Croup Associated With SARS-CoV-2: Pediatric Laryngotracheitis During the Omicron Surge

Sujit Sharma; Beesan Agha; Carlos Delgado; Karen Walson; Charles Woods; Mark D Gonzalez; Robert Jerris; Gregory Sysyn; James Beiter; Satoshi Kamidani; Christina A Rostad

doi:10.1093/jpids/piac032

Croup Associated With SARS-CoV-2: Pediatric Laryngotracheitis During the Omicron Surge

J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2022 Aug 30;11(8):371-374. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piac032.

Authors

Sujit Sharma^{1

2

3}, Beesan Agha^{1

2}, Carlos Delgado^{1

2}, Karen Walson⁴, Charles Woods⁵, Mark D Gonzalez⁶, Robert Jerris⁶, Gregory Sysyn⁴, James Beiter^{1

2}, Satoshi Kamidani^{7

8}, Christina A Rostad^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Pediatric Emergency Medicine Associates (PEMA), LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
² Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Division of Emergency Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
³ PhenoPhys, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁴ Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Division of Critical Care Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA.
⁶ Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Division of Pathology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁷ Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Division of Infectious Disease, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Abstract

In this retrospective analysis, we describe weekly croup and corresponding viral prevalence patterns in a pediatric quaternary care system in metropolitan Atlanta. We characterize a series of 24 patients with croup associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and show that this clinical presentation increased substantially in frequency during the period of high Omicron vs Delta transmission.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; children; croup; tissue adaptation; tropism.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Child
Croup* / epidemiology
Humans
Retrospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2