Key clinical point: Three of the studied diseases – influenza, croup, and bronchiolitis – essentially disappeared with social distancing.
Major finding: The rate of bronchiolitis was 18 per 100,000 patients per day and 8 per 100,000 patients per day in the pre– and post–social distancing–equivalent weeks of 2019, respectively, and 20 and 0.6 in the pre- and post-SD weeks of 2020.
Study details: An analysis of the weekly incidence of 12 infectious disease diagnoses for similar calendar periods in 2019 and 2020 in a Massachusetts pediatric network providing care for approximately 375,000 children.
Disclosures: The authors of the research brief indicated they have no relevant financial disclosures and there was no external funding.
Hatoun J et al. Pediatrics. 2020. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-006460.