Abstract
The second epicenter of the global COVID-19 epidemic following Wuhan, and the first in the Western world, occurred unexpectedly in the Lombardy region of Italy, whose capital city is Milan. The aggressive nature of the outbreak in the region was dramatic, leading to a 2-month period of lockdown. Within the Policlinico, the historic hospital in the center of Milan, many units were rapidly converted into intensive care units or semi-intensive units for adult patients. During lockdown, the pediatric inpatient units had to face daily reorganization caused by the necessary logistic and structural transformations, thus restricting routine care pathways for chronic patients, while the Pediatric Emergency Unit had to develop a system able to effectively separate the children and caregivers infected with COVID-19 from those who were not affected. These 2 months enhanced resilience among both doctors and nurses, and facilitated the transversal transmission of data aimed at helping colleagues and patients in any way possible, in spite of the restrictive measures limiting the rate of activity in pediatric care. The reorganization of the current phase of decreasing epidemic activity still leaves us with unanswered questions regarding the further possible changes to implement in the event of a potential reoccurrence of epidemic peaks.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Pediatric Emergency Unit: Luca Castellazzi, Rosaria Celano, Emanuela D’Angelo, Laura Dell’Era, Roberta Ghilardi, Emanuela Laicini, Gregorio Paolo Milani, Nadia Mirra, Alessia Rocchi. Acute Care Pediatric Unit: Samantha Bosis, Ilaria Coro, Daniele Ghiglioni, Francesca Furlan, Sophie Guez, Mara Lelii, Francesca Menni, Donatella Milani, Francesca Patria, Walter Peves, Raffaella Pinzani, Giulietta Scuvera, Claudia Tagliabue. Chronic Care Pediatric Units: Cystic Fibrosis: Anna Brivio, Laura Claut, Fabiola Corti, Valeria Daccò, Nadia Faelli, Erica Nazzari, Rita Nobili, Maria Chiara Russo, Laura Zazzeron. Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplant Unit: Gianluigi Ardissino, Marta Brambilla, Valentina Capone, Silvia Consolo, Viviana D’Agostino, Antonio Mastrangelo, William Morello, Fabio Paglialonga, Ambra Sala, Jessica Serafinelli, Chiara Tamburello, Francesca Taroni, Sara Testa. Chronic Inflammatory Disorders: Lucia Baselli, Antonio Boccazzi, Rosa Maria Dellepiane, Giovanni Filocamo, Stefano Lanni, Laura Maffeis, Francesca Minoia, Gabriella Nebbia, Federica Nuti, Antonella Petaccia, Marta Torcoletti. Nursing staff: Antonietta Biasuzzi, Gianluca Ghilardi, Caterina Migneco, Silvia Mazzoni, Fulvia Pagani, Maria Paola Vago for all the colleagues. Secretary staff: Lucia Bardugoni, Matteo Cantoni, Maria Luisa Favero, Cristina Vitaloni. A special thanks to Alexandra Teff who kindly provided the final English version.
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Agostoni, C., Bertolozzi, G., Cantoni, B. et al. Three months of COVID-19 in a pediatric setting in the center of Milan. Pediatr Res 89, 1572–1577 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-020-01108-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-020-01108-8
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