Impact of Ethnicity on COVID-19 Related Hospitalizations in Children During the First Pandemic Wave in Northern Italy

Frontiers in Pediatrics

Richard Fabian Schumacher¹  Beatrice Crotti²  Jessica Ruggiero²  Roberto Baronio²  Lucia Savaré²  Gian Luigi Marseglia³  Angelo Mazza⁴  Icilio Dodi⁵  Claudio Cavalli⁶ 

[1] Children's Hospital, ASST Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy;Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy;Fondazione Ospedale San Matteo, Pavia, Italy;Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital, Bergamo, Italy;Pediatria Generale e d'Urgenza, Ospedale dei Bambini Pietro Barilla, Parma, Italy;Pediatrics, Ospedale Maggiore, ASST Cremona, Crema, Italy;

关键词: SARS-CoV-2;    children;    population;    ethnicity;    COVID-19;    hospitalization;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fped.2021.625398

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

There is increasing evidence that black people and other minorities have a higher incidence of severe COVID-19 disease, but little is known about the situation of children, especially in Europe. In general children are less infected and if so, frequently show mild or asymptomatic disease, making conclusions difficult. We collected data on SARS-CoV-2 associated hospitalizations in a well-defined population of 550,180 children up to 15 years in five hub-centers during the “first wave” at the heart of the pandemic in Northern Italy. Among the 451,053 Italian citizens 80 were hospitalized as compared to 31 out of 99,127 foreign citizens, giving a significantly higher risk (odds ratio 1.76; 95% CI: 1.16–2.66) for the foreign children. The risk was highest for children of African ethnicity as compared to Italians with an odds ratio of 2.76 (95% CI: 1.56–4.87). None of the patients deceased. There was no significant difference in age (thou infants regardless of ethnicity had a 10-fold higher risk), sex, length of hospitalization or comorbidities, namely overweight. As bureaucratic, cultural and information barriers mostly affect preventive and adult services and considering that in contrast to other countries, in Italy pediatric care is guaranteed free of (out-of-pocket) charge to all people <16 years, and hospitals are densely spaced, access to health care seems to be a minor problem. Thus, other possible root causes are discussed. We believe that this is an unbiased starting point to understand and overcome the reasons for the higher risk those children experience.

【 授权许可】

CC BY