Influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiology of respiratory diseases in children admitted to a local hospital in the province of Buenos Aires
A descriptive and retrospective study
Abstract
Objective: To describe the clinical-demographic characteristics of pediatric subjects with respiratory disease admitted to the ward of a local hospital in the province of Buenos Aires during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) and the pre- and post-pandemic periods (2019 and 2022).
Materials and method: This is an observational, descriptive, retrospective, and longitudinal study conducted on subjects aged 1-180 months with respiratory disease admitted to Hospital Zin between 2019 and 2022.
Results: In 2019, 1,136 subjects were admitted. In 2020, the number of cases decreased by 765 (67.34%); in 2021, by 788 (69.36%); and in 2022, by 441 (38.82%). The male sex was the most frequent (53.85%). In 2019, the age of the population admitted was lower (17 months) than that of the rest of the periods and the hospital stay in that year was longer (4 days) than in 2020 and 2021. No cases of mortality were recorded. A total of 74 subjects with SARS-CoV-2 respiratory disease were admitted, with a median age of 27.5 months and a median length of stay of 4 days.
Conclusion: The clinical-demographic characteristics of pediatric subjects admitted to the ward of a public hospital in Buenos Aires were described and differences between the COVID-19 pandemic and the pre- and post-pandemic periods were identified.
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