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Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of newborns infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the Omicron wave. Methods: From December 1, 2022, to January 4, 2023, clinical data were collected from neonates with COVID-19 who were admitted to 10 hospitals in Foshan City, China. Their epidemiological histories, clinical manifestations and outcomes were analysed. The neonates were divided into symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. The t test or χ2 test was used for comparisons between groups. Results: A total of 286 children were diagnosed, including 166 males, 120 females, 273 full-term infants and 13 premature infants. They were 5.5 (0-30) days old on average when they were admitted to the hospital. These children had contact with patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and were infected through horizontal transmission. This study included 33 asymptomatic and 253 symptomatic patients, among whom 143 were diagnosed with upper respiratory tract infections and 110 were diagnosed with pneumonia. There were no severe or critical patients. Fever (220 patients) was the most common clinical manifestation, with a duration of 1.1 (1-6) days. The next most common clinical manifestations were cough with nasal congestion or runny nose (4 patients), cough (34 patients), poor appetite (7 patients), shortness of breath (15 patients), and poor general status (1 patient). There were no significant abnormalities in routine blood tests among the neonates infected with COVID-19 except for mononucleosis. However, compared with the asymptomatic group, in the symptomatic group, the leukocyte and neutrophil granulocyte counts were significantly decreased, and the monocyte count was significantly increased. C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly increased (≥10â mg/L) in 9 patients. Myocardial enzyme, liver function, kidney function and other tests showed no obvious abnormalities. Conclusions: In this study, neonates infected with the Omicron variant were asymptomatic or had mild disease. Symptomatic patients had lower leucocyte and neutrophil levels than asymptomatic patients.
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BACKGROUND Bronchiolitis is common in infants under 2 years of age. Most infections are caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but the importance of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) in the etiology of bronchiolitis is unclear. MATERIAL AND METHODS We investigated the clinical characteristics of bronchiolitis caused by MP in 79 infants admitted to Shunde Women's and Children's Hospital of Guangdong Medical University and Sanshui Women's and Children's Healthcare Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018. Infection with MP was confirmed by the presence of serum immunoglobulin M. RESULTS The peak detection rates of MP in the years 2016, 2017, and 2018 were 19.2%, 21.3%, and 24.0%, respectively. In each year, the peak of MP infections occurred during June and July. MP-associated bronchiolitis was mainly seen in infants from 6 to 12 months of age. Compared with RSV-associated bronchiolitis, the age of patients with bronchiolitis associated with MP was significantly older and they had a shorter hospital stay (all P<0.01 or P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Our study indicated that MP is an important cause of bronchiolitis, with peaks of occurrence during June and July every year. Pulmonary interstitial infiltration was a characteristic of this infection. Azithromycin treatment can shorten the course of MP-associated bronchiolitis. Investigation of the epidemiological characteristics of pediatric MP-associated bronchiolitis can help diagnose and treat the disease correctly.