COVID-19-associated croup severity in Australian children

The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has been linked to upper airway manifestations, including laryngotracheobronchitis, or croup.1–3 Croup from any cause is a common reason for hospital presentation in children and can cause serious morbidity.3 The current literature examining COVID-19-associated croup mostly describes the differences in clinical course and outcomes between SARS-CoV-2 variants; there is little data comparing SARS-CoV-2 croup to other respiratory viruses.1–5 Thus, we conducted an Australian single-institution observational study comparing the clinical features and outcomes between COVID-19-associated and non-COVID-19-associated croup. All cases of croup (ICD10 J05.0) in children aged 0–9 years presenting to The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, a quaternary paediatric hospital in Victoria, Australia, between the first case of COVID-19 in Australia (25 January 2020) and 30 June 2022 were included. Clinical, demographic and laboratory data were retrospectively...

Source: Archives of Disease in Childhood - July 19, 2023 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Lai, T. C., Walker, P. J. B., Schrader, S., McMinn, A., Tosif, S., Crawford, N. W., Cheng, D. R. Tags: COVID-19 PostScript Source Type: research