Short and long-term outcomes of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza: results of the AUTCOV study
Abstract Recent literature gives different results on morbidity and mortality after COVID-19 hospitalization as compared to Influenza. In this registry-based study in Austria, we compared the short- and long-term outcomes after COVID-19 or Influenza hospitalization and associations with their baseli...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07360-4 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849238617210224640 |
|---|---|
| author | Christine Wagenlechner Ralph Wendt Berthold Reichardt Michael Mildner Julia Mascherbauer Clemens Aigner Johann Auer Hendrik Jan Ankersmit Alexandra Christine Graf |
| author_facet | Christine Wagenlechner Ralph Wendt Berthold Reichardt Michael Mildner Julia Mascherbauer Clemens Aigner Johann Auer Hendrik Jan Ankersmit Alexandra Christine Graf |
| author_sort | Christine Wagenlechner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Recent literature gives different results on morbidity and mortality after COVID-19 hospitalization as compared to Influenza. In this registry-based study in Austria, we compared the short- and long-term outcomes after COVID-19 or Influenza hospitalization and associations with their baseline medication load. Data were provided on children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 (sample size: 1061) in the years 2020 and 2021 or with Influenza in 2016–2021 (sample size: 2781) as well as on matched controls from the Austrian population (10,626 controls for COVID-19 and 27,634 for Influenza). The median follow-up time was 430 days in the COVID-19 and 1221 days in the Influenza group. Hospitalized children were more likely to have a larger disease burden as compared to the general population. Influenza patients were observed to be generally younger with a larger percentage of polypharmacy than those with COVID-19. No significant difference in the time to hospital discharge was found between Influenza and COVID-19 patients (HR 1.22 [95% CI 0.97–1.55], p = 0.093). The risk for readmission was significantly higher for Influenza (HR 1.23 [95% CI 1.03–1.47], p = 0.021). In-hospital mortality (COVID-19: 0.94%; Influenza: 0.22%) and 1-year mortality (COVID-19: 1.13%; Influenza: 0.31%) were observed to be higher in COVID-19 patients but severe events were generally rare. The findings suggest that COVID-19 should not generally be considered a milder disease than Influenza. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5d233b75a64346f5b4c0f17a53bb11aa |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-5d233b75a64346f5b4c0f17a53bb11aa2025-08-20T04:01:34ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111010.1038/s41598-025-07360-4Short and long-term outcomes of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza: results of the AUTCOV studyChristine Wagenlechner0Ralph Wendt1Berthold Reichardt2Michael Mildner3Julia Mascherbauer4Clemens Aigner5Johann Auer6Hendrik Jan Ankersmit7Alexandra Christine Graf8Center for Medical Data Science, Medical University of ViennaDepartment of Nephrology, Hospital St. Georg LeipzigAustrian Social Health Insurance FundClinic of Dermatology, Medical University of ViennaDepartment of Internal Medicine 3, University Hospital St. PoeltenClinic of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of ViennaDepartment of Internal Medicine 1 with Cardiology and Intensive Care, St. Josef Hospital BraunauClinic of Thoracic Surgery, Medical University of ViennaCenter for Medical Data Science, Medical University of ViennaAbstract Recent literature gives different results on morbidity and mortality after COVID-19 hospitalization as compared to Influenza. In this registry-based study in Austria, we compared the short- and long-term outcomes after COVID-19 or Influenza hospitalization and associations with their baseline medication load. Data were provided on children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 (sample size: 1061) in the years 2020 and 2021 or with Influenza in 2016–2021 (sample size: 2781) as well as on matched controls from the Austrian population (10,626 controls for COVID-19 and 27,634 for Influenza). The median follow-up time was 430 days in the COVID-19 and 1221 days in the Influenza group. Hospitalized children were more likely to have a larger disease burden as compared to the general population. Influenza patients were observed to be generally younger with a larger percentage of polypharmacy than those with COVID-19. No significant difference in the time to hospital discharge was found between Influenza and COVID-19 patients (HR 1.22 [95% CI 0.97–1.55], p = 0.093). The risk for readmission was significantly higher for Influenza (HR 1.23 [95% CI 1.03–1.47], p = 0.021). In-hospital mortality (COVID-19: 0.94%; Influenza: 0.22%) and 1-year mortality (COVID-19: 1.13%; Influenza: 0.31%) were observed to be higher in COVID-19 patients but severe events were generally rare. The findings suggest that COVID-19 should not generally be considered a milder disease than Influenza.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07360-4COVID-19 hospitalized childrenInfluenza hospitalized childrenPolypharmacyBaseline drug treatmentsPopulation-based observational study |
| spellingShingle | Christine Wagenlechner Ralph Wendt Berthold Reichardt Michael Mildner Julia Mascherbauer Clemens Aigner Johann Auer Hendrik Jan Ankersmit Alexandra Christine Graf Short and long-term outcomes of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza: results of the AUTCOV study Scientific Reports COVID-19 hospitalized children Influenza hospitalized children Polypharmacy Baseline drug treatments Population-based observational study |
| title | Short and long-term outcomes of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza: results of the AUTCOV study |
| title_full | Short and long-term outcomes of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza: results of the AUTCOV study |
| title_fullStr | Short and long-term outcomes of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza: results of the AUTCOV study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Short and long-term outcomes of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza: results of the AUTCOV study |
| title_short | Short and long-term outcomes of children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 or influenza: results of the AUTCOV study |
| title_sort | short and long term outcomes of children and adolescents hospitalized with covid 19 or influenza results of the autcov study |
| topic | COVID-19 hospitalized children Influenza hospitalized children Polypharmacy Baseline drug treatments Population-based observational study |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07360-4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christinewagenlechner shortandlongtermoutcomesofchildrenandadolescentshospitalizedwithcovid19orinfluenzaresultsoftheautcovstudy AT ralphwendt shortandlongtermoutcomesofchildrenandadolescentshospitalizedwithcovid19orinfluenzaresultsoftheautcovstudy AT bertholdreichardt shortandlongtermoutcomesofchildrenandadolescentshospitalizedwithcovid19orinfluenzaresultsoftheautcovstudy AT michaelmildner shortandlongtermoutcomesofchildrenandadolescentshospitalizedwithcovid19orinfluenzaresultsoftheautcovstudy AT juliamascherbauer shortandlongtermoutcomesofchildrenandadolescentshospitalizedwithcovid19orinfluenzaresultsoftheautcovstudy AT clemensaigner shortandlongtermoutcomesofchildrenandadolescentshospitalizedwithcovid19orinfluenzaresultsoftheautcovstudy AT johannauer shortandlongtermoutcomesofchildrenandadolescentshospitalizedwithcovid19orinfluenzaresultsoftheautcovstudy AT hendrikjanankersmit shortandlongtermoutcomesofchildrenandadolescentshospitalizedwithcovid19orinfluenzaresultsoftheautcovstudy AT alexandrachristinegraf shortandlongtermoutcomesofchildrenandadolescentshospitalizedwithcovid19orinfluenzaresultsoftheautcovstudy |