Is there a place for bronchiolitis in the COVID-19 era? Lack of hospitalizations due to common respiratory viruses during the 2020 winter

Abstract

It was recently reported that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the European winter 2020-2021, bronchiolitis had practically disappeared. But early reports from the southern hemisphere (Australia) raised concerns about a late spring / summer peak. After a full winter season and now ending the summer, we report that there was no peak of common respiratory viruses in late spring / summer in South America.

Lactancia materna exclusiva y evolución de la enfermedad en lactantes hospitalizados por bronquiolitis

“…Sin embargo, una muestra de mayor magnitud tal vez podría haber permitido evidenciar significación en las diferencias observadas entre varones y mujeres en relación a días de hospitalización y oxigenoterapia, como ya ha sido postulado 7 . Lamentablemente, el desarrollo de la pandemia por COVID-19 impidió continuar con el estudio, ante la ausencia de hospitalizaciones por bronquiolitis en el invierno siguiente 26 .…”

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the circulation of common respiratory viruses

“…Given that the first wave of the pandemic began in the Northern Hemisphere late in the winter and in the Southern Hemisphere in the early fall, it is not unusual that the first reports of this phenomenon originated in the South. 2 There was much discussion initially as to whether this alteration in the circulation of common respiratory viruses was due to the occupation of the "ecological niche" by SARS-CoV-2 or to the impact of non-drug mitigation measures. 3 To make matters worse, anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination soon broke out among adolescents and, in some countries, in children, with an epidemiological impact that is still difficult to assess.…”