Effect of COVID-19 Associated Non-pharmaceutical Interventions on Pediatric Orbital Cellulitis
Author: Caroline Vloka
Base Hospital / Institution: University of Colorado
ePoster presentation
Abstract ID: 25-139
Purpose
The goal of our study is to report the influence of the COVID-19. pandemic on the rates of pediatric orbital cellulitis (OC) in the state of Colorado and to examine the incidence, demographics and clinical characteristics of cases admitted during pre-pandemic (2018-2020), pandemic (2020-2022) and post-pandemic (2022-2024) years.
Methods
This was a retrospective observational study of pediatric patients with radiographically confirmed OC from Colorado from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2022.
Results
We identified 257 cases admitted for treatment of OC in Colorado. The incidence rates of pediatric OC in the pre-pandemic, pandemic and post-pandemic years were 2.74, 1.81, and 5.79/100,000 respectively (p<0.05). The most significant changes in the rates of OC coincided with the implementation and lifting of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI).
There was a significant change in the distribution of patient age groups during the pandemic. In the pre-and post-pandemic periods, patients were most often between 5-9 years old (p<0.05). This pattern was not present during the pandemic, during which the distribution of patients among 0-4, 5-9 and 10–14-year-olds was evenly distributed. There was no difference in rates of subperiosteal abscess (SPA) formation, intracranial extension or surgical intervention throughout the study period. There was also no difference in the length of stay or urgency of surgical intervention, as determined by the average time to surgery from date of admission.
Conclusion
We hypothesize that the decrease of OC during the pandemic was a result of the implementation of NPI. This is supported by the timing of the changes in admission rates coinciding with the implementation and cessation of these interventions. Young school aged children (age 5-9) were less likely to be exposed to viruses causing URIs which decreased their risk of developing OC to be closer to that of other children. Finally, the natural history of OC in admitted patients did not change over the course of the study, refuting the hypothesis that COVID influenced severity of OC.
Additional Authors
| First name | Last name | Base Hospital / Institution |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan | Summers | University of Colorado |
| Tiffany | Wu | University of Colorado |
| Daniel James | Ozzello | University of Colorado |
| Eric | Hink | University of Colorado |
