Accidental child poisoning and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at a referral Children’s Hospital in Greece (preprint)

Purpose Poisoning remains a major health problem worldwide. Most non-intentional acute exposures are non- or minimally toxic, but occasionally highly toxic substances need specific medical interventions. The COVID-19 pandemic with the lockdown that followed had a negative impact on the poisoning incidence.Methods This was a retrospective study including data from 103 children that were examined during the period 2019–2021 at the Penteli Children’s General Hospital.Results The most common poisons were drugs (N = 39, 37.9%) and cigarettes (N = 33, 32.0%). Detergents and insecticides followed with 5.9% (N = 6) and 4.9% (N = 5), respectively. The number of poisoned children was lower in 2019 (N = 25) compared to 2020 (N = 46). The majority were observed in 2020 (44.7%), during the Covid19 lockdown.Conclusion Pediatric poisoning constitutes a global emergency. Despite the overall decrease in the pediatric visits, an increase in the poisonings was noted during the lockdown. Prevention should focus on adult supervision and proper storage of chemicals.

Obesity as a risk factor for severe influenza infection in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis (preprint)

Purpose Obesity has been recently identified as a predisposing factor for worse prognosis in viral illnesses such as SARS-CoV-2, however, its role in children with influenza is not yet clarified. The current systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess whether obesity is a risk factor for either hospitalization or worse prognosis when hospitalized among children infected by influenza. Methods We systematically searched the following databases: MEDLINE, Clinicaltrials.gov, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) using a structured algorithm. Statistical meta-analysis was performed using the ‘meta’ package in R software and included studies were evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. ResultsAmong children with influenza, obesity increased the odds of hospitalization with a pooled OR of 1.89 (95% CI [1.23, 2.9], I2=0, p=0.003). When hospitalized, children with obesity were also more likely to have a worse outcome than their healthy-weight counterparts, with a pooled OR of 1.24 (95% Cl [1.02;1.51], I2=11, p=0.03). In an effort to lower heterogeneity Leave-one-out meta-analysis was conducted. Publication bias was assessed with the visual inspection of funnel plots and the trim-and-fill method. Certainty assessment was evaluated using the GRADE score. ConclusionsThe findings of our meta-analysis suggest that obesity in children with influenza is associated with a worse prognosis; both hospitalization and ICU admission/death. //