Children and COVID-19 Research Library

COVID-19 presents as a mild and less severe respiratory disease among children. However, it is still lethal and could lead to death in paediatric cases. The current study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of children and young people hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Qazvin-Iran. We also investigated the risk factors of death due to COVID-19 in paediatric cases. We performed a retrospective cohort study on 645 children and young people (ages 0-17) hospitalized since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cases were confirmed with positive results of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The data were retrieved from an electronic database of demographic, epidemiological, and clinical characteristics.

The Covid-19 health emergency has placed special demands on legal scholars, particularly on those based in the Global South. Brazil has been one of the epicenters of the pandemic, with over 680,000 deaths as of August 2022. Our narrative emerges from the duality of our positions amid a national tragedy—we are at the same time survivors of the collective threat of a would-be autocrat and a Covid-19-denialist government, and witnesses to how our preexisting privileges put us in a position of readiness “to speak truth to power.” Speaking truth to power means not only to exercise an independent spirit of analysis and judgment with respect to power, but also to interpellate power openly about its wrongdoings. We understand that our responsibility as legal scholars is to embrace the urgency of the moment—to expand our research agendas beyond our previous academic trajectories and work to mitigate situations of rights violations. It also means that our work as legal scholars has had to transcend the traditional academic spaces. We have positioned ourselves as advocates and litigators for those most affected by the pandemic, in particular vulnerable women. In this article, we share one of our key initiatives during the pandemic—a constitutional lawsuit to demand the right of pregnant and postpartum people to access Covid-19 vaccines.

The morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 infection are higher in pregnant women compared to their nonpregnant counterparts. As real-world evidence accumulates demonstrating there is no increased risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, guidelines have evolved from a case-by-case benefit-risk decision through to clear recommendation in April 2021 for COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy. However, vaccine hesitancy is a barrier to uptake, especially among the younger population and individuals of ethnic minority backgrounds; pregnant women have additional concerns. Trust in the importance and effectiveness of the vaccine, trust in public health agencies and science, together with good communication methods regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines are strong factors for vaccination acceptance in pregnancy. Lack of trust in the health system was worsened by initial knowledge gaps in the information provided about COVID-19 infection and the safety and immunogenicity of COVID-19 vaccines. This was exacerbated by access to incorrect information and misinformation to fill in those knowledge gaps, especially with the increased use of social media. To provide advice and reassurance on COVID-19 vaccine safety to pregnant women, healthcare professionals involved in their care should have the knowledge and skills to provide risk-benefit communication and would benefit from access to training in science communication. Clinical pharmacologists have the expertise to appraise and synthesize emerging pharmacovigilance data, which can inform and support risk-benefit communication by other clinicians. Information should be strategically directed at individual audiences, taking their perspectives and foundational belief systems into consideration.

The data on COVID-19 show an irrefutable and disturbing pattern: Black Americans are contracting and dying from COVID-19 at rates that far exceed other racial and ethnic groups. Due to historical and current iterations of racism, Black Americans have been forced into conditions that elevate their risk for COVID-19 and consequently place Black children at the epicenter of loss across multiple domains of life. The current paper highlights the impact of the pandemic on Black children at the individual, family, and school levels. Based on an understanding of the influence of structural racism on COVID-19 disparities, policy recommendations are provided that focus on equitable access to quality education, home ownership, and employment to fully address the needs of Black children and families during and after the pandemic. Research, practice, and policy recommendations are made to journal editors, funding agencies, grant review panels, and researchers regarding how research on COVID-19 should be framed to inform intervention efforts aimed at improving the situation of Black children and families.

Obesity is a well-recognized risk factor for critical illness and death among adult patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. This study aimed to characterize the clinical outcomes and risk factors of death related to obesity in a cohort of hospitalized paediatric patients with COVID-19. It performed an analysis of all paediatric patients with obesity and COVID-19 registered in SIVEP-Gripe, a Brazilian nationwide surveillance database, between February 2020 and May 2021. The primary outcome was time to death, which was evaluated by using cumulative incidence function.

In women affected by other coronavirus infections such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV), the mortality rate appeared higher in women affected in pregnancy compared with non-pregnant women. COVID-19 prompted implementation of public health protocols to control the transmission of the virus, many of them required social distancing, hand washing, and lockdown procedures, but has also resulted in creating public anguish and massive fear, especially among the unaffected persons. Objectives: To assess pregnant women's knowledge about who can protect the baby during Brest feeding when mother infected by corona virus before and after implementation of instruction program and to determine the effectiveness of instruction program on pregnant women knowledge about protection methods of neonate during pandemic.

The rapid worldwide spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections led to public health crises globally and the number of pediatric patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still rising. The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and imaging features of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 at an Iranian referral pediatrics hospital and to compare these parameters between hospitalized patients with and without severe disease, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and children with acute COVID-19, as well as deceased and discharged cases. This study included hospitalized children and adolescents (≤ 18 years) with suspected COVID-19 who had positive results for SARS-CoV-2.

Diabetes has been recognized as a major comorbidity for COVID-19 severity in adults. This study aimed to characterize the clinical outcomes and risk factors for COVID-19-related death in a large cohort of hospitalized pediatric patients with diabetes. It performed an analysis of all pediatric patients with diabetes and COVID-19 registered in SIVEP-Gripe, a Brazilian nationwide surveillance database, between February 2020 and May 2021. The primary outcome was time to death, which was evaluated considering discharge as a competitive risk by using cumulative incidence function.

What are the clinical outcomes and associated factors among children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa?  In this cohort study of 469 children and adolescents hospitalized with COVID-19 in 6 sub-Saharan African countries, morbidity and mortality were substantially higher than reported among those in non-African settings and were independently associated with age younger than 1 year and select noncommunicable disease comorbidities.

As maternal deaths associated with the SARS-CoV-2 infection remain at several times greater than the general population, significant factors that might contribute to the higher mortality and morbidity rate are the psychological impact of the disease and pregnancy itself. Therefore, the current study’s main objective was to assess how pregnant women react and cope with the stress of COVID-19 disease and how it influences their overall health and quality of life in healthcare facilities.

Due to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, racial disparities in maternal mortality and morbidity are likely to increase. However, neighborhood and social support factors have yet to be discussed as potential mechanisms by which COVID-19 can exacerbate racial disparities. This study examined literature on the role of neighborhood factors and social support on maternal health outcomes and provided analytical perspective on the potential impacts of COVID-19 on Black birthing people.

What are the characteristics and outcomes associated with giving birth with COVID-19 over the first year of the pandemic in the US? This cohort study examines 869 079 adult women, including 18 715 women with COVID-19, who underwent childbirth at 499 US medical centers between March 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021. Women with COVID-19 had increased mortality, need for intubation and ventilation, and intensive care unit admission. These findings suggest that COVID-19 was associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality for women giving birth.

Communities with more Black or Hispanic residents have higher coronavirus rates than communities with more White residents, but relevant community characteristics are underexplored. The purpose of this study was to investigate poverty-, race- and ethnic-based disparities and associated economic, housing, transit, population health and health care characteristics. Six-month cumulative coronavirus incidence and mortality were examined using adjusted negative binomial models among all U.S. counties (n = 3142). County-level independent variables included percentages in poverty and within racial/ethnic groups (Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian), and rates of unemployment, lacking a high school diploma, housing cost burden, single parent households, limited English proficiency, diabetes, obesity, smoking, uninsured, preventable hospitalizations, primary care physicians, hospitals, ICU beds and households that were crowded, in multi-unit buildings or without a vehicle.