What effects did the lockdown have on pediatric emergency room visits?
And have the masks had other consequences, in addition to protection from the coronavirus, on children’s airborne diseases?
These questions were answered by two retrospective, multicentre cohort studies involving numerous paediatric units in hospitals distributed throughout Italy: data from the emergency departments of Ancona, Bergamo, Bologna, Catania, Foligno, Latina, Milan, Naples, Rome, Trieste and Frosinone/Alatri, which represent about 10% of total annual paediatric visits in Italy.
The first multicentre retrospective work involved 15 P.S. Italian Pediatricians. The objective was to evaluate: how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and its preventive strategies, in the lockdown period (9 March 2020 – 3 May 2020), have changed the percentage of visit rates, specific diagnoses (respiratory, cardiological, infectious diseases, trauma, etc.) considering this very important historical period of serious epidemiological situation linked to the SARS-COV2 pandemic.
The second multicentre retrospective work involved 14 P.S. Italian Pediatricians. He compared the total of P.S. visits from 24 September 2020 to 6 November 2020 with those during the corresponding timeframe in 2019. Comparing 17 specific diagnoses, grouped into airborne and non-airborne. The decrease in airborne communicable diseases was significantly greater than that in non-airborne communicable diseases.
The conclusions of the UOC Pediatrics of the Frosinone/Alatri Unified Pole are in line with the other centers.
The analysis and comparison of accesses at the pediatric PS of Frosinone/Alatri (in 2019 about 13,800 accesses), showed in line with the other PS , during the lockdown period, a reduction in 2020 of 81% compared to 2019.
Specific diagnoses decreased in 2020 and this reduction was significantly higher for airborne communicable diseases.
Considering category triage: red codes remained similar; yellow codes increased and green codes decreased.
The decrease in airborne communicable diseases was significantly greater than non-airborne communicable diseases.
By the UOC Pediatrics Unified Pole Frosinone/Alatri
