ABSTRACT
Background: Pediatric cases of COVID-19 surged in the summer/fall of 2021 coinciding with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant. It is unclear whether the Delta variant caused more severe illness among pediatric patients. We leveraged the Children and COVID-19 in Colorado database to determine whether differences exist in demographics, underlying comorbidities, and outcomes among children requiring hospital admission due to the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant vs. wild type virus. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of children <21 years with symptomatic COVID-19 and detectable SARS-CoV-2 NAAT hospitalized at Children's Hospital Colorado during pre-Delta (Mar-Nov 2020) and Delta (Jun-Sep 2021) periods. We compared variables using Fisher's exact or Pearson's chi square tests for categorical variables and Wilcoxon rank sum tests for continuous variables. Results: There were 119 children hospitalized with symptomatic COVID-19 during the pre-Delta and 137 in the Delta period. There was a slight male predominance in both periods. Children hospitalized during the Delta period were younger, with median (interquartile range) age of 5.9 (1.0-14.5) vs. 12.2 (1.5-16.9) years, p=0.02;and were less likely to identify as Hispanic and Spanish-speaking, compared to the pre-Delta period (Table). There was a trend toward decreasing proportions of hospitalized children with underlying comorbidities in the Delta vs. pre-Delta period (59.1% vs. 69.8%;p=0.07). The most prevalent types of comorbidities were similar between periods;but the proportion of hospitalized immunocompromised patients was lower in the Delta vs. pre-Delta period (p=0.005). Half of all children were overweight/obese in both periods. Similar proportions of hospitalized children required respiratory support in both periods, but more children required intensive care in the Delta vs. pre-Delta periods (36.5% vs. 23.5%, p=0.03). Conclusion: Children hospitalized with the Delta variant of COVID-19 were younger, less likely to be Hispanic, and had fewer comorbidities than children hospitalized with wild type SARS-CoV-2. Children hospitalized with the Delta variant were more likely to require ICU admission compared to children hospitalized with wild type SARS-CoV-2, which may indicate increased severity of the Delta variant in the pediatric population. Close monitoring of pediatric outcomes is needed as new SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge.
ABSTRACT
The educational context has been disrupted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to explore attitudes of pupils in Serbia toward distance education during the pandemic. Specifically, we aimed to explore the cognitive component of pupils’ attitudes through their perception of positive and negative aspects of distance education, the motivational component based on the expressions of how distance education affects pupils’ motivation to learn, and emotional component through verbal expressions of emotions toward distance education. The sample for the study included 110 pupils attending primary (5th to 8th grade) and secondary schools in Serbia. A semi-structured interview was employed. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings suggest that majority of pupils have negative attitudes toward distance education and that they find insufficient interaction between teachers and pupils to be the major shortcoming of distance education. Positive aspects of distance education which could be preserved after the pandemic according to the participants’ views are: Communication between teachers and pupils using information technologies (IT), technical possibilities for a better presentation of learning topics and permanent availability of learning materials on online platforms. The study revealed the lack of intrinsic learning motivation and deficiencies in pupils’ self-regulation of learning which are important to be overcome as they impede pupils’ academic development both in distance and in classroom education. © 2021, Institute for Educational Research. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
In the moment of preparation of this paper, the world is still globally in grip of the Corona (COVID-19) crisis, and the need to understand the broader overall framework of the crisis increases. As in similar cases in the past, also with this one, the main interest is on the "first response". Fully appreciating the efforts of those risking their lives facing pandemics, this paper tries to identify the main elements of the larger, possibly global, framework, supported by international standards, needed to deal with new (emerging) risks resulting from threats like Corona and assess the resilience of systems affected. The paper proposes that future solutions should include a number of new elements, related to both risk and resilience. That should include broadening the scope of attention, currently focused onto preparation and response phases, to the phases of "understanding risks", including emerging risks, and transformation and adaptation. The paper suggests to use resilience indicators in this process. The proposed approach has been applied in different cases involving critical infrastructures in Europe (energy supply, water supply, transportation, etc., exposed to various threats), including the health system in Austria. The detailed, indicator-based, resilience analysis included mapping resilience, resilience stress-testing, visualization, etc., showing, already before the COVID-19, the resilience (stress-testing) limits of the infrastructures. A simpler (57 indicator based) analysis has, then been done for 11 countries (including Austria). The paper links these results with the options available in the area of policies, standards, guidelines and tools (such as the RiskRadar), with focus on interdependencies and global standards-especially the new ISO 31,050, linking emerging risks and resilience.