TY - JOUR
T1 - Child mortality in England during the COVID-19 pandemic
AU - Odd, David
AU - Stoianova, Sylvia
AU - Williams, Tom
AU - Sleap, Vicky
AU - Blair, Peter
AU - Fleming, Peter
AU - Wolfe, Ingrid
AU - Luyt, Karen
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding The National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) Programme, including this work, is funded by NHS England and commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP).
Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/1/1
Y1 - 2022/1/1
N2 - Objectives: Using the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD), this work aims to investigate and quantify the characteristics of children dying of COVID-19, and to identify any changes in rate of childhood mortality during the pandemic. Design: We compared the characteristics of the children who died in 2020, split by SARS-CoV-2 status. A negative binomial regression model was used to compare mortality rates in lockdown (23 March-28 June), with those children who died in the preceding period (6 January-22 March), as well as a comparable period in 2019. Setting: England. Participants: Children (0-17 years). Main outcome measures: Characteristics and number of the children who died in 2020, split by SARS-CoV-2 status. Results: 1550 deaths of children between 6th of January and 28 June 2020 were notified to the NCMD; 437 of the deaths were linked to SARS-CoV-2 virology records, 25 (5.7%) had a positive PCR result. PCR-positive children were less likely to be white (37.5% vs 69.4%, p=0.003) and were older (12.2 vs 0.7 years, p<0.0006) compared with child deaths without evidence of the virus. All-cause mortality rates were similar during lockdown compared with both the period before lockdown in 2020 (rate ratio (RR) 0.93 (0.84 to 1.02)) and a similar period in 2019 (RR 1.02 (0.92 to 1.13)). Conclusions: There is little to suggest that there has been excess mortality during the period of lockdown. The apparent higher frequency of SARS-CoV-2-positive tests among children from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups is consistent with findings in adults. Ongoing surveillance is essential as the pandemic continues.
AB - Objectives: Using the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD), this work aims to investigate and quantify the characteristics of children dying of COVID-19, and to identify any changes in rate of childhood mortality during the pandemic. Design: We compared the characteristics of the children who died in 2020, split by SARS-CoV-2 status. A negative binomial regression model was used to compare mortality rates in lockdown (23 March-28 June), with those children who died in the preceding period (6 January-22 March), as well as a comparable period in 2019. Setting: England. Participants: Children (0-17 years). Main outcome measures: Characteristics and number of the children who died in 2020, split by SARS-CoV-2 status. Results: 1550 deaths of children between 6th of January and 28 June 2020 were notified to the NCMD; 437 of the deaths were linked to SARS-CoV-2 virology records, 25 (5.7%) had a positive PCR result. PCR-positive children were less likely to be white (37.5% vs 69.4%, p=0.003) and were older (12.2 vs 0.7 years, p<0.0006) compared with child deaths without evidence of the virus. All-cause mortality rates were similar during lockdown compared with both the period before lockdown in 2020 (rate ratio (RR) 0.93 (0.84 to 1.02)) and a similar period in 2019 (RR 1.02 (0.92 to 1.13)). Conclusions: There is little to suggest that there has been excess mortality during the period of lockdown. The apparent higher frequency of SARS-CoV-2-positive tests among children from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups is consistent with findings in adults. Ongoing surveillance is essential as the pandemic continues.
KW - Covid-19
KW - epidemiology
KW - mortality
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108592778&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/archdischild-2020-320899
DO - 10.1136/archdischild-2020-320899
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85108592778
SN - 0003-9888
VL - 107
SP - 14
EP - 20
JO - Archives of Disease in Childhood
JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood
IS - 1
ER -
