Assessment of Pediatric Outpatient Visits for Notifiable Infectious Diseases in a University Hospital in Beijing During COVID-19

This ecological study compared the frequency of pediatric outpatient visits at Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital for infectious diseases acquired through droplet transmission, contact transmission, or both between January 19 and April 15, 2020 to the same period in 2019. The authors report an 83% decrease in pediatric outpatient visits from 14 557 visits in 2019 to 2420 visits in 2020. 34 patients with notifiable infectious diseases were reported during the COVID-19 outbreak (average=0.4/day) compared with 383 (4.3/day) in 2019 (91% decrease). The proportion of children with influenza was lower during the outbreak than in 2019.

Main limitations: The study was based on electronic medical records. Therefore, selection bias and misclassification bias cannot be ruled out.

(note no mention of measles, and table only has mumps/flu as VPDs)