• Youn Young Choi, You Sun Kim, Seong Yong Lee, Jiwoo Sim, Young June Choe, and Mi Seon Han.
• Department of Pediatrics, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2022 May 23; 37 (20): e140.

AbstractCroup is an acute upper respiratory disease primarily caused by the parainfluenza virus. Owing to inflammation and edema of the upper airways, children present with barky cough and stridor, and some may experience respiratory distress. We investigated children aged < 5 years with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to two hospitals in Seoul, South Korea, and observed a spike in croup cases during the omicron surge. Among the 569 children admitted from March 1, 2021 to February 25, 2022, 21 children (3.7%) had croup, and the proportion of croup cases was significantly higher during the omicron wave than that during the delta wave (12.4% vs. 1.2%, P < 0.001). With the immediate administration of corticosteroids and epinephrine via nebulizer, the symptoms improved rapidly. During the current omicron surge, careful monitoring of the symptoms of croup in young children is needed for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and its timely management.© 2022 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

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