The EPICENTRE (ESPNIC Covid pEdiatric Neonatal Registry) initiative: background and protocol for the international SARS-CoV-2 infections registry

Abstract

The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 is the worst healthcare emergency of this century, and its impact on pediatrics and neonatology is still largely unknown. The European Society for Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care (ESPNIC) launched the EPICENTRE (ESPNIC Covid pEdiatric Neonatal Registry) international, multicenter, and multidisciplinary initiative to study the epidemiology, clinical course, and outcomes of pediatric and neonatal SARS-CoV-2 infections. EPICENTRE background and aims are presented together with protocol details. EPICENTRE is open to centers all over the world, and this will allow to provide a pragmatic picture of the epidemic, with a particular attention to pediatric and neonatal critical care issues.Conclusions: EPICENTRE will allow researchers to clarify the epidemiology, clinical presentation, and outcomes of pediatric and neonatal SARS-CoV-2 infection, refining its clinical management and hopefully providing new insights for clinicians. What is Known:• COVID19 is the new disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and is spreading around the globe.• Majority of data available about SARS-CoV-2 infections originates from adult patients. What is New:• EPICENTRE is the first international, multicenter, multidisciplinary, meta-data driven, hospital-based, online, prospective cohort registry dedicated to neonatal and pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infections. • EPICENTRE will allow to understand epidemiology and physiopathology of COVID19.

Clinical profile, viral load, management and outcome of neonates born to COVID 19 positive mothers: a tertiary care centre experience from India

“…The international database such as EPICENTRE which will register the data of maternal and neonatal COVID 19 is an initiative which is likely to provide understanding into epidemiology, clinical presentation and outcomes of paediatric and neonatal SARS CoV 2 in this evolving pandemic of COVID 19 infection [57,58].…”

Synthesis and systematic review of reported neonatal SARS-CoV-2 infections

“…Despite these findings, the knowledge about pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection is still based on a paucity of data and the maternal-fetal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was initially deemed uncertain. However, with the pandemic spreading around the world, some cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first month of life have been reported in the literature or in the mass media 9 , and it has been hypothesized that neonatal COVID-19 might occasionally become clinically apparent. SARS-CoV-2 has been isolated in placental tissues 13,14 and, in a few cases, maternal-fetal transmission was suspected 15 .…”

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the characteristics of paediatric emergency room visits in a tertiary centre in Northern Italy

“…[10][11][12] Indeed, the population had become quickly aware that respiratory symptoms and fever could be warning signs for possible COVID-19, thus prompting caregivers to seek PED consultation for their children, despite the opposite recommendation by the national health service to stay at home and the low involvement of the paediatric age. [13][14][15][16] Conversely, PED visits for gastroenteritis showed a signi cantly fall in the COVID-19 period, probably because gastrointestinal symptoms were not known yet as a possible manifestation of COVID-19 by caregivers, particularly in the rst weeks of the outbreak.…”