic on the incidence of other critical viral lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in children is unknown.
We analysed admission data for LRTIs from 22 paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) in four countries, part of a large international Latin American registry of children with acute respiratory failure (Red Colaborativa Pediátrica de Latinoamérica [LARed Network]).
Between January and August, there were 83% fewer PICU admissions for LRTIs in 2020 compared to the 2018/2019 average over the same period. Similar decreases were noted for PICU admissions due to respiratory syncytial virus and influenza (92% and 78%, respectively).
We observed a striking reduction in PICU admissions due to viral LRTIs over winter, during the COVID-19 pandemic in South America.
2020 年秋，新冠疫情蔓延至南半球，恰逢其每年预期的病毒性呼吸道疾病高发季节。在大流行期间，旨在减轻新冠疫情影响的国家战略对儿童其他严重病毒性下呼吸道感染（LRTI）发病率的潜在影响尚不清楚。
我们分析了来自四个国家的 22 个儿科重症监护病房（PICU）的 LRTI 入院数据，这些数据是拉丁美洲急性呼吸衰竭儿童大型国际登记处（Red Colaborativa Pediátrica de Latinoamérica [LARed Network]）的一部分。
与 2018/2019 年同期相比，2020 年同期 PICU 因 LRTI 的入院人数减少了 83%。因呼吸道合胞病毒和流感导致的 PICU 入院人数也出现了类似的下降（分别为 92%和 78%）。
我们观察到，在南美洲的 COVID-19 大流行期间，冬季病毒性 LRTI 的 PICU 入院人数显著减少。
