Abstract
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic impacted the organization of paediatric hospitals. This study aimed to evaluate the preparedness for the pandemic among a European network of children's hospitals and to explore the strategies to restart health care services. A cross-sectional, web-based survey was distributed in May 2020 to the 13 children's tertiary care hospitals belonging to the European Children's Hospitals Organisation. Responses were obtained from eight hospitals (62%). Significant reductions were observed in accesses to the emergency departments (41.7%), outpatient visits (35.7%), intensive and non-intensive care unit inpatient admissions (16.4 and 13%, respectively) between February 1 and April 30, 2020 as compared with the same period of 2019. Overall, 93 children with SARS CoV-2 infection were admitted to inpatient wards. All the hospitals created SARS-CoV-2 preparedness plans for the diagnosis and management of infected patients. Routine activities were re-scheduled. Four hospitals shared their own staff with adult units, two designated bed spaces for adults and only one admitted adults to inpatient wards. The three main components for the resumption of clinical activities were testing, source control, and reorganization of spaces and flows. Telemedicine and telehealth services were used before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by three hospitals and by all the hospitals during it.Conclusion: The present study provides a perspective on preparedness to SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among eight large European children's hospitals, on the impact of the pandemic on the hospital activities and on the strategies adopted to restart clinical activities.
Highlights
In December 2019 a novel beta-coronavirus, officially known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, causing a series of severe cases of pneumonia
COVID-19 has been described in children at a lower case rate relative to adults, it is likely that the infection rate may be similar [9]
The aims of the present study were to investigate the preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic among a European network of children’s hospitals, determine common strengths, and critically assess any shortcomings
Summary
In December 2019 a novel beta-coronavirus, officially known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, causing a series of severe cases of pneumonia. SARS-CoV-2 infection and the correlated syndrome denominated COronaVIrus DIsease2019 (COVID-19) is clinically much different from that in adults. According to the clinical categories described by Dong [3], the majority of infected children were asymptomatic or had mild disease and rarely developed severe or critical conditions [4]. Few pediatric COVID-19 cases were hospitalized and even fewer warranted admission to the paediatric intensive care unit [6,7,8]. COVID-19 has been described in children at a lower case rate relative to adults, it is likely that the infection rate may be similar [9]. A new inflammatory illness, subsequently named multi-inflammatory syndrome in children and neurological manifestations (including stroke) have been described in children with COVID-19 [10, 11]
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