SUS admissions of babies due to respiratory problems hit a record high in 2023

Admissions of babies under the age of one due to pneumonia, bronchitis and bronchiolitis in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS in the Portuguese acronym) units hit a record high in 2023, according to a survey carried out by the Observatory of Children's Health (Observa Infância), an initiative of Fiocruz and Unifase. There were 153 thousand admissions last year, an average of 419 a day, an increase of 24% over the previous year. This is the highest number recorded in the last 15 years. The survey also reports that SUS disbursed R$ 154 million in 2023 to treat admitted babies, about R$ 53 million more than the 2019 pre-pandemic year.

For the researchers, climate change and low children vaccination coverage are the main hypotheses for the increase in admissions (photo: Peter Ilicciev)

The study analyzed admission rates per region and revealed a downward trend until 2016. Between 2016 and 2019, the data varied more or less according to the region. In 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, admissions fell by an average of 340%. The following years saw steady increases, until the record in the historical series was reached in 2023.
Analyzing the regions individually, it was observed that the South and Central-West had the highest admission rates last year. The intense cold and the fires associated with the dry climate, respectively, contribute to making children's respiratory systems more vulnerable.
For researcher Cristiano Boccolini, coordinator of Observa Infância, climate change and low children vaccination coverage are the main hypotheses for the increase in admissions. "The reduction in vaccination against respiratory diseases, possibly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the extreme weather conditions may have contributed to the vulnerability of babies to serious respiratory infections", he explains. "That is why it's essential to keep babies' and children's vaccination cards up to date. And it should be borne in mind that it is also important for pregnant women to have their vaccinations up to date, since mothers ensure their babies' antibodies in the first months of life".
Boccolini also calls for the RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccine, already approved by Anvisa, to be incorporated into the SUS calendar. The data on admissions used in the study was obtained from the SUS Hospital Admissions System, and the birth data was extracted from the National Live Births System between 2008 and 2023.
Observa Infância
The Observatory of Children's Health (Observa Infância) is a scientific dissemination initiative to provide society with data and information on the health of children up to the age of 5. The aim is to increase access to qualified information and make it easier to understand the data obtained from national information systems. The scientific evidence presented is the result of investigations carried out by researchers Patricia and Cristiano Boccolini at the Institute of Scientific and Technological Communication and Information in Health (Icict/Fiocruz) and the Petrópolis School of Medicine of the Arthur de Sá Earp Neto University Center (FMP/Unifase), with funding from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.