Department of Pediatric Pulmonology and Immunology, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Department of Pediatric Pulmonology, Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
BMC Pediatr. 2023 Nov 22;23(1):588. doi: 10.1186/s12887-023-04364-9.
To examine the numbers and characteristics of children affected by asthma exacerbation in Chengdu, China, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic to inform efforts to manage childhood asthma in the post epidemic era.
Data were retrospectively collected from children admitted for asthma exacerbation to Chengdu Women and Children's Central Hospital between January 2017 and December 2022. Rates of hospitalization, ages of the affected children, comorbidities and infections, and relationships between hospitalization and seasonal or environmental factors were examined before and after the epidemic.
Fewer children were hospitalized for asthma exacerbation, yet more hospitalized children had severe exacerbation after the epidemic than before. Rates of hospitalization varied considerably with time of year, and the timing of peak hospitalizations differed before and after the epidemic. Only before the epidemic, rates of hospitalization for asthma exacerbation were positively correlated with humidity. Infants made up a smaller proportion of hospitalized children after the epidemic than before, with preschool children accounting for most hospitalizations after the epidemic. The proportion of children hospitalized for asthma exacerbation who also had pneumonia was significantly smaller after the epidemic than before. Conversely, the proportion of children hospitalized for asthma exacerbation who also had allergic diseases was significantly greater after the epidemic than before.
The epidemiology of asthma exacerbation in children changed after the epidemic. Future efforts to manage the condition in the paediatric population should focus on severe asthma exacerbation, prevention and management of allergic diseases, and the influence of meteorological and environmental factors.
调查新冠疫情前后中国成都地区儿童哮喘急性发作的人数和特征，为后疫情时代管理儿童哮喘提供依据。
回顾性收集了 2017 年 1 月至 2022 年 12 月期间在成都市妇女儿童中心医院因哮喘急性发作住院的儿童数据。分析了疫情前后住院率、患儿年龄、合并症和感染情况，以及住院与季节性或环境因素之间的关系。
疫情后哮喘急性发作住院的儿童人数减少，但病情更严重。住院率随时间变化差异较大，疫情前后的高峰期时间不同。仅在疫情前，哮喘急性发作的住院率与湿度呈正相关。与疫情前相比，疫情后住院的哮喘患儿中婴儿比例较小，学龄前儿童占多数。与疫情前相比，疫情后因哮喘急性发作住院的患儿中同时患有肺炎的比例显著较小。相反，疫情后因哮喘急性发作住院的患儿中同时患有过敏性疾病的比例显著较高。
疫情后儿童哮喘急性发作的流行病学发生了变化。未来应重点关注重症哮喘急性发作、过敏性疾病的预防和管理，以及气象和环境因素的影响。
