Incidence of biliary atresia in the United States before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic

We identified 3456 newborns with BA from 42 hospitals; 2997 (86.7%) were born before and 459 (13.3%) were born during the pandemic. The mean monthly number of newborns with BA was 24.0 (95% confidence interval, 23.0-25.0) for an overall incidence rate of 74.4 (71.5-77.4) per 1,000,000 live births. We did not identify a statistically significant year-to-year contrast in the incidence of BA before (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.995 [0.983-1.008]; p = 0.49) or after the cutoff date (IRR = 0.999 [0.895-1.116]; p = 0.99). In addition, we did not identify sufficient evidence that trends differed between the two periods (IRR = 1.004 [0.893-1.128]; p = 0.95). [Correction added on 26 February 2025, after the first online publication: The point estimate for the IRR has been updated to 1.004.] CONCLUSIONS: The NPIs implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were not significantly associated with changes in the incidence or temporal pattern of BA.