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. 2021 Mar;82(3):414-451.
doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2020.10.013. Epub 2020 Oct 21.

Low impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection among paediatric acute respiratory disease hospitalizations

Maria Melé  1 , Desiree Henares  2 , Rosa Pino  1 , Silvia Asenjo  1 , Rocío Matamoros  1 , Victoria Fumadó  3 , Claudia Fortuny  4 , Juan-José García-García  5 , Iolanda Jordan  6 , Pedro Brotons  7 , Carmen Muñoz-Almagro  8 , Mariona-Fernández de-Sevilla  5 , Cristian Launes  9 ; Kids-Corona Paediatric Hospitalist group
Affiliations

Low impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection among paediatric acute respiratory disease hospitalizations

Maria Melé et al. J Infect. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: This study describes the characteristics of children requiring admission with an acute lower-respiratory disease (ALRD) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemics.

Methods: Epidemiological, clinical, and microbiological data from patients with ALRD (pneumonia, bronchiolitis, bronchospasm) admitted to a reference paediatric hospital in Spain during the pandemic peak (week 11-20/2020) were prospectively analysed.

Results: 110 patients were included. 7 were SARS-CoV-2(+) and they were older in comparison to SARS-CoV-2(-). Among SARS-CoV-2(+) patients, pneumonia was the main clinical diagnosis (6/7) and bronchospasm was absent. Only 1 of 29 infants diagnosed with bronchiolitis was SARS-CoV-2(+). Lower values of leucocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils, and platelets and higher values of creatinine were found in SARS-CoV-2(+). Human-rhinovirus/enterovirus was the main detection (11/32). There were not differences in PICU admission rates between SARS-CoV-2(+) and (-).

Conclusions: Most of the ALRD episodes identified during the pandemics were not related to SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 was mainly found causing pneumonia in older children.

Keywords: Bronchiolitis; COVID-19; Pneumonia; Respiratory viral infections; SARS-CoV-2.

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