Criteria for referral of pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection: a real-life experience in the pandemic era

• Main Authors: Carlotta Montagnani, Elisabetta Venturini, Manuela L’Erario, Chiara Tersigni, Barbara Bortone, Leila Bianchi, Francesca Menegazzo, Giuseppe Indolfi, Elena Chiappini, Luisa Galli
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2020-12-01
• Series: Italian Journal of Pediatrics
• Subjects: SARS CoV-2; Children; Referral criteria; COVID-19
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-020-00946-w

Abstract A practical guidance on the management of children with COVID-19 to insure homogeneous criteria for referral to a higher-level facility, according to the disease severity, is pivotal in the pandemic era. A panel of experts in pediatric infectious diseases and intensive care at the tertiary-care Meyer Children’s University Hospital, Florence, Italy, issued a practical document shared with Tuscany hospitals. The rationale was to target the referral for those children at risk of requiring an intensive support, since the above mentioned hospital has the pediatric intensive care unit. Overall, 378 patients between 0 and 19 years of age were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection in the Tuscany region with 24 (6.3%) hospitalizations. Only three children were centralized to Meyer Children’s University Hospital according to reported criteria. Considering that appropriate referral criteria have been associated with reduced mortality in other conditions, our document might be useful to improve outcomes of children with COVID-19.