The occurrence of infection-related systemic diseases in Korean children and adolescents has decreased after the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicenter retrospective study.

Abstract

BackgroundThe occurrences of infection-related systematic diseases, such as Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (HSP), intussusception, and mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome (MCLS) may have decreased, similarly to the decreased occurrence of infectious diseases following the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We aimed to investigate whether there was a change in the occurrence of these diseases in South Korea after the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsIn this multicenter, retrospective study conducted in 16 medical centers in South Korea patients diagnosed with HSP, intussusception, and MCLS at the age of <18 years between January 2016 and December 2020 were included. New occurrences of these three diseases were investigated monthly and annually, while to compare between the pre- and post-COVID-19 era cases, new occurrences between 2017−2019 and 2020 were compared. Additionally, the total annual occurrence rate was calculated by dividing each center’s occurrence into the annual population per 100,000 of the population <18 years in each region that the center covers.ResultsA total 6,857 patients were included in this study. From 2017 to 2020, the number of patients diagnosed with HSP, intussusception, MCLS at the age of <18 years were 1,301, 1,693, and 3,863 patients, respectively. The average number of patients during the three years before the COVID-19 pandemic were each 379.7, 505.3, and 1,112.0 for HSP, intussusception, MCLS, respectively, which each decreased by 57.3%, 65.0%, 52.6% to 162, 177, 527 in 2020, respectively. Furthermore, the total annual occurrence rate showed a significant decrease in 2020 compared to 2017 to 2019 in all three diseases (2017–2020; HSP: 11.85, 12.96, 10.52, and 5.48; intussusception: 13.94, 16.97, 16.31, and 5.98; MCLS: 33.89, 35.11, 34.69, and 17.82, respectively).ConclusionsWe revealed that the occurrence of HSP, intussusception, and MCLS, which are representative of infection-related systemic diseases in the pediatric population, decreased significantly after the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.