Evolución De La Salud Mental Infanto-Juvenil En Catalunya En El Contexto De La Pandemia Por La Covid-19 Durante El Curso Escolar 2020-2021◊◊ Evolution Of Child And Adolescent Mental Health In Catalonia Within The Context Of The Covid-19 Pandemic During The 2020-2021 School Year

Introducción: La pandemia por SARS-CoV-2 ha tenido un alto impacto en la salud física y psicológica de la población. Nuestro objetivo fue evaluar la salud mental infanto-juvenil de una cohorte poblacional a lo largo del curso 2020-21. Métodos: estudio longitudinal y prospectivo de una cohorte de niños escolarizados entre 5 y 14 años en Cataluña entre septiembre 2020 y julio 2021. Los participantes fueron seleccionados de forma aleatoria y seguidos por el pediatra de referencia en la atención primaria. La evaluación del riesgo de psicopatología fue realizada a través del cuestionario Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) contestada por un tutor legal del niño. Fueron recogidas también variables sociodemográficas y de salud del individuo y su núcleo de convivencia. Los datos fueron recogidos mediante una encuesta on line a través de la plataforma RedCap al inicio del curso y al final de cada trimestre (4 cortes). Resultados: Al inicio del curso escolar el 9,8% de los pacientes fueron casos probables de psicopatología, frente al 6,2% de final de curso. La percepción del nivel de preocupación de los niños por su salud y la de su familia se relacionó con presentar psicopatología, especialmente al inicio del curso, mientras que la percepción de un buen ambiente familiar se relacionó en todo momento con menor riesgo. Ninguna variable relacionada con el COVID-19 se asoció con resultado alterado del SDQ. Conclusiones: A lo largo del curso escolar 2020-2021 el porcentaje de niños con probabilidad de presentar psicopatología mejoró y pasó del 9,8% al 6,2%.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children and SARS-CoV-2 variants: a two-year ambispective multicentric cohort study in Catalonia, Spain. (preprint)

Purpose Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a rare but severe disease temporarily related to SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to describe the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory findings of all the MIS-C cases diagnosed in children < 18 years-old in Catalonia (Spain) to study their trend throughout the pandemic.Methods Multicenter ambispective observational cohort study (April 2020-April 2022). Data were obtained from the COVID-19 Catalan surveillance system and from all the hospitals in Catalonia. We analyzed MIS-C cases regarding SARS-CoV-2 variants for demographics, symptoms, severity, monthly MIS-C incidence, ratio between MIS-C and accumulated COVID-19 cases, and associated rate ratios (RR).Results Among 555,848 SARS-CoV-2 infections, 152 children were diagnosed with MIS-C. Monthly MIS-C incidence was 4.1 (95%CI: 3.4–4.8) per 1,000,000 people, and 273 (95%CI: 230–316) per 1,000,000 SARS-CoV-2 infections (i.e., one case per 3,700 SARS-CoV-2 infections). During the Omicron period, MIS-C RR was 8.2 (95%CI: 5.7–11.7) per 1,000,000 SARS-CoV-2 infections, significantly lower (p < 0.001) than for previous variant periods, in all age groups. Median [IQR] age of MIS-C was 8 [4–11] years, 62.5% male, and 80.2% without comorbidities. Common symptoms were gastrointestinal findings (88.2%) and fever > 39oC (81.6%), nearly 40% had an abnormal echocardiography and 7% coronary aneurysm. Clinical manifestations and laboratory data were not different throughout the variant periods (p > 0.05).Conclusions The rate ratio between MIS-C cases and SARS-CoV-2 infections was significantly lower in the Omicron period for all the age groups, including those not vaccinated, suggesting that the variant could be the main factor for this shift in the MISC trend. Regardless of variant type, the patients had similar phenotypes and severity throughout the pandemic.

Epidemiological dynamics of the incidence of COVID-19 in children and the relationship with the opening of schools in Catalonia (Spain) (preprint)

Here we analyse the epidemiological trend of the incidence of COVID-19 in children in Catalonia (Spain) during the first 20 weeks of the 2020-2021 school year. This study demonstrates that while schools were open the incidence rate among children remained significantly lower than in general population, despite a greater diagnostic effort in children. These results suggest that schools have not played a significant role in the SARS-CoV-2 dissemination in Catalonia.

Potential Role of Children in the Household Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Catalonia (Spain) (preprint)

We analyzed the characteristics of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected children during lock-down period in Catalonia (Spain), and their transmission role within the households. Among 295 traced household contacts of 89 pediatric patients, children were classified as final index cases in only 3.4% of the traced homes.