Children hospitalised with gastroenteritis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic altered the pattern of many paediatric infections. We aimed to assess the incidence and characteristics of children hospitalised with gastroenteritis during the early and the late pandemic, relative to previous years.

Methods: In a retrospective study, we collected data from patient files of children aged 1 month to 5 years, admitted with gastroenteritis to a paediatric department in Denmark during January-June, of 2017 to 2021, comparing incidence rates and clinical features in the early pandemic (March to June 2020), and late pandemic period (January to June 2021), to similar pre-pandemic months.

Results: In the early pandemic, admission rates per 1000 children/month declined to 0.5 (95% CI: 0.3-0.6) from pre-pandemic rates of 1.6 (95% CI: 1.4-1.7) (p < 0.0001) and increased in the late pandemic to 2.2 (95% CI: 1.9-2.6) (p = 0.006). Children admitted in the late pandemic period were older than those admitted previously.

Conclusion: A resurgence of gastroenteritis in children occurred in the spring of 2021, with higher hospital admission rates of children, who were older, but not more severely ill than previously.