The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemiology of pediatric severe sepsis in the Shandong Province of China from 2019 to 2020 (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background: To investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the prevalence and outcome of pediatric severe sepsis in the Shandong Province of China from 2019 to 2020.Methods: Using the 2019-2020 data from the Interconnected Electronic Medical Record Data Sets of the Shandong Population Health Information Platform, a retrospective study was conducted to examine visits by patients aged up to 18 years who were diagnosed with severe sepsis or septic shock or bacterial/fungal infections combined with acute organ dysfunctions. The prevalence and mortality of these patients between 2019 and 2020 were compared. Results: There were no confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 among these patients. The number of cases and the yearly incidence rate of pediatric severe sepsis in hospitals decreased significantly (1098 vs 2143, 1.62/1000 vs 1.78/1000, P=0.01) along with the total number of hospitalized children (679608 vs 1204496) in the Shandong Province of China in 2020 compared to 2019. The hospital mortality of pediatric severe sepsis did not change significantly as it varied from 11.48% in 2019 to 12.84% in 2020 (P=0.283). The hospital costs, the proportion of pediatric severe sepsis admitted to ICU as well as those requiring mechanical ventilation increased in 2020 compared to 2019.Conclusion: After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number and the yearly incidence rate of pediatric severe sepsis among hospitalized children in the Shandong province decreased significantly, while the hospital mortality did not change significantly. The COVID-19 pandemic seemingly impacted favorably the epidemiology of pediatric severe sepsis.