Hospital admissions linked to SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents: cohort study of 3.2 million first ascertained infections in England
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Wilde, Harrison
Tomlinson, Christopher
Mateen, Bilal A
Selby, David
Kanthimathinathan, Hari Krishnan
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objective To describe hospital admissions associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents.
Design Cohort study of 3.2 million first ascertained SARS-CoV-2 infections using electronic health care record data.
Setting England, July 2020 to February 2022.
Participants About 12 million children and adolescents (age <18 years) who were resident in England.
Main outcome measures Ascertainment of a first SARS-CoV-2 associated hospital admissions: due to SARS-CoV-2, with SARS-CoV-2 as a contributory factor, incidental to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and hospital acquired SARS-CoV-2.
Results 3 226 535 children and adolescents had a recorded first SARS-CoV-2 infection during the observation period, and 29 230 (0.9%) infections involved a SARS-CoV-2 associated hospital admission. The median length of stay was 2 (interquartile range 1-4) days) and 1710 of 29 230 (5.9%) SARS-CoV-2 associated admissions involved paediatric critical care. 70 deaths occurred in which covid-19 or paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome was listed as a cause, of which 55 (78.6%) were in participants with a SARS-CoV-2 associated hospital admission. SARS-CoV-2 was the cause or a contributory factor in 21 000 of 29 230 (71.8%) participants who were admitted to hospital and only 380 (1.3%) participants acquired infection as an inpatient and 7855 (26.9%) participants were admitted with incidental SARS-CoV-2 infection. Boys, younger children (<5 years), and those from ethnic minority groups or areas of high deprivation were more likely to be admitted to hospital (all P<0.001). The covid-19 vaccination programme in England has identified certain conditions as representing a higher risk of admission to hospital with SARS-CoV-2: 11 085 (37.9%) of participants admitted to hospital had evidence of such a condition, and a further 4765 (16.3%) of participants admitted to hospital had a medical or developmental health condition not included in the vaccination programme’s list.
Conclusions Most SARS-CoV-2 associated hospital admissions in children and adolescents in England were due to SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-CoV-2 was a contributory factor. These results should inform future public health initiatives and research.
Design Cohort study of 3.2 million first ascertained SARS-CoV-2 infections using electronic health care record data.
Setting England, July 2020 to February 2022.
Participants About 12 million children and adolescents (age <18 years) who were resident in England.
Main outcome measures Ascertainment of a first SARS-CoV-2 associated hospital admissions: due to SARS-CoV-2, with SARS-CoV-2 as a contributory factor, incidental to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and hospital acquired SARS-CoV-2.
Results 3 226 535 children and adolescents had a recorded first SARS-CoV-2 infection during the observation period, and 29 230 (0.9%) infections involved a SARS-CoV-2 associated hospital admission. The median length of stay was 2 (interquartile range 1-4) days) and 1710 of 29 230 (5.9%) SARS-CoV-2 associated admissions involved paediatric critical care. 70 deaths occurred in which covid-19 or paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome was listed as a cause, of which 55 (78.6%) were in participants with a SARS-CoV-2 associated hospital admission. SARS-CoV-2 was the cause or a contributory factor in 21 000 of 29 230 (71.8%) participants who were admitted to hospital and only 380 (1.3%) participants acquired infection as an inpatient and 7855 (26.9%) participants were admitted with incidental SARS-CoV-2 infection. Boys, younger children (<5 years), and those from ethnic minority groups or areas of high deprivation were more likely to be admitted to hospital (all P<0.001). The covid-19 vaccination programme in England has identified certain conditions as representing a higher risk of admission to hospital with SARS-CoV-2: 11 085 (37.9%) of participants admitted to hospital had evidence of such a condition, and a further 4765 (16.3%) of participants admitted to hospital had a medical or developmental health condition not included in the vaccination programme’s list.
Conclusions Most SARS-CoV-2 associated hospital admissions in children and adolescents in England were due to SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-CoV-2 was a contributory factor. These results should inform future public health initiatives and research.
Date Issued
2023-07-05
Date Acceptance
2023-05-18
Citation
The BMJ, 2023, 382
ISSN
0959-8146
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
The BMJ
Volume
382
Copyright Statement
© 2023, The Author(s). Published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt and build upon this work, for commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:001031675800012&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=a2bf6146997ec60c407a63945d4e92bb
Subjects
COVID-19
DISEASE SEVERITY
General & Internal Medicine
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Medicine, General & Internal
MILLION INDIVIDUALS
Science & Technology
STATES
UK
YOUNG-PEOPLE
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
e073639
Date Publish Online
2023-07-05