Raw data in this study.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resulted in implementation of social distancing and other public health measures to control the spread of infection and improve prevention, resulting in a decrease in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and pediatric respiratory tract infection rates. However, there was a rapid and large re-emergence of RSV infection in Japan. Notably, we were faced with a difficult situation wherein there was a shortage of hospital beds. This study aimed to examine the epidemiological patterns of RSV-related hospitalizations among children before and after the COVID-19 pandemic onset at two pediatric emergency referral hospitals covering the entire Tokushima Prefecture. Data were extracted from electronic medical records of children hospitalized with RSV infection between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021. All patients meeting the eligibility criteria were included in this study. The rates of study outcomes were documented annually during 2018–2021 and compared between the 2018–2020 and 2021 periods. In 2020, there was no RSV infection outbreak. Hospitalizations at the peak week in 2021 were 2.2- and 2.8-fold higher than those in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Hospitalizations in 2021 were concentrated within a short period. In addition, there was a significant increase in hospitalizations among children aged 3–5 months and those older than 24 months. The high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) use rate nearly doubled in 2021. A new pandemic in the future may cause an outbreak of RSV infection that can result in an intensive increase in the number of hospitalizations of pediatric patients requiring respiratory support, especially in infants aged新型冠状病毒肺炎（coronavirus disease, COVID-19）疫情暴发后，各国为控制病毒传播、强化感染防控，相继实施社交距离管控及其他公共卫生措施，使得呼吸道合胞病毒（respiratory syncytial virus, RSV）及儿童呼吸道感染的发病率显著下降。但日本地区却出现了RSV感染的快速大规模反弹，尤为棘手的是，当时陷入了医院床位严重短缺的困境。本研究以覆盖德岛县全域的两家儿科急诊转诊医院为研究场景，旨在分析新冠疫情暴发前后儿童RSV相关住院病例的流行病学特征。研究提取了2018年1月1日至2021年12月31日期间，因RSV感染住院的儿童的电子病历数据，纳入所有符合纳入标准的受试患儿。本研究统计了2018至2021年各年度的结局指标，并对2018-2020年与2021年两个时段的指标开展对比分析。结果显示，2020年未出现RSV感染暴发疫情；2021年峰值周的住院人次分别为2018年、2019年的2.2倍与2.8倍，且住院病例集中在较短时段内出现。此外，3-5月龄及24月龄以上儿童的住院人次均出现显著升高。经鼻高流量氧疗（high-flow nasal cannula, HFNC）的使用率在2021年近乎翻倍。未来若出现新的全球大流行疫情，可能会引发RSV感染暴发，进而导致需要呼吸支持的儿科住院患者数量大幅攀升，尤其是在婴儿年龄段