News Scan for Feb 21, 2022

Fewer kids' ED visits amid COVID, but more mental healthcare in teen girlsLower percentages of US children visited an emergency department (ED) for any indication amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while adolescent girls accounted for the largest hikes in visits for mental illness, according to two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studies published late last week in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).For both studies, the researchers mined pediatric ED visit data in the National Syndromic Surveillance Program for three periods: Mar 15, 2020, to Jan 2, 2021; Jan 3, 2021, to Jan 1, 2022; and Jan 2 to 29, 2022, compared with the same periods in 2019.The first study found that, relative to 2019, overall ED visits by children 17 years and younger in 2020, 2021, and January 2022 fell by 51%, 22%, and 23%, respectively.

COVID-19 visits made up the biggest proportion of ED visits among all ages, while visits for other respiratory diseases largely declined.At the same time, the number and percentage of visits for some injuries (eg, guns, self-harm, drugs), chronic illnesses, and mental health concerns rose but varied by age-group.The findings point to the need for vigilance for indirect effects of the pandemic on children's and adolescents' health, including problems resulting from delayed care and increasing stress and mental health concerns—particularly among older children and adolescents, the study authors said."Prevention programs that improve children and adolescents' physical and mental health are critical during and after emergencies," the researchers wrote. "Reducing COVID-19 infection through vaccination and other nonpharmaceutical prevention strategies can further protect pediatric health."The second