key: cord-0863874-sm1s5yqh
authors: Montejo, Marta; Sánchez, Alvaro; Paniagua, Natalia; Saiz-Hernando, Carlos; Benito, Javier
title: Reduction in the incidence of acute bronchiolitis and related hospital admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic()
date: 2022-03-11
journal: An Pediatr (Engl Ed)
DOI: 10.1016/j.anpede.2022.03.003
sha: c48c5700ce215161a2d935d9815927c948e1070a
doc_id: 863874
cord_uid: sm1s5yqh

nan

Resumen: Existen pocos datos sobre el impacto de la pandemia de COVID-19 en la bronquiolitis aguda en el hemisferio norte. Las medidas de salud pública contra el COVID-19 parecen haber disminuido la incidencia de la bronquiolitis y los ingresos hospitalarios asociados en la primera temporada completa de bronquiolitis, tras el inicio de la pandemia de COVID-19 (octubre de 2020 a marzo de 2021), en comparación con los años anteriores. In New South Wales, Australia, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a 94% reduction in the number of detected cases of respiratory syncytial virus and a 85% to 89% reduction in hospital admissions due to bronchiolitis compared to previous years (2015-19). 3 Similarly, there was an observed 70% decrease in infant admissions due to AB in Brazil. 4 In the northern hemisphere, several studies have estimated the reduction in AB cases during the 2020 winter bronchiolitis season (through the end of the year). In France, there were decreases of 82.1% and 82.5% in bronchiolitis-related medical visits and hospital admissions, respectively, during the epidemic season of winter 2020. 5 In Belgium, bronchiolitis-related admissions decreased by 92.5% and cases of respiratory syncytial virus by 99% during the winter peak compared to the epidemic seasons of the 3 previous years. 6 All these studies highlighted that the measures adopted to reduce the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19, were the most important contributor to this reduction.

Further evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on AB is needed, especially data for the entire bronchiolitis season in northern hemisphere. Seeking to fill this gap in the literature, we aimed to describe and measure any changes in the incidence of AB at which allowed us to estimate the cumulative incidence. Then, we determined the specific time-at-risk for each individual during the observation period, which allowed us to calculate the rate ratio as the total number of events per person-time observed in 1000 person-months. We assessed for differences in incidence in the 2020-2021 season compared to previous seasons by mean of rate ratios. The study had a retrospective observational design and involved collection of information recorded in real-life clinical practice by health professionals, and was thus exempted from the need to obtain informed consent from patients. The data were kept confidential and anonymised, and we used them solely for the purpose of the study in adherence with Organic Law 15/1999 of December 13 on the protection of personal data.

In the 2020-21 season, the observed incidence and cumulative incidence of AB were substantially lower and associated with a sizeable decrease in the number of emergency visits and hospital admissions compared to previous years (Table 1 and Figure 1) .

Notably, there were 89% and 88% fewer AB cases in the current season compared to 1

year and 2 years prior, with incidence rates dropping from 24.7 and 23.8 cases, respectively, to 2.7 cases per 1000 person-months. We also found a reduction of 

Lopez-Pineda A. Trends in respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis hospitalizations in children less than 1 year: 2004-2012

Temporal trends in emergency department visits for bronchiolitis in the United States

Early Impact of social distancing in response to COVID-19 on hospitalizations for acute bronchiolitis in infants in Brazil

COVID-19 public health measures and respiratory syncytial virus

Infant bronchiolitis dramatically reduced during the second French COVID-19 outbreak

Bronchiolitis in COVID-19 times: a nearly absent disease?