Bronchiolitis and SARS-CoV-2

Arch Dis Child. 2021 Oct;106(10):999-1001. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2020-321108. Epub 2021 Mar 11.

Abstract

Background: It has been speculated that the SARS-CoV-2 was already widespread in western countries before February 2020.

Methods: We gauged this hypothesis by analysing the nasal swab of infants with either bronchiolitis or a non-infectious disease admitted to the Ospedale Maggiore, Milan (one of the first epicentres of SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Europe) from November 2019.

Results: The SARS-CoV-2 RNA was never detected in 218 infants with bronchiolitis (95 females, median age 4.9 months) and 49 infants (22 females, median age 5.6 months) with a non-infectious disease between November 2019 and February 2020. On the contrary, two infants hospitalised for bronchiolitis between March and April 2020 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

Conclusions: This study does not support the hypothesis that SARS-CoV-2 was already circulating among infants before the official outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, it shows for the first time that SARS-CoV-2 might cause bronchiolitis requiring hospitalisation.

Keywords: COVID-19; epidemiology; virology.

MeSH terms

  • Bronchiolitis* / epidemiology
  • Bronchiolitis* / physiopathology
  • Bronchiolitis* / therapy
  • Bronchiolitis* / virology
  • COVID-19 Testing / methods
  • COVID-19 Testing / statistics & numerical data
  • COVID-19* / diagnosis
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • COVID-19* / physiopathology
  • Causality
  • Child Health Services / statistics & numerical data
  • Comorbidity
  • Female
  • Hospitalization / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Italy / epidemiology
  • Male
  • SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*
  • Severity of Illness Index