Archives of disease in childhood
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To assess trends in place of death for children with a life-limiting condition and the factors associated with death at home or hospice rather than hospital. ⋯ Most children with a life-limiting condition continue to die in the hospital setting. Further research on preferences for place of death is needed especially in children with conditions other than cancer. Paediatric palliative care services should be funded adequately to enable equal access across all settings, diagnostic groups and geographical regions.
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The pandemic due to a novel coronavirus has been sweeping across different regions of the globe since January 2020. Early reports of this infection due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) consisted of mostly adult patients. As the outbreak spreads rapidly beyond the epicentre of Wuhan, it becomes clear that infants and children of all ages are susceptible to this infection. ⋯ Because a large proportion of children and adolescents may have asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic infection, children are likely to play an important role in community transmission of this infection. Screening of children who have a definitive contact history will facilitate early diagnosis and isolation of all infected children. This review summarises the lessons learned in China with regard to the current understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the paediatric population.
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To assess disease trends, testing practices, community surveillance, case-fatality and excess deaths in children as compared with adults during the first pandemic peak in England. ⋯ Children accounted for a very small proportion of confirmed cases despite the large numbers of children tested. SARS-CoV-2 positivity was low even in children with ARI. Our findings provide further evidence against the role of children in infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
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The COVID-19 pandemic reached the Southern Hemisphere in the autumn of 2020, thus coinciding with its expected annual viral respiratory season. The potential impact of national strategies aimed at mitigating COVID-19 during the pandemic on the incidence of other critical viral lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in children is unknown. ⋯ We observed a striking reduction in PICU admissions due to viral LRTIs over winter, during the COVID-19 pandemic in South America.