{rfName}
Ac

Indexed in

License and use

Citations

82

Altmetrics

Analysis of institutional authors

Vidal Esteban, AnaAuthor

Share

October 6, 2023
Publications
>
Article
No

Acute bronchiolitis and respiratory syncytial virus seasonal transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain: A national perspective from the pediatric Spanish Society (AEP)

Publicated to:Journal Of Clinical Virology. 145 105027- - 2021-11-12 145(), DOI: 10.1016/j.jcv.2021.105027

Authors: Torres-Fernandez, David; Casellas, Aina; Jose Mellado, Maria; Calvo, Cristina; Bassat, Quique

Affiliations

Asociac Espanola Pediat AEP, Madrid, Spain - Author
Consorcio Invest Biomed Red Epidemiol & Salud Pab, Madrid, Spain - Author
Ctr Invest Saude Manh CISM, Maputo, Mozambique - Author
Fdn IdiPaz, Translat Res Network Pediat Infect Dis RITTP, Madrid, Spain - Author
Hosp Clin Univ Barcelona, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain - Author
ICREA, Pg Lluis Co 23, Barcelona 08010, Spain - Author
Univ Barcelona, Pediat Dept, Hosp St Joan de Deu, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Hosp La Paz, Pediat Dept, Pediat Infect Dis Unit, Madrid, Spain - Author
See more

Abstract

Introduction and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic and the widespread associated use of non-pharmaceutical interventions have impacted viral circulation and the incidence of respiratory tract infections. We compared Pediatric Emergency Department visits, bronchiolitis admissions, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases in 2020 with those documented for the preceding four years.Methods: This was a retrospective multicentric national survey study, driven by the Pediatric Spanish Society, and gathering monthly data from Spanish hospitals between 1st January 2016 and 31st December 2020. An Interrupted Time Series Analysis and Poisson regression models were performed for each index.Results: Thirty-eight hospitals representing most of the different regions of Spain participated. Compared to the preceding four years, in 2020, Pediatric emergency department visits significantly decreased immediately after initiation of the national lockdown. The median number of visits averted per month was 39,754 (IQR 26,539-50,065). RSV diagnoses during the 2020 winter season nearly disappeared with only 21 cases being documented among participating hospitals. The expected seasonal peak of bronchiolitis hospitalizations never occurred. The median number of admissions in 2020 averted per month was 100 (IQR 37-185) compared to 2016-2019. Only 3 hospitalized cases were RSV-confirmed. Reopening of schools and kindergarten was not associated with a remarkable increase in RSV cases or bronchiolitis hospitalizations.Conclusion: A dramatic reduction of bronchiolitis admissions and near disappearance of RSV cases was observed in Spanish hospitals coinciding with the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

BronchiolitisBronchiolitis, viralChildCommunicable disease controlCovid-19HumansInfectionInfluenzaPandemicsPublic-health measuresRespiratory syncytial virus infectionsRespiratory syncytial virus, humanRespiratory syncytial virusesRespiratory tractRetrospective studiesSars-cov-2SeasonsSpainTime-series regression

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Journal Of Clinical Virology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 3/37, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Virology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.89. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 14.82 (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-12, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 29
  • Europe PMC: 19

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-12:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 63.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 63 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 15.1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 23 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Mozambique.