ABSTRACT
Introduction: The spread of SARS-CoV-2 pandemia in Europe has been socially counteracted with the aid of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). This rapidly changed the epidemiology of viral respiratory diseases other than the COVID-19. Thus a sharp decrease in bronchiolitis patients has been recorded all over Europe since 2020. Aims and Objectives: Due to the looser NPIs and to the increased accesses to hospitals than the year before we chose to analyze the series of admissions to our Unit either for bronchiolitis or for COVID-19, from 2021 October, 1st to 2022 January, 31st. Method(s): Data were obtained from the hospital database. Overall 2582 patients accessed the Pediatric Emergency Room (PER). Of them 228 (8.8%) were admitted to the Pediatric Unit (PU). All admissions were tested for SARSCoV-2 by nasopharyngeal molecular swab. Result(s): Overall we recorded 71 bronchiolitis and 26 COVID-19. Data are reported in the table herein. View inline In January 2022 the COVID-19 impacted overall admissions more significantly than did the bronchiolitis in November plus December 2021 (chi2, p<0.01). Conclusion(s): By our limited experience we tried to describe the relationships that seemingly regulate the epidemiology of respiratory viruses. As a matter of fact, when one virus promptly emerged the other seemed to find no space in the ecosystem despite the rules for NPIs did not change meanwhile. Epidemiology of viruses looking for the same habitat maybe needs furher evaluations.
ABSTRACT
Lombardy was violently hit by Covid-19 between the end of February and the beginning of March 2020. On 09.05.2020 there were 81225 total registered Covid-19+ cases (8051 / million inhabitants) with 14924 deaths (1479 deaths / million inhabitants). The province of Cremona presented a higher number of Covid-19+ cases and a worse relative mortality than the already high regional average. Patients on regular hemodialysis treatment present a high risk of infection due to the co-pathologies present, while healthcare workers may represent a risk for themselves and for the patients, due to the treatment environment and the close contact with them. All patients and healthcare workers of the Dialysis Center in Crema were evaluated (oro-pharyngeal swab for viral RNA research, qualitative anti-Covid-19 antibodies, quantitative IgG antibodies, co-pathologies), regardless of the symptomatology, over a 60-day period. Hemodialysis patients have a risk of infection that is 12.7 times that of the local population, while healthcare workers outperform the patients for Covid-positivity (30.3% vs 21.6%). Lethality in infected patients is high (31% of Covid-19+ subjects), while it is zero among healthcare professionals. The antibody response (qualitative and quantitative) in Covid-19+ patients is adequate, when compared to that of Covid-19+ healthcare staff. In our Center, the most critical phase lasted about 45 days but, thanks to the measures taken, it was possible to make the dialysis area Covid-free, as it remains after 128 days.