Impacto da pandemia de Covid-19 nos óbitos por Bronquiolite Viral Aguda no nordeste brasileiro

Abstract

Introduction: Acute bronchiolitis (AB) is the main cause of hospitalization in infants under one year of age and its most common etiological agent is the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). In the Northeast region, seasonality occurs between March and July. However, after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a change in this pattern and an increase in the number of hospitalizations were observed, possibly due to the time in which the population was in social isolation. Objective: To analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of hospitalizations and mortality due to AB in infants under one year of age, in the Brazilian Northeast. Materials and methods: The DATASUS (Tabnet) database was used according to the criteria established for the elaboration of an ecological study with an analytical and quantitative approach, using the Mann-Kendall test to analyze the temporal trend and the quasi-Poisson distribution in the comparison of hospitalization and mortality rates. Results: There were a total of 37,758 hospitalizations for AB between April 2019 and March 2024, with a person-year incidence of 4,622 per 100,000 people in the age group and period. Males were predominant in all periods analyzed. With the onset of the pandemic, there was a reduction in hospitalizations and after the relaxation of measures, there was a significant increase, especially in the fourth year, being 123% higher (95% CI = 37.1 -274%). Seasonality followed the expected pattern in almost all years evaluated, except in 2023, when there was a prolonged increase in hospitalizations that extended until the months of October and November. Despite the increase in hospitalizations, the mortality rate did not differ between periods, being estimated at 0.35%. Conclusion: Despite being the main cause of hospitalization among the population under 1 year old and even with all the changes in the disease pattern after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in our study the mortality rate was low and remained constant in the pre,during and post pandemic period.