COVID-19

According to a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the original COVID-19 monovalent and bivalent vaccines helped reduce emergency department or urgent care encounters for children aged 6 months to 5 years.

Children followed up with at 5 years of age that were exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic were 4.39 months behind in overall childhood development, whereas children followed up with at 3 years of age demonstrated positive associations.

Previously available under an Emergency Use Authorization, the combination test can detect and distinguish COVID-19, influenza A/B, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The clearance comes ahead of respiratory season, which, according to BD, could result in another “tripledemic” threat.

Further studies are needed to determine if vaccination should be considered in children at risk for type 1 diabetes (T1D), as a COVID-19 diagnosis among children was associated with an increased incidence of T1D, according to a recent study.

In a recent study, higher immunoglobulin G titers were seen in infants of mothers who received messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.

A follow-up to an earlier study, the latest research leveraged EHR data from medical centers in North Carolina and concluded incident cases of type 1 diabetes increased nearly 50% and incident cases of type 2 diabetes more than doubled in 2021-2022 relative to prepandemic years.

Overall, results from the report demonstrated that cannabis-involved emergency department (ED) visits for individuals under 25 years increased during the pandemic. For those aged 10 years or younger, the weekly number of cannabis-involved ED visits during the pandemic far exceeded the number of visits observed prepandemic.

More symptoms, older age, and longer hospitalization time increased the risk of post-COVID-19 conditions (long COVID) in children.

The findings showed that heterologous vaccination, or mixing different vaccines, was safe and effective, with the Novavax vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) providing enhanced protection against the Omicron variant.

In a large observational study, significant information was obtained about protection against acute infection and disease severity in this age group.

Following household COVID-19 transmissions for over 3 years, investigators found that 70.4% had a pediatric index case.

The at-home test correctly identified 98.7% of negative and 92.9% of positive samples for individuals with signs and symptoms of upper respiratory infection, according to a study reviewed by the FDA.

The Omicron variant caused the most symptoms in pediatric patients. However, there were no differences in adverse outcomes by COVID-19 variant.

Accelerating bivalent booster vaccine campaigns for children could reduce pediatric hospitalizations and school absenteeism.

On May 11, 2023, the COVID-19 public health emergency ended. So…now what?

Patients first reported systemic symptoms, such as fevers, headache, and myalgias; vulvar symptoms, which included vulvar pain and dysuria, typically developed 2 days after vaccination and peaked within 5 days.

Contemporary Pediatrics® Editorial Advisory Board member Andrew Schuman, MD, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth, shares some questions pediatricians can expect from parents as the federal COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) expires.

Tina Tan, MD, FAAP, FIDSA, FPIDS, editor-in-chief, Contemporary Pediatrics®, discusses how the cost burden of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) expiration on May 11, 2023, can impact testing and vaccination rates among children.

COVID-19 is no longer a public health emergency of international concern, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced after its 15th International Health Regulations Emergency Meeting.

The vaccine efficacy of the Novavax’s NVX-CoV2373 was 79.5% in adolescents.

The Omicron variant caused the most symptoms in pediatric patients. However, there were no differences in adverse outcomes by COVID-19 variant.

A session on what was learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and how to “pandemic-proof” children and families from future health disasters was presented at the 2023 Pediatric Academic Societies meeting.

Post-COVID-19 conditions were more common in unvaccinated children than in children who had received at least 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The COVID-19 pandemic took a massive toll on routine vaccinations for children across the globe. Now, the United Nations Children’s Fund is calling for quick and swift action to get back on track. 

In a recent study, Developmental Assessment of Young Children, second edition scores for neurodevelopmental outcomes did not differ between infants exposed to maternal COVID-19 during pregnancy and those not exposed.

Investigators studied 2 infants experiencing seizures, small head size, and developmental delays born of mothers who had contracted COVID-19 during pregnancy.

COVID-19 prevention practices such as masking, social distancing, and school closures lowered children’s exposures to circulating respiratory viruses and other environmental triggers of asthma.

These findings suggest the World Health Organization's definition of post-COVID-19 condition (long COVID) may be too broad.