Paediatric research in the times of COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic poses many direct and indirect consequences for children’s health and associated research. Direct consequences include participation of children in COVID-19 research trials, pausing other research in children and the potential implications of a global economic downturn on future research funding. Collaborative and networked research together with streamlined research processes and use of remote technology have been central to efforts by clinicians and scientists around the world and have proved essential for reducing COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Impact Maintain streamlined and efficient approaches to research governance and data sharing to facilitate high-quality collaborative research. Ensure early inclusion of children in trials of therapies for diseases that affect all age groups. Paediatric Research Societies should co-ordinate effective processes to define key research questions and develop multinational clinical trials for diagnostics, therapeutics and preventative strategies for infants, children and young people.

Corticosteroids and Other Treatments Administered to Children Tested for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Emergency Departments

“…14,15 Consequently, dexamethasone use among hospitalized adults with COVID-19 has become routine. 16,17 Although the RECOVERY trial was modified (Version 5) to include children with respiratory COVID-19 infections, 18 few children have been enrolled and no conclusive evidence exists regarding corticosteroid use in this population. In our study, we found no independent association between corticosteroid use and SARS-CoV-2 status among hospitalized children including those admitted to the ICU.…”

“…27 In January 2021, the situation remained unchanged, with <10% of registered interventional COVID-19 trials including children. 18 The lack of regulatory authorization and high-quality data to guide therapeutic management of children is not a new problem. In the United States, the proportion of medications prescribed to children that are off-label ranges from 62% to 85%.…”

“…Pediatric Emergency Research Network-COVID-19 Study Team Kristen A. Breslin MD, 1 Pradip P Chaudhari MD, 2 Kelly R. Bergmann DO, MS 3 Jasmine R. Nebhrajani MD, 4 Fahd A. Ahmad MD, MSCI 5 Nipam P. Shah MD, MBBS, MPH 6 Vikram J. Sabhaney MD, 7 Meredith L. Borland MD, 8 Kerry Caperell MD, MS, MBA, 9 Usha Avva MD, 10 Michael A. Gardiner MD, 11 Nidhya Navanandan MD, 12 Maren M. Lunoe MD, 13 Iker Gangoiti MD, 14 Laura F. Sartori MD, MPH 15 Carmen Campos MD, 16 April J. Kam MD, 17 Jonathan C. Cherry MD, 18 Bruce Wright MD, 19 Alexander J. Rogers MD, 20 Claudia R. Morris MD, 21 Sarah M. Becker MD, 22 Usha Sethuraman MD, 23 Ana F. Dragovetzky MD, 24 Viviana Pavlicich MD, 25 Isabel Beneyto MD, 26 Andrea K. Morrison MD, MS 27 Shu-Ling Chong MPH, 28 Naveen Poonai MD, 29 Maria Y. Kwok MD, MPH 30 Laura Palumbo MD, 31 Michelle Eckerle MD, 32 Muhammad Wassem MD 33…”

Pediatric Research and COVID-19: the changed landscape

“…The RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy) trial in the UK involved all age-groups and used innovative methods to ensure rapid recruitment and results with 1000 patients recruited by day 16 of the study. 9 , 10 Van Driest et al discussed techniques to improve engagement with families. Curtailed visiting and outpatient attendance by both parents has been very stressful for parents and impairs practitioner engagement with parents.…”

Impact of early COVID-19-related challenges on pediatric researchers: an exploratory analysis

“… 3 – 5 While federal measures have been proposed to help restore research productivity across all sectors to pre-pandemic levels, there remains limited primary-source data on the impact of the COVID pandemic on pediatric research. 6 – 9 …”