High burden of acute respiratory tract infections leading to hospitalization at German pediatric hospitals: fall/winter 2022–2023

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Purpose: Given reduced immunity levels for seasonally occurring respiratory infections and the experience of an unusually early, severe wave of RSV infections during 2021, a preexisting clinician-led reporting system (CLRS) was updated to prospectively monitor the anticipated high burden of respiratory infections (ARI) in German pediatric hospitals during fall/winter 2022–2023. Methods: From September 13, 2022 through March 31, 2023, children hospitalized with ARI as a primary diagnosis were monitored via a national CLRS established by the German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (DGPI). Once a week, the CLRS collected overall number of new hospital admissions, ARI-related admissions according to pathogen (SARS-CoV-2, RSV, influenza, and other), plus number of patients admitted to ICU with ARI as a primary diagnosis. Results: With a high participation among children's hospitals across Germany (22.8%), 76 centers submitted 1,053 survey reports. ARI-related hospital admissions showed a steep rise starting in late September 2022 and reached their highpoint in early December 2022 (50.1% of all admissions). In parallel, the average number of newly admitted patients (aNA) with RSV (3.6) peaked, as did those with influenza (2.1) one week later. The average highpoint of ARI patients on ICU (aICU) (2.9) was reached shortly thereafter. Again, RSV (1.6) und influenza (1.2) were predominant pathogens. Conclusion: In fall/winter 2022–2023, German hospitals reported a sharp increase in patients with ARIs. While RSV and influenza represented the greatest proportion of ARI, SARS-CoV-2 played a less significant role. Systematic, dynamic collection of ARI data is critical for assessing real burdens on the health care system.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)525–534
JournalInfection
Volume52
Early online date13 Nov 2023
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Mendeley e5f99879-a83c-3f33-9429-f63f4b64be9a
PubMed 37957463

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Acute respiratory infection, Children, Hospitalization, Influenza, RSV, SARS-CoV-2

Library keywords