Children's Symptoms with a Febrile Illness and a Positive or Negative Test of SARS-CoV-2 during the Omicron Wave.

Febrile infections are common in childhood. Children can be infected with SARS-CoV-2, but their course is milder than in adults. So far, a comparison between febrile infections with a positive or negative Corona test with the Omicron variant is missing. The data used are from the FeverApp registry, which collects parent-reported data on febrile infections in children and informs about fever management. A comparison of symptomatic differences between episodes with a positive or negative Corona test was performed using Χ2-tests. During the Omicron wave, reported tests doubled and positive test results nearly 12-folded. In episodes with positive Corona saliva tests, more cough, fatigue, disturbed smell/taste, limb pain, sore throat, signs of serious sickness, and touch sensitivity were reported. Children with a negative Corona test show more tonsillitis, teething, any pain symptoms, earaches, and rashes. Thus, there are some significant differences between febrile infections with a positive or negative Corona test, but symptoms are present on both sides. The omicron variant seems to be more infectious than the alpha or delta variants in children, but the symptoms remain mild and do not differ much from other febrile infections.

[Corona in Children: the Co-Ki Study]. / Corona bei Kindern: Die Co-Ki Studie: Relevanz von SARS-CoV-2 in der ambulanten pädiatrischen Versorgung in Deutschland.

BACKGROUND: In Germany over 80% of children and adolescents are in the ambulatory care of registered pediatricians. These have a specific perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: For this reason, this professional group initiated a central recording of case numbers, individual case descriptions and observations on infections and illnesses with SARS-CoV­2 (www.co-ki.de). RESULTS: So far 557 pediatricians have participated. Together they care for ca. 670,000 children. They reported 9803 children who presented as suspected cases. The pediatricians themselves had a clinical suspicion of SARS-CoV­2 infections in 3654 children. In 7707 children PCR tests were carried out using nose/throat swabs of which 198 (2.6%) were positive. In addition, 731 children were tested for SARS-CoV­2 antibodies with detection in 82 cases (11.2%). Despite initially positive PCR tests, 47 children had a negative antibody test at least 2 weeks later. Our query as to infections of adults by children yielded only one case, which a telephone enquiry revealed as unlikely. DISCUSSION: From an outpatient pediatric perspective COVID-19 is rare. There was no convincing evidence that children are a relevant source of infection for SARS-CoV­2 nor that they are relevantly at risk.

[The FeverApp Registry - A Way to Empower Parents through their Own Documentation to a Graduated Decision]. / Das FieberApp Register ­ ein Weg, um Eltern durch eigene Dokumentation zu einer abgestuften Entscheidung zu führen.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To demonstrate the feasibility and exemplarity of an app-based parent registry. METHODS: The app as an elaborated interactive electronic case report form and the underlying data structure of the registry are presented. The initial recruitment efforts are illustrated and the temperature distribution, as well as the distribution of fever events in 2020, are analyzed. RESULTS: The FeverApp successfully collects data into a central registry. Like every study, it also provides information on the current knowledge. The ecological momentary assessment can represent the illness situation at several levels (measurement, fever episode, individual, family, practice, country). Methods for data collection needed to be developed in a flexible manner due to pandemic conditions. The initial recruitment goal of 2400 fever phases in the first two years was met, with nationwide dissemination pending. It is shown that body temperature does not rise indefinitely; fevers reach an average of 39 degrees without antipyretics, although in rare cases temperatures beyond 41 degrees are reached without harm. Furthermore, a comparison with a reference practice shows that fever episodes can be recorded more comprehensively in the app, including infections that do not come to the presentation in a pediatrician's office. Thus, the FeverApp fulfills in a model-like fashion the use of registers in persons basically healthy and maps a multi-level diagnostics. CONCLUSION: The FeverApp could basically establish itself as a supporting tool, the registry can reliably collect data with the method used and maps the current infection situation. In researching the question of how infections develop in the post-Covid period, the app could perform an important task.

[Corona child studies "Co-Ki": first results of a Germany-wide register on mouth and nose covering (mask) in children]. / Coronakinderstudien "Co-Ki": erste Ergebnisse eines deutschlandweiten Registers zur Mund-Nasen-Bedeckung (Maske) bei Kindern.

BACKGROUND: Narratives about complaints in children and adolescents caused by wearing a mask are accumulating. There is, to date, no registry for side effects of masks. METHODS: In the context of the www.co-ki.de multi-study complex, an online registry has been set up where parents, doctors, pedagogues and others can enter their observations. On 20 October 2020, 363 doctors were asked to make entries and to make parents and teachers aware of the registry. RESULTS: By 26 October 2020, a total of 20,353 people had taken part in the survey. The group of parents alone entered data on a total of 25,930 children. The average reported wearing time of masks was 270 min per day. Of the respondents 68% reported that children complained about impairments caused by wearing the mask. Side effects included irritability (60%), headache (53%), difficulty concentrating (50%), less happiness (49%), reluctance to go to school/kindergarten (44%), malaise (42%) impaired learning (38%) and drowsiness/fatigue (37%). DISCUSSION: This world's first registry for recording the effects of wearing masks in children is dedicated to a new research question. A bias with respect to the preferential documentation of particularly severely affected children or persons who are fundamentally critical of protective measures cannot be ruled out.The frequency of use and the spectrum of symptoms registered indicate the importance of the topic and call for representative surveys, randomized controlled trials with various masks and a renewed risk-benefit assessment of mask obligation in the vulnerable group of children.

Pediatric COVID-19 case with regard to the family infection chain and the psychosocial context.

The role of children in households, spreading SARS-CoV-2, may differ from measles or influenza, and therefore, these diseases are not directly comparable to COVID-19. The psychosocial aspect of infection and quarantine for families and children suggests that fear of social stigmatization can lead to not disclosing the infection.