COVID-19 related ICU admissions in paediatric and young adult patients in Australia : a national case series 2020-2022

© 2023 The Author(s)..

Background: COVID-19 pandemic research efforts have focused on disease phenotypes in adults. A distinct spectrum of illness has been documented in paediatric populations. We aimed to review paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in Australia, across differing variant predominant phases of the pandemic.

Methods: Data reported to the Short PeRiod IncideNce sTudy of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SPRINT-SARI) Australia, across 49 ICUs from February 2020 to June 2022 were extracted. We defined 'child' as patients aged <12 years, 'adolescent' as patients aged 12-17 years, and 'young adult' as patients aged 18-25 years.

Findings: We identified 226 paediatric ICU admissions with COVID-19, representing 3.9% of ICU admissions across the study period. Comorbidity was present in 34.6% of children, 51.4% of adolescents, and 48.7% of young adults. The need for respiratory support was highest in young adults. While 28.3% of patients <18 years required invasive ventilation, in-hospital mortality in paediatric patients was 3.6%. During the Omicron period, there was an increase in the annualised incidence of age-specific COVID-19 ICU admissions per 100,000 population, albeit a decrease in the incidence per 1000 SARS-CoV-2 notifications.

Interpretation: This study demonstrated an appreciable burden of COVID-19 in paediatric patients. Adolescent patients presented phenotypically similar to young adults, however, illness severity was lower in younger cohorts. The Omicron phase of the pandemic demonstrated an increased age-specific population incidence of COVID-19 ICU admissions, albeit a reduced incidence when based on SARS-CoV-2 notifications.

Funding: SPRINT-SARI Australia is supported by the Department of Health, Commonwealth of Australia [Standing Deed SON60002733].

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - year:2023

Enthalten in:

The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific - (2023) vom: 14. Apr., Seite 100763

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Otto, Madeleine [VerfasserIn]
Britton, Philip N [VerfasserIn]
Serpa Neto, Ary [VerfasserIn]
Erickson, Simon [VerfasserIn]
Festa, Marino [VerfasserIn]
Crawford, Nigel W [VerfasserIn]
Burrell, Aidan J C [VerfasserIn]
Udy, Andrew A [VerfasserIn]
SPRINT-SARI Australia Investigators [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Adolescent
COVID-19
Child
Infant
Intensive care
Journal Article
SARS-CoV-2

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 01.07.2023

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status Publisher

doi:

10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100763

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM358622212