Características clínico-epidemiológicas de lactantes y preescolares con diagnóstico de bronquiolitis por SARS-COV2 en el hospital Monte Sinaí mayo 2020-mayo 2023.

Abstract

Introduction: Bronchiolitis is the inflammation of the respiratory tract that affects the pediatric population between 2 months and 2 years of age. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some cases of bronchiolitis caused by the SARS-COV 2 virus were observed, nevertheless, little was investigated on this topic. Objectives: This study aims to determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of infants and preschoolers diagnosed with bronchiolitis due to COVID-19. Materials and Methods: Our study is a descriptive, retrospective, and cross-sectional study to obtain the most prevalent signs and symptoms and the epidemiological characteristics of pediatric patients with acute bronchiolitis due to COVID-19 treated at Monte Sinai Hospital between May 2020 and May 2023. The total number of pediatric patients treated for acute bronchiolitis at Monte Sinai Hospital during the period from May 2020 to May 2023 was 1048, of which 101 patients were diagnosed with acute bronchiolitis due to COVID-19. Data and calculation of measures of central tendency, percentages, and frequency were performed using Microsoft Excel 17.0. Results: 55.45% of patients were male and 44.55% were female. The most prevalent age range was 2-6 months, accounting for 44.5% of cases, while the mean age was 9.6 months. An increase in cases was observed during the months of May, June, and July. Cough, clear rhinorrhea, and fever were the most frequent upper respiratory symptoms, with 92.08%, 75-25%, and 64.36% respectively, while wheezing and tachypnea were the most frequent lower respiratory symptoms, with 89.11% and 35.64% respectively. On the other hand, the most frequent non-respiratory symptoms were diarrhea and vomiting, with 15.85% and 14.85% respectively. Mild disease accounted for 55.44% of all cases. Discussion: Our data on age and gender coincide with Secaira et al., where a prevalence of the age group under 24 months and male over female was also found. Likewise, clinical data were compared with Secaira et al. and Del Toro et al., showing some degree of variability in symptomatology, as in our study, the characteristic clinic was cough, fever, presence of wheezing, tachypnea, and mild disease according to the Ferres Dowes scale as the most frequent. Conclusions: There is variability in the clinical presentation of bronchiolitis, and some patients may present different or less severe symptoms. The majority of patients treated with this disease could be managed with outpatient and minimally invasive therapies, with little impact on caregivers' pockets and the public healthcare system.