Viral loads of parainfluenza virus type 3 and severity of respiratory diseases in children.

BACKGROUND: Parainfluenza virus type 3 (PIV-3) is one of the common pathogens for respiratory infections in children. Whether viral load of PIV-3 is associated with severity of respiratory diseases in children is not yet known. Our aim was to determine significance of PIV-3 viral load among infected children. METHODS: We conducted a single-center, retrospective study at Tokyo Metropolitan. Children's Medical Center, Japan, from June to August 2021. Hospitalized children were screened with a posterior nasal swab for multiplex PCR, and viral load was subsequently measured from remained samples by real-time PCR. Demographic data were collected from digital charts. PIV-3 positive patients were categorized into mild group with no oxygen demand, moderate group with low-flow oxygen demand and severe group with high-flow nasal cannula oxygen or non-invasive positive pressure ventilation or mechanical ventilation. Viral loads were compared among mild, moderate and severe groups. RESULTS: 151 patients were positive for PIV-3. We found no statistically significant association among PIV-3 viral load and severity of respiratory diseases (p = 0.35), and no statistically significant association between severity of illness and co-detection of other viruses. In each severity group, relatively high viral load per posterior nasal swab was observed at the time of testing. CONCLUSION: Among PIV-3 patients, we could not find statistically significant between viral load and their severity, therefore we could not conclude that viral load is a good surrogate marker for clinical severity of PIV-3.

Pediatric emergency healthcare utilization during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Tokyo.

BACKGROUND: Various public health interventions have been implemented against the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We investigated changes in pediatric emergency healthcare utilization during the current pandemic. METHODS: Based on data on outpatient healthcare visits to one pediatric emergency department in Tokyo, Japan, the descriptive, cross-sectional study compared the number of emergency department visits in 2020 to the number in the previous 3 years. Data were extracted from the electronic triage reporting system. The primary outcome was the number of emergency department visits. The characteristics of patients by age group were also investigated. RESULTS: A 40.6% reduction in pediatric emergency healthcare utilization was observed during the study period, with the greatest decrease occurring in the number of visits for fever. However, while the number of patients with a complaint with an exogenous cause decreased, the proportion of these patients increased. Although social activities in the greater community have now almost normalized, and only a slight increase in the number of patients with fever has been reported, the number of emergency department visits remains lower than in previous years as of this writing. CONCLUSIONS: Public health interventions led to a reduction in emergency department visits, thereby allowing time to redistribute health-care resources.