ArticleBMJ open2025
Epidemiological association of the COVID-19 pandemic on
Article in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Epidemiological characteristics of hospitalized pediatric patients with acute respiratory tract infection during and after the COVID-19 period in Ningbo, China: a retrospective single-center study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Changes in Epidemiological Characteristics in Children withJournal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Clinical research on secure multi-party computation technology for auxiliary respiratory pathogen diagnosis and treatment design in preschool-aged children.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Epidemiology and clinical profiles of neonates withTranslational pediatrics · 2025Article
- Post-pandemic resurgence of respiratory virus infections: age and department-specific patterns in a Chinese tertiary hospital (2020-2024).BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- High-altitude immune remodeling in children withFrontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Risk factors for multiple bronchoalveolar lavage procedures in children with severe or refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.Jornal de pediatriaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the epidemiological characteristics and temporal-spatial distribution of
designRetrospective, single-centre study.
settingSecondary care paediatric hospital in a metropolitan area.
participantsA total of 60 213 paediatric patients hospitalised with respiratory infections between January 2017 and December 2024 were included. The study population consisted of children aged 0-18 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.22:1.00. Selection criteria included children admitted with a diagnosis of respiratory infection, while those with incomplete clinical data or non-respiratory infections were excluded. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the overall positive detection rate of MP-RNA. Secondary outcomes included annual and seasonal variations in MP-RNA detection rates, differences by sex and age group, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on MP epidemiology. All statistical methods, including those used to control for confounding, involved the use of χ² tests for comparing positive rates between groups.
resultsThe overall positive detection rate of MP-RNA among children hospitalised for respiratory infections during the study period was 36.58% (22 023/60 213). The annual MP-RNA-positive detection rates from 2017 to 2024 were as follows: 50.74% (411/810) in 2017, 36.28% (1150/3170) in 2018, 27.41% (1459/5323) in 2019, 10.18% (222/2181) in 2020, 11.42% (928/8129) in 2021, 13.27% (579/4364) in 2022, 28.97% (3064/10575) in 2023 and 55.38% (14 210/25 661) in 2024. The highest annual positivity rate was observed in 2024 (55.38%, 14 210/25 661), while the lowest rate occurred in 2020 (10.18%, 222/2181). Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in MP-RNA detection rates across different years (χ²=8331.511, p<0.001). Furthermore, MP-RNA detection rates varied significantly by sex (p<0.001), age group (p<0.001), month (p<0.001) and season (p<0.001) before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
conclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic substantially altered MP epidemiology in Tianjin's paediatric population, with infection rates demonstrating a U-shaped trajectory across pandemic phases. School-aged children and females exhibited heightened susceptibility. These temporal and demographic patterns emphasise the necessity of incorporating epidemiological surveillance into diagnostic algorithms for childhood respiratory infections, particularly in post-pandemic settings. Future research should focus on multicentre studies to validate these findings and explore the underlying mechanisms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.