Pediatric Non-COVID-19 Community-Acquired Pneumonia in COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction:The COVID-19 lockdown strategies were associated with a significant decrease in infectious diseases disseminated through airborne or fecal-oral transmissions. Social distancing and other lockdown strategies effectively slowed down the spread of common respiratory viral diseases and decreased the need for hospitalization among children. Thus, a decline in the incidence of respiratory viral diseases had been reported following the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the trend of non-COVID-19 pneumonia in children remains uncertain. This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of non-COVID-19 community-acquired pneumonia in children. Materials and Methods:We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients (age ≤18 years) presenting with pulmonary infection from January 2019 to December 2020 in a tertiary-level teaching hospital. We compared the number of pediatric patients admitted to our hospital with community-acquired pneumonia from January to December 2020 to those from the same period in 2019. Results: A total of 65 patients were diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia in 2019 and 18 in 2020. The number of patients with community-acquired pneumonia in 2020 was lower than that in 2019 by 47 cases in 2020. The most age distribution of pediatric patients with community-acquired pneumonia was 2-5 years in 2019, indicating the decreasing number of community-acquired pneumonia patients from 36 patients in 2019 to 3 in 2020. Conclusion:The number of pediatric with community-acquired pneumonia was lower than in the same period in 2019, which markedly decreased (−72.3%) in 2020. These interventions applied to control the COVID-19 pandemic were effective not only in substantial changes in the seasonal influenza activity but also in decreasing cases of pediatric community-acquired pneumonia.

Consumption Trends of Antibiotics in Brazil During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…These decreases are clearly explained by the decrease in bacterial respiratory infections during the pandemic. Other authors found the same phenomenon, attributing the drop in respiratory infections (not COVID-19 infections) during the pandemic to social distancing (for example, schools closing), the use of face masks, decreased visits to doctors’ offices and emergency services, and measures of more restrictive health protocols during the pandemic ( Kuitunen et al, 2020a ; Kuitunen et al, 2020b ; Chiapinotto et al, 2021 ; Huang, 2021 ). All these measures contributed to the decrease in the transmissibility of respiratory pathogens, with a consequent decrease in the number of infections and use of these antibiotics.…”

Trend in the admissions of patients with non-COVID-19 respiratory symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on hospital finances in Surabaya, Indonesia

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, CAP decreased by 72.3% [ 27 ]. It turns out that interventions for controlling COVID-19 (prevention of droplet transmission and direct contact) could prevent seasonal influenza and CAP [ 28 ]. Study results in adult patients showed that elderly pneumonia cases decreased in hospitals that did not accept COVID-19 patients [ 29 ].…”

Direct costs of community-acquired pneumonia for hospitalized children in Shanghai, China from 2018 to 2020: a cross-sectional analysis

“…For example, the wearing of masks was widely recommended throughout the city in all instances of close person-to-person contact, and children and adolescents were asked to wash their hands frequently at kindergartens and schools. Huang showed that the strategy to prevent the outbreak of COVID-19 was also effective at preventing pediatric CAP in Taiwan where the number of pediatric patients with CAP decreased by an average of 72.3% in 1 year (15). Yamamoto reported a similar situation among adults; that is, the number of patients with CAP began to decrease in February 2020, and was significantly lower than those from the same period for the last 3 years ( 16).…”