Infecções respiratórias agudas notificadas em crianças internadas durante a pandemia da COVID-19: fatores associados às internações, reinternações, complicações e à mortalidade

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest health crisis of this century and it also had an impact on children. Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the leading cause of death in children up to 5 years of age in Brazil. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is the respiratory complication of ARI and can be prevented in children with vaccines, which during the COVID-19 pandemic were the target of denialist movements, discouraging vaccination adherence in the pediatric population. The present work is justified by the low number of studies on ARIs, especially COVID-19, in children compared to adults, and the broad need to understand the chronicity capacity of SARS in children. This work seeks to provide an overview of pediatric ARIs during the pandemic in a medium-sized city. A mixed epidemiological study (cross-sectional and longitudinal), analytical and descriptive, was carried out, using data from cases reported in SIVEP-Gripe, of children hospitalized for SARS in Ponta Grossa-PR, and analysis of medical records in the pediatric hospitals of the municipality of these patients, resulting in 227 cases. In only 1.76% was there a report of influenza vaccination in the last campaign. The median number of days hospitalized was higher in readmission compared to hospitalization. Almost all children received multidisciplinary care and many were referred to an outpatient follow-up professional after hospital discharge. More than 21% were readmitted, and of these, 10.41% died. There was statistical significance in the need for readmission in individuals who had comorbidities, who required ICU or had prolonged hospitalization (over 14 days) during the first hospitalization, in addition to those who had detection of a viral agent, mainly SARS-CoV-2 or metapneumovirus. In view of this, it is concluded that pediatric ARIs have the capacity for chronicity and, when there is readmission, a greater probability of death and longer hospitalization time, a situation that could be alleviated with the application of vaccines, but that very insufficient adherence by the population was found.