Health and nutritional status of children hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh.

Objective: To compare the health and nutrition of children younger than 5 years admitted to hospital during and before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangladesh.

Methods: We collected data from hospital records of children 0-59 months admitted to the Dhaka Hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh in March 2020-February 2021 (COVID-19 period;  = 2552) and March 2019-February 2020 (pre-COVID-19 period;  = 6738). Data collected included sociodemographic, anthropometric, clinical and biochemical characteristics. We compared these data for child admissions in the COVID-19 and pre-COVID-19 periods, including infants 0-11 months born during and before the pandemic and admitted to hospital.

Findings: Admissions of children as a percentage of total admissions were lower in March 2020 (2.47%; 63/2552) than March 2019 (8.30%; 559/6738), but increased to 20.61% (526/2552) in February 2021, three times greater than in the pre-COVID-19 period (6.69%; 451/6738). Children admitted during the COVID-19 period were significantly more likely to have dehydration, severe sepsis or septic shock, convulsions, hypernatraemia and raised creatinine than children admitted before the pandemic ( < 0.05). In infants < 6 months and those born during the pandemic, stunting and wasting were significantly higher than in infants in the pre-COVID-19 period ( < 0.05). The risk of death was higher in infants < 6 months during the pandemic (odds ratio: 1.66; 95% confidence interval: 0.95-2.92).

Conclusion: During the pandemic, children presented with more severe illness and poorer nutrition. Efforts are needed to reduce the adverse effects of the pandemic on the health and well-being of children.