Norovirus in children under 2 years of age: an epidemiological study in Panama during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Autor:	DeAntonio R; Centro de Vacunación e Investigación CEVAXIN, The Panama Clinic, Panama City, Panama., Hess-Holtz M; Centro de Vacunación e Investigación CEVAXIN, The Panama Clinic, Panama City, Panama., Abrego L; Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Departamento de Investigacion en Virologia y Biotecnologia, Panama City, Panama.; Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panama, Panama City, Panama., Capitan-Barrios Z; Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panama, Panama City, Panama., Donoso LH; Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG., Zurich, Switzerland., De León T; Centro de Vacunación e Investigación CEVAXIN, The Panama Clinic, Panama City, Panama.; Hospital Materno Infantil José Domingo de Obaldia, David, Panama., Sáez Llorens X; Centro de Vacunación e Investigación CEVAXIN, The Panama Clinic, Panama City, Panama.; Infectious Disease Department, Hospital del Niño Dr José Renán Esquivel, Panama City, Panama., Moreno B; Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Departamento de Investigacion en Virologia y Biotecnologia, Panama City, Panama., Weil JG; Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG., Zurich, Switzerland.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Frontiers in pediatrics [Front Pediatr] 2024 Feb 15; Vol. 12, pp. 1292967. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 15 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI:	10.3389/fped.2024.1292967
Abstrakt:	Introduction: Norovirus infection is a common cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE). Surveillance activities are important to aid investigation into effective norovirus control strategies, including vaccination. Here, we report ancillary findings related to the incidence, prevalence, and etiology of AGE caused by norovirus in Panama after adjustment of study methodology to comply with national coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mandates. Methods: In January 2020, children aged <2 years began enrolling into an epidemiological study in Panama to estimate the burden of norovirus in preparation for evaluating upcoming prevention strategies. This included an observational, longitudinal, community-based AGE surveillance study and a hospital-based AGE surveillance study. For the longitudinal study, healthy children aged 5-18 months were enrolled from January 6 through March 23, 2020, with a follow-up of approximately 6 months. The last participant was contacted on September 23, 2020. For the hospital-based study, starting on January 21, 2020, children aged <2 years who were admitted to the Hospital del Niño Dr. José Renán Esquivel in Panama City due to AGE were evaluated. The last sample was collected on September 29, 2020. Collected stool samples were tested for norovirus as well as astrovirus, sapovirus, and various enteropathogens. Unfortunately, this study was disrupted by the subsequent implementation of disease transmission control procedures for the COVID-19 pandemic, and the study methodology was revised to comply with COVID-19 mandates. Results: In the longitudinal surveillance cohort [ N  = 400 (Chiriquí, n  = 239; Panama, n  = 161)], a total of 185 AGE episodes were documented (Chiriquí, n  = 85; Panama, n  = 100) resulting in an overall AGE incidence of 11.6 (95% CI: 9.99-13.4) episodes per 100 child-months. The norovirus-related AGE incidence was 0.3 (95% CI: 0.10-0.73) episodes per 100 child-months (5/185 AGE episodes) and the prevalence of norovirus was 4.6% (13/282 stool samples collected). In the hospital-based surveillance cohort, at least one pathogen was detected in 50% of samples (44/88 stool samples collected) and norovirus prevalence was 6.8% (6/88 stool samples collected). Discussion: This report demonstrates how the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic hindered the conduct of clinical trials. However, this also created unique research opportunities to investigate the potential impact of pandemic control measures on the etiology of infectious diarrheal disease. Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: JW is a permanent employee of Takeda Vaccines. RD, MH-H, LA, ZC-B, LD, TL, XS, and BM received funding for the study from Takeda Vaccines to support the costs of the trial. (© 2024 DeAntonio, Hess-Holtz, Abrego, Capitan-Barrios, Donoso, De León, Sáez Llorens, Moreno and Weil.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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