Sars-CoV-2 and paediatric primary care: Armageddon or a challenge to reorganize family paediatricians’ work?

Key words: Covid-19, Sars-CoV-2, Paediatric primary care

Bergamo and its surrounding province were deeply involved in the Covid-19 outbreak in Italy, with more than 14,000 people infected by SARS-CoV-2 by July 2020. The lockdown procedures enacted by the Italian Government to restrain the spreading of the infection limited the access to Primary Care units during the pandemic. Data from 88 family paediatricians working in the province of Bergamo in the period 25th February - 3rd May 2020 were collected and compared with those of the same time interval in 2019 showing a reduced number of accesses during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic that led to a decreased employment of diagnostic self-help procedures and drug prescriptions, but also to a significant reduction in the number of medical interventions for preventive medicine, such as periodic health care assessments and recommended hip-echography in newborns. Also a significant increase in the number of interactions with families by remote communication tools, such as video calls, e-mails and WhatsApp messages, was reported. The paper describes some initiatives that involved the entire paediatric community of Bergamo and aimed to strengthen mutual help and improve the quality of paediatric care. It also reports some of the medical and personal issues that paediatricians faced in Val Seriana, the most deeply struck region, underlying that their noticeable experience was precious during the pandemic.