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. 2022 Aug 18;107(9):840-844.
doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2021-323559.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in infants with bronchiolitis: a multicentre international study

Giorgio Cozzi  1 , Luisa Cortellazzo Wiel  2   3 , Alessandro Amaddeo  1 , Antonio Gatto  4 , Manuela Giangreco  1 , Adi Klein-Kremer  5 , Samantha Bosis  6 , Davide Silvagni  7 , Carla Debbia  8 , Laura Nanni  9 , Sara Chiappa  10 , Marta Minute  11 , Ilaria Corsini  12 , Giuliana Morabito  13 , Anna Jolanda Gortan  14 , Marco Colombo  15 , Federico Marchetti  16 , Davide Garelli  17 , Arianna Piffer  18 , Fabio Cardinale  19 , Nitai Levy  20 , Antonietta Curatola  21 , Bojana Gojsina  22   23 , Suvradeep Basu  3 , Egidio Barbi  1   24 , Aleksandar Sovtic  22   23 ; SARS-CoV-2 bronchiolitis study group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Free article

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in infants with bronchiolitis: a multicentre international study

Giorgio Cozzi et al. Arch Dis Child. .
Free article

Abstract

Background: Bronchiolitis is the leading acute respiratory tract infection in infants during the winter season. Since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a reduction in the number of bronchiolitis diagnoses has been registered.

Objective: The present study aimed to describe the incidence and clinical features of bronchiolitis during the 2020-2021 winter season in a large cohort of children in Europe and Israel, and to clarify the role of SARS-CoV-2.

Setting, patients, interventions: We conducted a multicentre observational cross-sectional study in 23 paediatric emergency departments in Europe and Israel. Clinical and demographic data about all the cases of infants diagnosed with bronchiolitis from 1 October 2020 to 30 April 2021 were collected. For each enrolled patient, diagnostic tests, treatments and outcomes were reported.

Main outcome measures: The main outcome was the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2-positive bronchiolitis.

Results: Three hundred and fourteen infants received a diagnosis of bronchiolitis during the study period. Among 535 infants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, 16 (3%) had bronchiolitis. Median age, male sex predominance, weight, history of prematurity and presence of comorbidities did not differ between the SARS-CoV-2-positive and SARS-CoV-2-negative groups. Rhinovirus was the most common involved pathogen, while respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was detected in one case. SARS-CoV-2 bronchiolitis had a mild clinical course, with one patient receiving oxygen supplementation and none requiring paediatric or neonatal intensive care unit admission.

Conclusions: During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a marked decrease in the number of bronchiolitis diagnoses and the disappearance of the RSV winter epidemic were observed. SARS-CoV-2-related bronchiolitis was rare and mostly displayed a mild clinical course.

Keywords: COVID-19; epidemiology; intensive care units; paediatric emergency medicine; virology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.