Articles: pandemics.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate return visits to the pediatric emergency department (ED) for children who were detected to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). ⋯ Among 575 children who were confirmed to be SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive, 50 (8.6%) of them [median age: 10.4 years (IQR: 4.8-15.2); 26 females] had returned. There was no difference for age, sex, underlying diseases, or symptoms for patients who returned or did not for the first presentation, but the percentage of those from whom laboratory tests were obtained was higher in cases of return visits. For symptomatic cases on the first presentation, the most common reason for return was having additional symptoms. The most common symptoms at the return visit were fever, cough, and sore throat. There was no severe/critical case in terms of clinical severity. Among all cases, 36 (72.0%) patients were discharged from the ED, 13 (26.0%) were observed for 6-8 h and then discharged, and 1 (2.0%) was admitted to the ward; there was no PICU admission or death, respectively.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
The Detrimental Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Major Trauma Outcomes in the Netherlands: A Comprehensive Nationwide Study.
To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the outcome of major trauma patients in the Netherlands. ⋯ The COVID-19 peak had an adverse effect on trauma care as major trauma patients were less often admitted to ICU and specifically those with minor through moderate brain injury had higher mortality rates.
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In 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and lockdown control measures threatened to disrupt routine childhood immunisation programmes with early reports suggesting uptake would fall. In response, public health bodies in Scotland and England collected national data for childhood immunisations on a weekly or monthly basis to allow for rapid analysis of trends. The aim of this study was to use these data to assess the impact of different phases of the pandemic on infant and preschool immunisation uptake rates. ⋯ In this study, we observed that the national lockdown in Scotland was associated with an increase in timely childhood immunisation uptake; however, in England, uptake fell slightly. Reasons for the improved uptake in Scotland may include active measures taken to promote immunisation at local and national levels during this period and should be explored further. Promoting immunisation uptake and addressing potential vaccine hesitancy is particularly important given the ongoing pandemic and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.
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Journal of critical care · Feb 2022
A retrospective evaluation of three ethical triage tools for the allocation of ICU resources during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To retrospectively evaluate the effect of ethical triage tools (ETT), designed to streamline the admission of patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to determine the characteristics and outcomes of the patients who would have been denied admission to the ICU according to these protocols, including the cumulative number of saved ICU days. ⋯ An ETT effectively reduces ICU bed occupancy but it does not accurately discriminate between survivors and non-survivors, as a substantial percentage of patients who are being denied admission to the ICU would eventually survive their hospital stay.