Children and COVID-19 Research Library

Early initiation of breastfeeding, within 1 h of birth, is vital for the health of newborns and reduces morbidity and mortality. Secondary analysis of the 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) showed that early initiation of breastfeeding significantly reduced the risk of acute respiratory infection (ARI) in children under 2 years. Early initiation of breastfeeding requires maternal proximity. Separation of infant and mother inhibits early initiation of breastfeeding and increases the risk that infants will suffer from ARIs. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, guidance varied, with some recommending that infants and mothers with SARS-CoV-2 be isolated from one another. Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population recommended nonseparation, but the adherence to this guidance was inconsistent. Maternal proximity, nonseparation and early initiation of breastfeeding should be promoted in all birthing facilities.

Understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection in US children has been limited by the lack of large, multicenter studies with granular data. This study aims to examine the characteristics, changes over time, outcomes, and severity risk factors of children with SARS-CoV-2 within the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C). It is a prospective cohort study of encounters with end dates before September 24, 2021, was conducted at 56 N3C facilities throughout the US. Participants included children younger than 19 years at initial SARS-CoV-2 testing.

This study sought to understand knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding COVID-19 in pregnant women in seven low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Population-based prospective, observational study SETTINGS: Study sites in DRC, Kenya, Zambia, Bangladesh, India (two sites), Pakistan, and Guatemala. Pregnant women in the Global Network's Maternal and Neonatal Health Registry (MNHR). A KAP questionnaire was administered in face-to-face interviews with pregnant women from September 2020 through October 2021 in the MNHR.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) over the past year has affected public health worldwide. During pregnancy, the maternal immune system and inflammatory responses are widely suppressed. Pregnancy-related immune system suppression could make the mother vulnerable to infectious diseases like SARS-COV-2. However, current data suggest little to no possibility of COVID-19 transmission in pregnant women to the fetus during pregnancy or childbirth. This systematic review focused on the possible complications of COVID-19 infection in the fetus and newborn babies including the possibility and evidence of vertical transmission by reviewing articles published during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper explores COVID-19 diffusion among children and adolescents (up to 19 years old) in Italy using the publicly available data that were collected and released by the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS). It considers in more detail the so-called second and third waves of the pandemic in Italy and explores the relationship between schools opening and the diffusion of COVID-19, which is a highly debated topic in the recent reference literature. It analyses the dynamics of COVID-19 incidence in the country as a whole and in its individual regions. Moreover, it compares the regions in which different levels of restrictions were imposed during the pandemic as well as different school closure calendars.

Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019, the virus and the response to it have had catastrophic effects on the world’s health, societies, and economies. Early on, data on the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the pregnant person and fetus were limited. Data on the effects during pregnancy of previous coronaviruses (severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS] and Middle East respiratory syndrome [MERS]) are sparse, but those data along with information on other respiratory infections such as influenza raised concerns about the potential effects of COVID-19 during pregnancy.This study reviews available information on the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and on the effectiveness and safety of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in protecting pregnant persons and their newborns from COVID-19.

Testing remains critical for identifying pediatric cases of COVID-19 and as a public health intervention to contain infections. This study surveyed US parents to measure the proportion of children tested for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, preferred testing venues for children, and acceptability of school-based COVID-19 testing. It conducted an online survey of 2074 US parents of children aged ≤12 years in March 2021. It applied survey weights to generate national estimates, and it used Rao-Scott adjusted Pearson χ2 tests to compare incidence by selected sociodemographic characteristics. It used Poisson regression models with robust SEs to estimate adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) of pediatric testing.

Facing recent threats of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an educational strategy was designed and applied to middle school students in order to reinforce related knowledge and behaviors. A group of 65 middle school students (14–18 years old) developed several designed online curricular activities. After the intervention, students answered a questionnaire to assess if they: (a) were familiar with the terms COVID 19 and SARS-CoV-2; (b) were conscious about the importance of preventive measures to stop the spread of this disease; (c) were engaged in these activities; (d) were motivated to research on health-related issues. This study was a first to attempt to evaluate student's perceptions about SARS-CoV-2 infection and support education regarding COVID-19, mainly on the reinforcement of preventive measures.

The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the circulation of non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viruses and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in hospitalized children. 226 and 864 children admitted to Children's City Clinical Hospital with acute respiratory infection in September-November of 2018 and 2020 in Moscow were tested for respiratory viruses using multiplex PCR and Mycoplasma pneumoniae/Chlamydia pneumoniae using ELISA.

Studies show smoking and vaping behaviors increase risk of contracting and worse symptoms of COVID-19. This study examines whether past 30-day youth and young adult users of marijuana, e-cigarettes, and cigarettes self-reported changes in their use of these substances due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and cross-sectional associations between perceived stress, nicotine or marijuana dependence, and COVID-19–related changes in use. Participants were 709 past 30-day self-reported substance users from the Texas Adolescent Tobacco and Marketing Surveillance study (TATAMS; mean age = 19; 58% female; 38% Hispanic, 35% white). Multiple logistic regression models assessed cross-sectional associations between perceived stress and dependence and increased, decreased, or sustained past 30-day use of marijuana, e-cigarettes, and cigarettes due to COVID-19 (e.g., “Has your marijuana use changed due to the COVID-19 outbreak?”). Covariates included age, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status (SES), dependence (exposure: stress), and stress (exposure: dependence).

In the era of data-driven decision-making, unacceptable haziness, and inconsistency surrounds the yearlong scientific and public debate on the school closure policy in the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic mitigation efforts. The present literature review stems out of the need for a clear scaffold collecting in one place all current evidence, as well as helping to organize incoming future evidence, concerning both the role of schools in driving the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) community spread and the cost-effectiveness of school closure in containing such spread. References for this review were initially identified through searches of PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library for articles published from March 2020 to March 2021 by the use of key terms “Schools,” “COVID-19,” “pandemic,” “clusters,” “outbreak,” and “seroprevalence,” selecting all articles from 2020 to 2021 with full-text availability. A further search was undertaken by screening citations of articles found in the original search and through Google Scholar and ResearchGate.

Evidence about the effectiveness of school closures as a measure to control the spread of COVID-19 is controversial. This study posit that schools are not an important source of transmission; thus, it analyzed two surveillance methods: a web-based questionnaire and a telephone survey that monitored the impact of the pandemic due to COVID-19 cases in Bogotá, Colombia. It estimated the cumulative incidences for Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) and COVID-19 for each population group. Then, it assessed the differences using the cumulative incidence ratio (CIR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI95%)