Introduction Respiratory tract diseases are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in children under the age of 5 years, constituting the highest rate of hospitalization in this age group. Objectives To determine the prevalence of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases in childhood in the last 5 years and to assess the impact of social isolation due to COVID-19 on the seasonal behavior of these diseases. Methods A cross-sectional clinical study was carried out, with a survey of all patients aged 0 to 17 years who were admitted with a diagnosis of respiratory diseases between January 2015 and July 2020. The database was delivered to the researchers anonymized. The variables used for analysis were date of admission, date of discharge, length of stay, age, sex and diagnosis. In order to make the analysis possible, the diagnoses were grouped into upper respiratory infection (URI), asthma / bronchitis, bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Results 2236 admissions were included in the study. Children under 5 years old account for 81% of hospitalizations for respiratory disease in our population. In the adjusted model, an average reduction of 38 hospitalizations was observed in the period of social isolation (coefficient: -37.66; 95% CI (- 68.17; -7.15); p = 0.016). Conclusion The social isolation measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically interfered with the seasonality of childhood respiratory diseases. This was reflected in the unexpected reduction in the number of hospitalizations in the pediatric population during this period.

Introduction Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive, radiation-free, bedside tool to monitor ventilation distribution in real time. Objective To evaluate, in pediatric COVID-19 patients, the ventilation distribution using EIT and compare it to thoracic computed tomography (TCT) or chest radiograph results obtained in these patients. Methods This was a prospective, observational clinical study including pediatric patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital. The patients monitored with EIT tested positive for COVID-19 and were submitted to the previously mentioned radiation exams. EIT monitoring lasted 15 min and no sedation was used. Results Six patients were included in this study. The main differences observed in the EIT were in the right-left distribution and were compatible with the morphological changes found in the TCT or radiograph images due to COVID-19 infection. Conclusion We conclude that EIT is ready to investigate the ventilatory profile present at different lung diseases, including COVID-19, and might postpone or mitigate the need of repeated ionizing radiation exams in the pediatric population, although larger pediatric cohorts comparing to standard radiological imaging are needed.