Pediatric Emergency Department, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland.
Pediatric Emergency Department, Inselspital University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Jun 30;21(1):1275. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11315-5.
We aimed to document the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on regions within a European country.
Parents arriving at two pediatric emergency departments (EDs) in North of Switzerland and two in South of Switzerland completed an online survey during the first peak of the pandemic (April-June 2020). They were asked to rate their concern about their children or themselves having COVID-19.
A total of 662 respondents completed the survey. Parents in the South were significantly more exposed to someone tested positive for COVID-19 than in the North (13.9 and 4.7%, respectively; P < 0.001). Parents in the South were much more concerned than in the North that they (mean 4.61 and 3.32, respectively; P < 0.001) or their child (mean 4.79 and 3.17, respectively; P < 0.001) had COVID-19. Parents reported their children wore facemasks significantly more often in the South than in the North (71.5 and 23.5%, respectively; P < 0.001).
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant regional differences among families arriving at EDs in Switzerland. Public health agencies should consider regional strategies, rather than country-wide guidelines, in future pandemics and for vaccination against COVID-19 for children.
我们旨在记录 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行对一个欧洲国家内各地区的影响。
在 COVID-19 大流行的第一个高峰期间（2020 年 4 月至 6 月），来自瑞士北部的两家儿科急诊部（ED）和瑞士南部的两家儿科急诊部的父母完成了一项在线调查。他们被要求对自己或孩子感染 COVID-19的担忧程度进行评分。
共有 662 名受访者完成了调查。与瑞士北部相比，南部的父母接触过 COVID-19 检测呈阳性的人明显更多（分别为 13.9%和 4.7%；P<0.001）。与瑞士北部相比，南部的父母更加担心自己（平均值分别为 4.61 和 3.32；P<0.001）或他们的孩子（平均值分别为 4.79 和 3.17；P<0.001）患有 COVID-19。与瑞士北部相比，父母报告他们的孩子在南部戴口罩的频率明显更高（分别为 71.5%和 23.5%；P<0.001）。
COVID-19 大流行导致瑞士急诊部就诊的家庭存在显著的地区差异。公共卫生机构在未来的大流行和儿童 COVID-19 疫苗接种中应考虑采用区域性策略，而不是全国性指南。
