TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 related ICU admissions in paediatric and young adult patients in Australia
T2 - a national case series 2020–2022
AU - Otto, Madeleine
AU - Britton, Philip N.
AU - Serpa Neto, Ary
AU - Erickson, Simon
AU - Festa, Marino
AU - SPRINT-SARI Australia Investigators
AU - Crawford, Nigel W.
AU - Burrell, Aidan J. C.
AU - Udy, Andrew A.
N1 - Funding Information:
SPRINT-SARI Australia is supported by the Department of Health, Commonwealth of Australia [Standing Deed SON60002733].Professor Andrew A Udy has the following disclosures: funding for SPRINT-SARI (Department of Health, Commonwealth of Australia [Standing Deed SON60002733]) is provided to Monash University as the administering institution; recipient of Grant funding (paid to Monash University) from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australia, for research projects outside of the current work; recipient of Grant funding (paid to Monash University) from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Australia, for research projects outside of the current work; recipient of financial support from Integra Lifesciences for the delivery of a presentation at the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia Conference 2022; recipient of in-kind support (trial consumables) from Integra Lifesciences, for research projects outside of the current work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - Background: COVID-19 pandemic research efforts have focused on disease phenotypes in adults. A distinct spectrum of illness has been documented in paediatric populations. We aimed to review paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in Australia, across differing variant predominant phases of the pandemic. Methods: Data reported to the Short PeRiod IncideNce sTudy of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SPRINT-SARI) Australia, across 49 ICUs from February 2020 to June 2022 were extracted. We defined ‘child’ as patients aged <12 years, ‘adolescent’ as patients aged 12–17 years, and ‘young adult’ as patients aged 18–25 years. Findings: We identified 226 paediatric ICU admissions with COVID-19, representing 3.9% of ICU admissions across the study period. Comorbidity was present in 34.6% of children, 51.4% of adolescents, and 48.7% of young adults. The need for respiratory support was highest in young adults. While 28.3% of patients <18 years required invasive ventilation, in-hospital mortality in paediatric patients was 3.6%. During the Omicron period, there was an increase in the annualised incidence of age-specific COVID-19 ICU admissions per 100,000 population, albeit a decrease in the incidence per 1000 SARS-CoV-2 notifications. Interpretation: This study demonstrated an appreciable burden of COVID-19 in paediatric patients. Adolescent patients presented phenotypically similar to young adults, however, illness severity was lower in younger cohorts. The Omicron phase of the pandemic demonstrated an increased age-specific population incidence of COVID-19 ICU admissions, albeit a reduced incidence when based on SARS-CoV-2 notifications. Funding: SPRINT-SARI Australia is supported by the Department of Health, Commonwealth of Australia [Standing Deed SON60002733].
AB - Background: COVID-19 pandemic research efforts have focused on disease phenotypes in adults. A distinct spectrum of illness has been documented in paediatric populations. We aimed to review paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in Australia, across differing variant predominant phases of the pandemic. Methods: Data reported to the Short PeRiod IncideNce sTudy of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SPRINT-SARI) Australia, across 49 ICUs from February 2020 to June 2022 were extracted. We defined ‘child’ as patients aged <12 years, ‘adolescent’ as patients aged 12–17 years, and ‘young adult’ as patients aged 18–25 years. Findings: We identified 226 paediatric ICU admissions with COVID-19, representing 3.9% of ICU admissions across the study period. Comorbidity was present in 34.6% of children, 51.4% of adolescents, and 48.7% of young adults. The need for respiratory support was highest in young adults. While 28.3% of patients <18 years required invasive ventilation, in-hospital mortality in paediatric patients was 3.6%. During the Omicron period, there was an increase in the annualised incidence of age-specific COVID-19 ICU admissions per 100,000 population, albeit a decrease in the incidence per 1000 SARS-CoV-2 notifications. Interpretation: This study demonstrated an appreciable burden of COVID-19 in paediatric patients. Adolescent patients presented phenotypically similar to young adults, however, illness severity was lower in younger cohorts. The Omicron phase of the pandemic demonstrated an increased age-specific population incidence of COVID-19 ICU admissions, albeit a reduced incidence when based on SARS-CoV-2 notifications. Funding: SPRINT-SARI Australia is supported by the Department of Health, Commonwealth of Australia [Standing Deed SON60002733].
KW - Adolescent
KW - COVID-19
KW - Child
KW - Infant
KW - Intensive care
KW - SARS-CoV-2
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85152527861
U2 - 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100763
DO - 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100763
M3 - Article
C2 - 37360865
SN - 2666-6065
VL - 36
JO - The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific
JF - The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific
M1 - 100763
ER -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being