Pediatric Otolaryngology Divisional and Institutional Preparatory Response at Seattle Children's Hospital after COVID-19 Regional Exposure. (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Parikh, Sanjay R.; Bly, Randall A.; Bonilla-Velez, Juliana; Dahl, John P.; Evans, Sean S.; Horn, David L.; Johnson, Kaalan E.; Manning, Scott C.; Ou, Henry C.; Pattisapu, Prasanth; Perkins, Jonathan A.; Sie, Kathleen C. Y.
• Is Part Of: Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery. Volume 162:Number 6(2020)
• Page Start: 800
• Page End: 803
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: pediatric otolaryngology -- COVID-19 -- preparatory response -- endoscopy; Head -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Neck -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Otolaryngology -- Periodicals; 617.51
• DOI: 10.1177/0194599820919748
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0194-5998

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel coronavirus resulting in high mortality in the adult population but low mortality in the pediatric population. The role children and adolescents play in COVID-19 transmission is unclear, and it is possible that healthy pediatric patients serve as a reservoir for the virus. This article serves as a summary of a single pediatric institution's response to COVID-19 with the goal of protecting both patients and health care providers while providing ongoing care to critically ill patients who require urgent interventions. A significant limitation of this commentary is that it reflects a single institution's joint effort at a moment in time but does not take into consideration future circumstances that could change practice patterns. We still hope dissemination of our overall response at this moment, approximately 8 weeks after our region's first adult case, may benefit other pediatric institutions preparing for COVID-19.