Impact of COVID‑19 pandemic restrictions and subsequent relaxation on the prevalence of respiratory virus hospitalizations in children.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequently adopted worldwide control measures have resulted in global changes in the epidemiology and severity of other respiratory viruses. We compared the number and severity of viral acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRTI) hospitalizations and determined changes in causative respiratory pathogens before, during, and after the pandemic among young children in Qatar.

Methods: In this single-center retrospective study, we reviewed data of children ≤ 36 months old who were admitted to Sidra Medicine in Qatar with a viral ALRTI during winter seasons (September-April) between 2019 and 2023.