COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness in a UK Tertiary and Quaternary Children's Hospital: Tales of the Unexpected

Nele Alders; Justin Penner; Karlie Grant; Charlotte Patterson; Jane Hassell; Nathalie MacDermott; Sian Pincott; Alasdair Bamford; Pascale du Pré; Mae Johnson; Karyn Moshal

doi:10.1093/jpids/piaa135

COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness in a UK Tertiary and Quaternary Children's Hospital: Tales of the Unexpected

J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2020 Dec 31;9(6):772-776. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piaa135.

Authors

Nele Alders¹, Justin Penner¹, Karlie Grant¹, Charlotte Patterson², Jane Hassell^{3

4}, Nathalie MacDermott^{1

3

5}, Sian Pincott³, Alasdair Bamford^{1

6}, Pascale du Pré⁷, Mae Johnson⁷, Karyn Moshal¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
² Department of Microbiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
³ Department of General Paediatrics, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁵ Department of Women and Child Health, School of Life Course Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, london, UK.
⁶ UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
⁷ Department of Intensive Care, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

Abstract

We describe the adaptive coping strategies required in the management of a heterogeneous group of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pediatric patients. The diverse range of presentations, presenting in distinct phenotypic waves, exemplified the importance of preparedness for the unknown. Lessons learned will be essential in planning for a likely second wave of SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: epidemiology; health services research; virology.

© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
COVID-19 / diagnosis*
COVID-19 / epidemiology
COVID-19 / therapy
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Hospitals, Pediatric* / organization & administration
Humans
Male
Tertiary Care Centers / organization & administration
United Kingdom / epidemiology