Effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Distribution of Seasonal Viral Pathogens in Patients Admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Results from cohort studies evaluating the severity of respiratory viral co-infections are conflicting. The aim of this study to describe the frequency of viral pathogens in patients hospitalized for lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and report the clinical characteristics and outcomes of these patients. Another aim of the study was to characterize the distribution of viral pathogens in patients admitted to the PICU due to seasonal viral infections before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD(S) This single-center study included patients who were hospitalized in our PICU for LRTI caused by viral pathogens other than SARS-CoV-2 between November 1, 2019 and April 1, 2021 (17 months). Based on their date of admission, the patients included in the study were divided into the pre-pandemic group (November 1, 2019 to March 10, 2020) and pandemic group (March 11, 2020 to March 31, 2021). RESULT(S) Of the 84 patients who presented with signs of LRTI and were tested for seasonal viruses, the 67 (79.7%) patients with positive respiratory viral panel were included in the study. Apart from some important differences, we found that in general, clinical outcomes did not differ between pediatric pneumonia patients with single and multiple viruses. CONCLUSION(S) The detection of single or multiple viruses in the respiratory tract samples of children does not impact the clinical management or outcome of these patients. Our results demonstrate that admissions to the PICU for LRTIs caused by seasonal viruses decreased during the pandemic.