Authors: Harrison Wilde, Christopher Tomlinson, Bilal A. Mateen, David Selby, Hari Krishnan Kanthimathinathan, Spiros Denaxas, Seth Flaxman, Sebastian Vollmer, Christina Pagel, Katherine Brown. Trends in Pediatric Hospital Admissions Caused or Contributed by SARS-CoV-2 Infection in England.The Journal of Pediatrics(2025).
Published in: The Journal of Pediatrics (2025) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114370
To investigate the changing characteristics of SARS-CoV-2-related pediatric hospital admissions over time. STUDY DESIGN: This was a national, observational cohort study from July 1, 2020, to August 31, 2023, using English population-linked electronic health records. We identified 45 203 children younger than 18 years old in whom SARS-CoV-2 either caused or contributed to hospitalization, excluding those admitted with ``incidental'' infection. Studied outcomes were types of hospitalization and severe hospitalizations involving either critical care or pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome-temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS). RESULTS: There were 45 920 SARS-CoV-2-related hospitalizations in children: 34 870 (75.9%) attributable to COVID-19; 1845 (4.0%) attributable to PIMS-TS; 8330 (18.1%) with SARS-CoV-2 as contributor to admission; and 875 (1.9%) acquired nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection. The most notable changes between the first 3 waves (March 2020 through November 2021) and the Omicron era (December 2021 onwards) were a decrease in PIMS-TS from 1575 of 14 020 (11.2%) to 270 of 31 905 (0.8%); a reduction in critical care use from 1175 of 14 020 (8.4%) to 1390 of 31 905 (4.4%); a decreased in mortality rate among those hospitalized from 521 per 100 000 to 249 per 100 000; and a decrease in the median age of hospitalized children from 4.7 (IQR 0.6,12.3) to 1.1 (IQR 0.3,6.4) years. Of children hospitalized, infants, 10.2% of whom had a recorded underlying health condition, comprised 4225 of 14 020 (30.1%) admissions 2020 through 2021 and 15 555 of 31 900 (48.8%) since 2022. (P < .001 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: Infants are now the pediatric age group most affected by SARS-CoV-2, at least partially because they have the least immunity to the virus, and are most vulnerable to respiratory illnesses.
@article{wilde2025,
title = {Trends in Pediatric Hospital Admissions Caused or Contributed by SARS-CoV-2 Infection in England},
author = {Harrison Wilde and Christopher Tomlinson and Bilal A. Mateen and David Selby and Hari Krishnan Kanthimathinathan and Spiros Denaxas and Seth Flaxman and Sebastian Vollmer and Christina Pagel and Katherine Brown},
year = {2025},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.114370},
abstract = {To investigate the changing characteristics of SARS-CoV-2-related pediatric hospital admissions over time. STUDY DESIGN: This was a national, observational cohort study from July 1, 2020, to August 31, 2023, using English population-linked electronic health records. We identified 45 203 children younger than 18 years old in whom SARS-CoV-2 either caused or contributed to hospitalization, excluding those admitted with ``incidental'' infection. Studied outcomes were types of hospitalization and severe hospitalizations involving either critical care or pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome-temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS). RESULTS: There were 45 920 SARS-CoV-2-related hospitalizations in children: 34 870 (75.9%) attributable to COVID-19; 1845 (4.0%) attributable to PIMS-TS; 8330 (18.1%) with SARS-CoV-2 as contributor to admission; and 875 (1.9%) acquired nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection. The most notable changes between the first 3 waves (March 2020 through November 2021) and the Omicron era (December 2021 onwards) were a decrease in PIMS-TS from 1575 of 14 020 (11.2%) to 270 of 31 905 (0.8%); a reduction in critical care use from 1175 of 14 020 (8.4%) to 1390 of 31 905 (4.4%); a decreased in mortality rate among those hospitalized from 521 per 100 000 to 249 per 100 000; and a decrease in the median age of hospitalized children from 4.7 (IQR 0.6,12.3) to 1.1 (IQR 0.3,6.4) years. Of children hospitalized, infants, 10.2% of whom had a recorded underlying health condition, comprised 4225 of 14 020 (30.1%) admissions 2020 through 2021 and 15 555 of 31 900 (48.8%) since 2022. (P < .001 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: Infants are now the pediatric age group most affected by SARS-CoV-2, at least partially because they have the least immunity to the virus, and are most vulnerable to respiratory illnesses.},
}