The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in children on respiratory track disease surveillance

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: A new type of coronavirus was identified in the city of Wuhan, China's Hubei province, in December 2019, which caused an epidemic by spreading all over the world. Air pollution, which increased rapidly after the industrial revolution, caused serious increases in deaths due to respiratory diseases due to the increase of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particles in the atmosphere as a result of the excessive use of traditional fossil fuels at the beginning of the twentieth century. The main purpose of our study is to retrospectively compare two conditions that concern respiratory tract complaints in childhood and to reveal the relationship between them. METHOD: Our research was planned retrospectively. With respiratory system complaints between March 1, 2019, and March 30, 2021; A total of 40.233 patients aged 0-18 years who applied to the Pediatric Emergency Outpatient Clinic of Manisa Celal Bayar University Hafsa Sultan Hospital with the complaints of cough, runny nose, fever, wheezing and shortness of breath were included. PM10 and SO2 data were obtained from the National Air Quality Monitoring Network Website of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of the Republic of Turkey. Data were analyzed with SPSS 26 statistical package program. Descriptive statistics (number, percentage distribution, mean, standard deviation) were evaluated using the pearson correlation test and logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 29,029 applications were made to the Pediatric Emergency Outpatient Clinic in the pre-pandemic period, and a total of 11,204 applications were made during the pandemic period. There was a 61.4% decrease in applications. In the period before and after the pandemic; A significant relationship between air pollution and respiratory system complaints in children and emergency service admissions has been shown. CONCLUSION: In addition to the negative effects of the pandemic, it is noteworthy that there has been a significant decrease in the applications to the emergency service with respiratory tract complaints in children with the observance of the hygiene rules, attention to the mask and distance.