Incidence, etiologies, and outcomes of severe pediatric community-acquired empyema before and after the pandemic: an Italian multicentric study.

ABSTRACT: An increase in severe and invasive infections has been reported since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, most evidence comes from monocentric studies without nationwide representativeness. This multicenter, nationwide, retrospective study, conducted within the network of the Italian Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (SITIP), aimed to compare the severity of empyema at presentation in children (aged 1 month to 18 years) admitted to 19 Italian hospitals before, during, and after the pandemic. A severe composite outcome was defined as either fatality, need for respiratory support or thoracic surgery, or admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Among the 266 patients included in the study (38.7% females, median age of 4 years [IQR 2-7 years]), 95 (35.8%) were reported during

SUBMITTER: Buonsenso D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12408734 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature