High burden of acute respiratory tract infections leading to hospitalization at German pediatric hospitals: fall/winter 2022–2023
Maren Doenhardt, Jakob Armann, Natalie Diffloth, Christin Gano, Josephine Schneider, Dominik T. Schneider, Tobias Tenenbaum, Andreas Trotter, Reinhard Berner, the DGPI Ad hoc-ARI-register working group, Martina Aderhold, Jürgen Althaus, Theresa Andree, Tobias Ankermann, Nils Apel, Stefan Arens, Ulrich Aumann, Thomas R. Austgen, R J Baier, L. A. Baresi, Marcel Baschin, Stefanie Beil, Christiane Bell, Giulia Bender, Bernd Bergmann, Sonja Bernlochner, Silke Bettinger, Adina Biering, Leonie Block, Henning Böhme, Carsten Bölke, Timon Boßlet, Reinhard Bullmann, Iryna Dobrianska, Christoph Ehrsam, Martin Enders, Anna‐Lisa Erler, Inge M. Evers, Andreas Fiedler, Elisa Fingerloos, Veronika Pavlíková, L. Geerdts, Katharina Glas, Julia Gottschalk, Anne Grimm, Katrin Gröger, Volkmar Grosse, Anneke Grotheer, Katharina Hecker, M Heine, Georg Heubner, Aneta Horáková, Jennifer L. Horn, D. Hubert, Kristin Jähnert, Simone Jedwilayties, Andrea Jehn, Sumathy Jeyaweerasinkam, Jasmin Joiko, Hermann Kalhoff, Marcus Kania, Veronika Kautzky, Thomas Keller, Margit Kellerer, Mandy Kersten, Karoline kinkelin, Andreas Klein, Christof Kluthe, Louise Kobelt, Susanne Kremsreiter, Benno Kretzschmar, Merten Kriewitz, S Kuhl, Gerrit Lautner, Vincenzo Leone, Klaus Lohmeier, Daniela Lubitz, S Mahncke, Anja K. Mayer, Peter Meißner, Egbert Meyer, Marko Mohorovicic, Barbara Müksch, Barbara Naust, Michael Nippes, Esra Özdemir, Denisa Penfold, U. PINDUR, Daniela Pütz, Anke Rappen, Friedrich Reichert, Marie-Charlotte Rosahl, Miriam Ryba, Shahana Safarova, Asimina Salapata, Christoph Schick, Anna Schlegel, Norbert Schmeja, Juliane Schmid, Robert L. Schmitz
Abstract
PURPOSE: Given reduced immunity levels for seasonally occurring respiratory infections and the experience of an unusually early, severe wave of RSV infections during 2021, a preexisting clinician-led reporting system (CLRS) was updated to prospectively monitor the anticipated high burden of respiratory infections (ARI) in German pediatric hospitals during fall/winter 2022-2023. METHODS: From September 13, 2022 through March 31, 2023, children hospitalized with ARI as a primary diagnosis were monitored via a national CLRS established by the German Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (DGPI). Once a week, the CLRS collected overall number of new hospital admissions, ARI-related admissions according to pathogen (SARS-CoV-2, RSV, influenza, and other), plus number of patients admitted to ICU with ARI as a primary diagnosis. RESULTS: With a high participation among children's hospitals across Germany (22.8%), 76 centers submitted 1,053 survey reports. ARI-related hospital admissions showed a steep rise starting in late September 2022 and reached their highpoint in early December 2022 (50.1% of all admissions). In parallel, the average number of newly admitted patients (aNA) with RSV (3.6) peaked, as did those with influenza (2.1) one week later. The average highpoint of ARI patients on ICU (aICU) (2.9) was reached shortly thereafter. Again, RSV (1.6) und influenza (1.2) were predominant pathogens. CONCLUSION: In fall/winter 2022-2023, German hospitals reported a sharp increase in patients with ARIs. While RSV and influenza represented the greatest proportion of ARI, SARS-CoV-2 played a less significant role. Systematic, dynamic collection of ARI data is critical for assessing real burdens on the health care system.