The proportion of children with COVID-19-related croup increased during the period of SARSCoV-2 omicron predominance, according to a research letter published in JAMA Network Open. Kelly R. Bergmann, DO, MS, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study to examine whether SARS-CoV-2 variants were associated with croup among children aged 3 months to 8 years. Data were included for 5,152 children with diagnoses of COVID-19 and croup between January 1, 2021 and March 26, 2022. Compared with alpha or other variant (4.1%) and delta periods (3.6%), the proportion of children with COVID-19-related croup was significantly increased during the omicron period (10.9%). The odds of hospitalization were not significantly different during the various periods, and there was no statistically significant difference observed in the frequency of ICU admission across the periods. “Given that COVID-19 is likely to become endemic, our findings suggest that pediatric health systems should consider variation in SARSCoV-2 phenotypes and their association with patient care,” Dr. Bergmann and colleagues wrote.
