1 - Infectious Diseases Unit, CHULC - Hospital Dona Estefânia, Lisbon, Portugal
2 - Molecular Biology, CHULC– Hospital São José, Lisbon, Portugal
3 - Virology, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal
- Poster - 41th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases
BACKGROUNDS: Human adenoviruses (AdV) can cause infections at any age but most commonly in pediatric population. We aim to study the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on AdV infection in children admitted in a Portuguese tertiary hospital.
METHODS: Single center, retrospective, study of AdV identification in respiratory samples collected from children admitted from Jan/2018 to Jun/2022. Demographic, clinic, laboratorial and evolution data were analyzed and compared in 3 groups: pre, during (Feb/2020 – May/2020) and post COVID-19 lockdown period.
RESULTS: We identified 451 children with AdV-positive, with median age of 20 months [P25;P75], 55,9% male, 85,8% <5 years, 53,4% in pre-lockdown, 10,6% during and 35,9% in post-lockdown. Most (83,8%) had co-infection with another agent. Positivity rate of AdV-infection significantly decreased after lockdown (p-value <.001), with 13,8% pre-COVID-19 and 9,0% post-COVID-19, more significantly in the female group (p-.01). There was no significant difference between age groups. Median length of stay was 5 days before COVID-19 and 4 days after COVID-19. Regarding seasonality, we observed an increase of AdV infections from October to March in both periods. During COVID-19 lockdown the rate of nosocomial AdV infections decreased (2,1%) when compared with pre (14,5%) and post (15,4%) COVID-19 (p < .01). Respiratory symptoms were less frequently reported post lockdown (p-.006), however gastrointestinal symptoms increased (p-.019), without difference in transaminases values. Also, no difference was shown in clinical presentation such as fever and neurological symptoms among patients before and after nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) launched.
CONCLUSIONS: Children under 5 years old were the main population for AdV infections in inpatients. The NPIs significantly decreased the transmission of community respiratory viruses, as well as AdV-infections. Clinical presentation with less respiratory and more gastrointestinal symptoms appears to have been influenced by COVID-19.
Palavras Chave: Human adenoviruses, Pediatric infections, Epidemiology, COVID period