Ambati Shashikanth, Mihic Maya, Wilkinson Kristy, Sanchez Javier L, Pezzano Chad
Division of Pediatric Critical Care, Albany Medical Center, Albany, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, Albany Medical Center, Albany, USA.
Cureus. 2022 May 26;14(5):e25369. doi: 10.7759/cureus.25369. eCollection 2022 May.
Background Pediatric inpatient admissions for viral respiratory infections decreased worldwide during the early part of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This was likely due to social distancing measures and mask mandates leading to a decreased spread of viruses. We question if there was an increase in respiratory admissions during the winter of 2020-2021 due to the overlap of seasonal respiratory viruses and COVID-19 and the severity of those admissions. Methods We performed a single-center retrospective chart review of all respiratory admissions to our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) from October to April during the years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021. We compared the total number of respiratory admissions from different viruses and respiratory admissions by diagnoses among those time periods. Second, we compared the PICU length of stay and duration of mechanical ventilation (both invasive and non-invasive) for these respiratory admissions during those years. Results We saw a drastic decrease in the total respiratory admissions to the PICU in 2020-2021 compared to the same period of time in the last two years. The greatest contributor to this decrease was admissions secondary to bronchiolitis. We noticed a statistically significant decrease in both asthma (p<0.001) and chronic respiratory failure admissions (p=0.0029) during the pandemic winter compared to previous winters. Although, the total number of all respiratory viral admissions is not significant, admissions specific to the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (p<0.0001), rhino-enterovirus (p<0.0001), and multi-virus (p=0.0016), achieved statistical significance. There was no statistical difference between the PICU length of stay and duration of mechanical ventilation during the three years. Conclusion Despite a decrease in pediatric respiratory admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the severity of illness based on length of stay in the PICU and length of time on respiratory support remains unchanged compared to the previous two years.
在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行初期，全球因病毒性呼吸道感染而住院的儿科患者数量有所下降。这可能是由于社交距离措施和口罩强制令导致病毒传播减少。我们质疑在2020 - 2021年冬季，由于季节性呼吸道病毒与COVID-19的重叠以及这些住院病例的严重程度，呼吸道住院人数是否有所增加。方法：我们对2018 - 2019年、2019 - 2020年和2020 - 2021年10月至4月期间入住我们儿科重症监护病房（PICU）的所有呼吸道疾病患者进行了单中心回顾性病历审查。我们比较了不同病毒导致的呼吸道住院总数以及这些时间段内按诊断分类的呼吸道住院病例。其次，我们比较了这些年份中这些呼吸道住院病例在PICU的住院时间和机械通气时间（包括有创和无创）。结果：与前两年同期相比，我们发现2020 - 2021年PICU的呼吸道住院总数大幅下降。导致这种下降的最大因素是细支气管炎继发的住院病例。我们注意到，与之前的冬季相比，在大流行冬季哮喘（p<0.001）和慢性呼吸衰竭住院病例（p = 0.0029）均有统计学显著下降。尽管所有呼吸道病毒住院病例的总数没有显著差异，但呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）（p<0.0001）、鼻 - 肠道病毒（p<0.0001）和多种病毒感染（p = 0.0016）导致的住院病例具有统计学显著性。三年间，PICU住院时间和机械通气时间没有统计学差异。结论：尽管在COVID-19大流行期间儿科呼吸道住院人数有所下降，但与前两年相比，基于在PICU的住院时间和呼吸支持时间的疾病严重程度保持不变。
