Wan Zhenzhou, Wang Yulin, Liang Jiao, Cao Yueqin, Lu Renfei, Zhang Chiyu
Taizhou Fourth People's Hospital, Taizhou, China.
Jiangsu Agri-Animal Husbandry Vocational College, Taizhou, China.
J Infect Dev Ctries. 2022 Apr 30;16(4):600-603. doi: 10.3855/jidc.15898.
Children and the elderly are two special subpopulations for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and respiratory tract infections (RTIs). The study aimed to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 public health measures on the burden of RTIs in China by performing a two-center investigation.
The electronic medical records of all inpatients in departments of pediatrics and respiratory medicine of Taizhou Fourth People's Hospital (Taizhou, China) and Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital (Xi'an, China) during January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2021 were analyzed. A total of 18,084 child inpatients and 14,802 adult inpatients were included.
The vast majority (88.3%-90.6%) of the adult inpatients were the elderly, aged over 50 years. The numbers of child and adult (elderly) inpatients, and the proportions of RTI-associated diseases substantially decreased during COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) compared to that before the pandemic (2019) in Taizhou and Xi'an. A significantly higher proportion of LRTI-associated diseases was observed in elderly female inpatients (53.4-55.6%) than elderly male inpatients (34.3-41.5%) (p < 0.001) in spite of more male inpatients than female inpatients (1.94-1.95:1).
COVID-19-related interventions provide an additional beneficial effect on reduction of RTI-associated diseases in both children and the elderly.
儿童和老年人是新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）和呼吸道感染（RTIs）的两个特殊亚人群。本研究旨在通过开展一项双中心调查，评估COVID-19公共卫生措施对中国呼吸道感染负担的影响。
分析了2019年1月1日至2021年6月30日期间泰州第四人民医院（中国泰州）和陕西省人民医院（中国西安）儿科和呼吸内科所有住院患者的电子病历。共纳入18,084名儿童住院患者和14,802名成人住院患者。
绝大多数（88.3%-90.6%）成人住院患者为50岁以上的老年人。与疫情前（2019年）相比，泰州和西安在COVID-19大流行期间（2020-2021年）儿童和成人（老年人）住院患者数量以及RTI相关疾病的比例大幅下降。尽管男性住院患者多于女性住院患者（1.94-1.95:1），但老年女性住院患者中LRTI相关疾病的比例（53.4-55.6%）显著高于老年男性住院患者（34.3-41.5%）（p<0.001）。
与COVID-19相关的干预措施对减少儿童和老年人中与RTI相关的疾病具有额外的有益作用。
