Epidemiology, Microbiology and Severity of Bronchiolitis in the First Post-Lockdown Cold Season in Three Different Geographical Areas in Italy: A Prospective, Observational Study
Anna Camporesi,
Rosa Morello,
Valentina Ferro,
Luca Pierantoni,
Alessandro Rocca,
Marcello Lanari,
Gian Luca Trobia,
Tiziana Sciacca,
Agata Giuseppina Bellinvia,
Alessandra De Ferrari,
Piero Valentini,
Damian Roland,
Danilo Buonsenso
Affiliations
Anna Camporesi
Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, “Vittore Buzzi” Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milan, Italy
Rosa Morello
Department of Woman and Child Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
Valentina Ferro
Department of Pediatric Emergency, Bambin Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
Luca Pierantoni
Pediatric Emergency Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Alessandro Rocca
Pediatric Emergency Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Marcello Lanari
Pediatric Emergency Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Gian Luca Trobia
Pediatric and Pediatric Emergency Room Unit, Cannizzaro Emergency Hospital-Catania, 95126 Catania, Italy
Tiziana Sciacca
Pediatric and Pediatric Emergency Room Unit, Cannizzaro Emergency Hospital-Catania, 95126 Catania, Italy
Agata Giuseppina Bellinvia
Pediatric and Pediatric Emergency Room Unit, Cannizzaro Emergency Hospital-Catania, 95126 Catania, Italy
Alessandra De Ferrari
Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, “Vittore Buzzi” Children’s Hospital, 20154 Milan, Italy
Piero Valentini
Department of Woman and Child Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
Damian Roland
Paediatric Emergency Medicine Leicester Academic (PEMLA) Group, Leicester Hospital, Leicester LE1 5WW, UK
Danilo Buonsenso
Department of Woman and Child Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy
The aim of this study was to understand the epidemiology, disease severity, and microbiology of bronchiolitis in Italy during the 2021–2022 cold season, outside of lockdowns. Before COVID-19, the usual bronchiolitis season in Italy would begin in November and end in April, peaking in February. We performed a prospective observational study in four referral pediatric centers located in different geographical areas in Italy (two in the north, one in the center and one in the south). From 1 July 2021 to 31 January 2022, we collected all new clinical diagnoses of bronchiolitis in children younger than two years of age recording demographic, clinical and microbiological data. A total of 657 children with a clinical diagnosis of bronchiolitis were enrolled; 56% children were admitted and 5.9% required PICU admission. The first cases were detected during the summer, peaking in November 2021 and declining into December 2021 with only a few cases detected in January 2022. RSV was the commonest etiological agent, while SARS-CoV-2 was rarely detected and only since the end of December 2021. Disease severity was similar in children with RSV vs. non-RSV bronchiolitis, and in those with a single infectious agent detected compared with children with co-infections. The 2021–2022 bronchiolitis season in Italy started and peaked earlier than the usual pre-pandemic seasons, but had a shorter duration. Importantly, the current bronchiolitis season was not more severe when data were compared with Italian published data, and SARS-CoV-2 was rarely a cause of bronchiolitis in children younger than 24 months of age.
