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. 2022 Apr 1;9(4):491.
doi: 10.3390/children9040491.

Epidemiology, Microbiology and Severity of Bronchiolitis in the First Post-Lockdown Cold Season in Three Different Geographical Areas in Italy: A Prospective, Observational Study

Anna Camporesi  1 , Rosa Morello  2 , Valentina Ferro  3 , Luca Pierantoni  4 , Alessandro Rocca  4 , Marcello Lanari  4 , Gian Luca Trobia  5 , Tiziana Sciacca  5 , Agata Giuseppina Bellinvia  5 , Alessandra De Ferrari  1 , Piero Valentini  2 , Damian Roland  6   7 , Danilo Buonsenso  2   8
Affiliations

Epidemiology, Microbiology and Severity of Bronchiolitis in the First Post-Lockdown Cold Season in Three Different Geographical Areas in Italy: A Prospective, Observational Study

Anna Camporesi et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the epidemiology, disease severity, and microbiology of bronchiolitis in Italy during the 2021-2022 cold season, outside of lockdowns. Before COVID-19, the usual bronchiolitis season in Italy would begin in November and end in April, peaking in February. We performed a prospective observational study in four referral pediatric centers located in different geographical areas in Italy (two in the north, one in the center and one in the south). From 1 July 2021 to 31 January 2022, we collected all new clinical diagnoses of bronchiolitis in children younger than two years of age recording demographic, clinical and microbiological data. A total of 657 children with a clinical diagnosis of bronchiolitis were enrolled; 56% children were admitted and 5.9% required PICU admission. The first cases were detected during the summer, peaking in November 2021 and declining into December 2021 with only a few cases detected in January 2022. RSV was the commonest etiological agent, while SARS-CoV-2 was rarely detected and only since the end of December 2021. Disease severity was similar in children with RSV vs. non-RSV bronchiolitis, and in those with a single infectious agent detected compared with children with co-infections. The 2021-2022 bronchiolitis season in Italy started and peaked earlier than the usual pre-pandemic seasons, but had a shorter duration. Importantly, the current bronchiolitis season was not more severe when data were compared with Italian published data, and SARS-CoV-2 was rarely a cause of bronchiolitis in children younger than 24 months of age.

Keywords: COVID-19; RSV; bronchiolitis; children; respiratory syncytial virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Temporal distribution of cases of bronchiolitis during the study period (A) and according to the main geographical areas (B).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Temporal distribution of cases of bronchiolitis according to the main etiologies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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