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Changing Epidemiology of Acute Viral Respiratory Infections in Hospitalized Children: The Post-Lockdown Effect
Marco Maglione1, Antonia Pascarella1, Chiara Botti2
1Pediatric Emergency Unit, Santobono-Pausilipon Children's Hospital, 80129 Naples, Italy.
Insights
Public health measures impacted childhood respiratory virus circulation. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was the most common cause of hospitalization in children during the third year of the pandemic.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiology
- Virology
Background:
- Public health interventions for SARS-CoV-2 likely altered circulation patterns of other respiratory viruses.
- Understanding these shifts is crucial for pediatric respiratory health surveillance.
- The third year of the COVID-19 pandemic (2021-2022) presented a unique period to study these effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the epidemiology of acute respiratory infections in hospitalized children during the 2021-2022 pandemic period.
- To identify the most prevalent respiratory pathogens and their seasonal patterns.
- To analyze the occurrence of single versus multiple pathogen infections.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of health records for children (<14 years) hospitalized with acute respiratory infections.
- Data collected between July 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022.
- Utilized 1763 respiratory panels for pathogen detection.
Main Results:
- 72% of analyzed panels tested positive for at least one pathogen.
- Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was the most frequently detected pathogen (57.8% of positive panels), peaking in November 2021.
- 25.5% of positive cases involved multiple infections, with older children more likely to have co-infections.
Conclusions:
- The 2021-2022 RSV season in Italy occurred earlier than in pre-pandemic years.
- A significant number of children were hospitalized due to viral respiratory infections, including less severe viruses.
- Pandemic-related measures may have influenced the timing and prevalence of pediatric respiratory virus infections.
Abstract:
Several reports highlighted how public health measures aimed at limiting severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) circulation have likely contributed to reducing the circulation of other respiratory viruses, particularly during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluated the epidemiology of acute respiratory infections in a large cohort of hospitalized children during the third year of the pandemic (2021−2022). We retrospectively analyzed data from the health records of children (<14 years) hospitalized for acute respiratory infections between 1 July 2021 and 31 March 2022. A total of 1763 respiratory panels were collected. Overall, 1269 (72%) panels hadpositive results for at least one pathogen. Most positive panels (53.8%) belonged to patients aged 1−12 months. The most detected pathogen was respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (57.8% of positive panels). The RSV peak occurred in November 2021. Nine hundred and forty-five (74.5%) panels were positive for one pathogen while three hundred and twenty-four (25.5%) showed multiple infections. Patients with multiple infections were significantly older than those with a single infection. The 2021−2022 peak of RSV infection in Italy occurred earlier than in the previous pre-pandemic seasons. A high number of children have been hospitalized because of acute viral infections also due to less aggressive viruses.
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