Impact of nonpharmacological COVID-19 interventions in hospitalizations for childhood pneumonia in Brazil

Background and Objective The knowledge about the impact of the nonpharmacological measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic can give insight into ways in which they can also be applied for other respiratory diseases. To assess the impact of containment measures of the COVID-19 pandemic on pneumonia hospitalizations in children from 0 to 14 years of age in Brazil. Methods Data from hospital admissions for pneumonia were obtained from the Department of Informatics of Brazilian Public Health System database in the period of 2015-2020 and analyzed by macroregions and age groups. To evaluate the effect of containment measures, on the incidence of pneumonia, the absolute reduction and relative reduction were calculated by analyzing the subsets 2015-2019 vs. 2020. Results Comparing the subsets of April-August 2015-2019 vs. April-August 2020 for Brazil (total), there was an significant reduction in the average incidence of hospitalizations, with numbers ranging from -82% [IRR 0.17 (0.14-0.21)] for <4 years (prepandemic 741.8/100,000 vs. pandemic 132.7/100.000), -83% [IRR 0.17 (0.10-0.27)] for 5-9 years (prepandemic 113.6/100,000 vs. pandemic 19.6/100.000), -77% [IRR 0.23 (0.11-0.46)] for 10-14 (prepandemic 42.0/100,000 vs. pandemic 9.8/100.000) and -82% [IRR 0.18 (0.15-0.21)] for all children <= 14 years (prepandemic 897.4/100,000 vs. pandemic 162.1/100.000). Conclusion We found a significant decrease in cases of all cause pneumonia in children under 14 years and especially in the age group <9 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may be associated with the nonpharmacological measures applied to control the SARS-CoV-2.

Automated summary

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, there was a significant decrease in pneumonia hospitalizations for children aged 0-14, especially in those under 9 years old. This reduction may be attributed to the nonpharmacological measures implemented to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2.