Changes in pediatric seizure-related emergency department attendances during COVID-19 – A territory-wide observational study

Pediatric tertiary emergency care departments in Zagreb, Rijeka, and Split before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: a Croatian national multicenter study

“…Fewer visits were due to abdominal pain, although this did not influence the number of hospitalizations, suggesting that the cause was often banal. The reduction in trauma- or seizure-related visits observed in other countries was not supported by our study ( 7 , 23 , 39 - 46 ). Regarding life-threatening conditions, there was no increased mortality although official reports are yet to be expected ( 35 , 36 , 38 ).…”

“…Other studies worldwide also observed a decreased number of non-COVID-19 related ED visits. This decrease might be explained by a direct/indirect effect of countermeasures and the fear of contracting COVID-19 in hospital (2,5,(8)(9)(10)(11)13,18,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26). The most affected center was UHID, with a staggering 71.6% decrease, while other centers had close to 50% decrease (Table 1).…”

Seizure- or Epilepsy-Related Emergency Department Visits Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, 2019–2021

“…In this study of trends in seizure-related ED visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, seizure-related ED visits during the initial COVID-19 waves declined among all age groups, especially among children aged 0–9 years. These findings are consistent with several other studies ( 6 – 8 ). In one analysis of U.S. ED visits during January 2019–May 2020, the number of weekly all-cause ED visits declined abruptly during March 29–April 25, 2020, along with a decline in ED visits among children aged 0–9 years attributable to common conditions, including influenza, otitis media, upper respiratory conditions, asthma, viral infection, respiratory symptoms, and fever ( 6 ).…”

“…However, a limitation of the Italian study was small sample size; thus, the findings warrant additional study. The findings related to febrile seizure–attributable ED use in the current report differ from, but supplement growing research in this area ( 8 ).…”

“…In one analysis of U.S. ED visits during January 2019–May 2020, the number of weekly all-cause ED visits declined abruptly during March 29–April 25, 2020, along with a decline in ED visits among children aged 0–9 years attributable to common conditions, including influenza, otitis media, upper respiratory conditions, asthma, viral infection, respiratory symptoms, and fever ( 6 ). International studies have described a reduction in seizure-related ED visits among children during the COVID-19 pandemic, with one study reporting a notable decline in febrile seizure–related ED visits among children aged 0–6 years ( 7 , 8 ).…”