Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2025
Assessing Respiratory Immune Responses to Haemophilus Influenzae
Published on: June 29, 2021
Health care use after severe respiratory tract infections in children aged 0 to 5 years
Vilde Bergstad Larsen1, Ketil Størdal2,3, Kjetil Telle1
1Cluster for Health Services Research, Division for Health Services, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway.
Insights
Infants with COVID-19 showed slightly increased healthcare use after hospitalization compared to those with RSV or other respiratory infections. However, severe COVID-19 in young children does not pose a significant health service burden.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Infectious Diseases
- Health Services Research
Background:
- COVID-19 impacts children, necessitating understanding of post-discharge healthcare needs.
- Comparing COVID-19 outcomes to other respiratory infections like RSV is crucial for resource allocation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if children hospitalized with COVID-19 utilize more healthcare services post-discharge than those with RSV or other respiratory tract infections (RTIs).
Main Methods:
- A difference-in-differences study design was employed.
- Data included 34,214 children (1 month to 5 years) hospitalized with COVID-19, RSV, or other RTIs between 2017-2021.
- Healthcare use was analyzed 12 weeks pre- and post-hospitalization, stratified by infants and children.
Main Results:
- Infants with COVID-19 showed a slight increase in primary healthcare use within 4 weeks post-hospitalization compared to infants with RSV.
- This increase in healthcare use for infants with COVID-19 persisted for 12 weeks post-discharge compared to RSV cases.
Conclusions:
- Infants hospitalized with COVID-19 may experience slightly increased healthcare utilization compared to those with other respiratory infections.
- The etiological mechanisms for this increased use warrant further clinical investigation.
- Severe COVID-19 in young children is unlikely to cause a substantial increase in the overall health service burden.
Aim:
To explore whether children in specialist care with COVID-19 have increased post-discharge health care use when compared with children in specialist care with 1) respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, and 2) other respiratory tract infections (RTIs).
Methods:
In 34,214 children aged 1 month to 5 years who were registered as having one or more hospital visit (outpatient or inpatient) with a diagnosis of COVID-19 (N = 128), RSV infection (N = 4,009), or other RTIs (N = 34,458) from 2017 to 2021, we used a difference-in-differences study design to investigate individual all-cause primary and specialist health care use from 12 weeks prior to 12 weeks after the hospital visit, stratified by infants (1 to 11 months) and children (1 to 5 years).
Results:
We found a slight increase in primary health care use in the first 4 weeks after the hospital visit for infants with COVID-19 when compared with infants with RSV infection (6 per 10,000; 95% CI [2, 13], a 0.52% relative increase). For infants diagnosed with COVID-19, we found a similar post-visit increase in inpatients when compared with infants with RSV infection, which lasted for 12 weeks.
Conclusions:
Our findings imply a slightly increased health care use among infants after a hospital visit for COVID-19 than among infants with other RTIs, the potential etiological mechanisms of which deserve future clinical research. Severe COVID-19 in young children will not represent any markedly increased burden on the health services.
More Related Videos
11:32Following in Real Time the Impact of Pneumococcal Virulence Factors in an Acute Mouse Pneumonia Model Using Bioluminescent Bacteria
Published on: February 23, 2014
09:01An In vitro Model to Study Immune Responses of Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells to Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection
Published on: December 10, 2013
Related Concept Videos
01:29Acute Respiratory Failure-V
Ensure that patients are monitored continuously for their response to therapy, including changes in...
01:17Pulmonary Cycle: Exhalation
01:31Common Respiratory Disorders
Upper respiratory disorders impact the airways above the vocal cords, encompassing areas like the nose, sinuses, and throat. Various conditions fall under this category, including the common cold and allergic rhinitis. These disorders can stem from several causes,...
01:19Respiratory Assessment: Purpose and Indications
Objectives and Importance:
The primary goal of respiratory assessment is to evaluate patients at early risk of clinical deterioration. Since respiratory distress often precedes other signs of declining health, breathing patterns and sounds become a...
01:28Physical Assessment of the Respiratory Tract I: Health History
Subjective Data
Subjective data provides vital information about the patient's health history and symptoms. This data is typically collected through interviews in which patients describe their experiences, symptoms, and concerns.
Health history and...
01:21Acute Respiratory Failure-I
Definition: It is defined by specific criteria based on blood gas measurements. Hypoxemia happens when the partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) falls below 60 mmHg. At the same time,...