Department of Pediatrics, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Department of Pediatrics, Seoul Metropolitan Government-Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
J Korean Med Sci. 2022 May 23;37(20):e140. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e140.
Croup is an acute upper respiratory disease primarily caused by the parainfluenza virus. Owing to inflammation and edema of the upper airways, children present with barky cough and stridor, and some may experience respiratory distress. We investigated children aged < 5 years with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to two hospitals in Seoul, South Korea, and observed a spike in croup cases during the omicron surge. Among the 569 children admitted from March 1, 2021 to February 25, 2022, 21 children (3.7%) had croup, and the proportion of croup cases was significantly higher during the omicron wave than that during the delta wave (12.4% vs. 1.2%, < 0.001). With the immediate administration of corticosteroids and epinephrine via nebulizer, the symptoms improved rapidly. During the current omicron surge, careful monitoring of the symptoms of croup in young children is needed for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and its timely management.
喉炎是一种主要由副流感病毒引起的急性上呼吸道疾病。由于上呼吸道的炎症和水肿，患儿会出现犬吠样咳嗽和喘鸣，部分患儿可能出现呼吸困难。我们调查了韩国首尔两家医院收治的年龄<5 岁的 2019 冠状病毒病（COVID-19）患儿，发现在奥密克戎疫情期间喉炎病例有所增加。在 2021 年 3 月 1 日至 2022 年 2 月 25 日期间收治的 569 名患儿中，有 21 名（3.7%）患有喉炎，奥密克戎波期间喉炎病例的比例明显高于德尔塔波期间（12.4%比 1.2%，<0.001）。通过雾化器立即给予皮质类固醇和肾上腺素治疗，症状迅速改善。在当前的奥密克戎疫情期间，需要密切监测幼儿喉炎的症状，以便对 COVID-19 进行诊断，并及时进行管理。
