Secondary household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among children and adolescents: Clinical and epidemiological aspects.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the secondary attack rate (SAR) in children and adolescents, contacts of essential activities workers who were infected by SARS-CoV-2; and to describe associated clinical and epidemiological data. METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted in children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years of age, that were household contacts of parents and other relatives who were infected by SARS-CoV-2 in the city of Goiânia, Central Brazil, from March to October 2020. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected from all participants. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected and tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and SAR were analyzed using Poisson regression. RESULTS: A total of 267 children and adolescents were investigated. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by the real-time RT-PCR test and/or the presence of COVID-19 associated symptoms (anosmia/ageusia and flu syndrome) was 25.1% (95.0% Confidence Interval [95.0% CI] = 20.3-30.6). More than half (55.1%) of the participants had sygns and symptoms. The most prevalent signs and symptoms in positive individuals were nasal congestion (62.7%), headache (55.2%), cough (50.8%), myalgia (47.8%), runny nose (47.8%), and anosmia (47.8%). The Poisson model showed that the following signs or symptoms were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection: fever, nasal congestion, decreased appetite, nausea, anosmia, and ageusia. Families that had more than one infected adult, in addition to the index case, presented greater transmissibility to children and adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: Our results contribute to the hypothesis that children and adolescents are not important sources of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the home environment during a period of social distancing and school closure; even though they are susceptible to infection in the household (around » of our study population).

The use of probiotics for improving lipid profiles in dyslipidemic individuals: an overview protocol.

BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor in triggering cardiovascular events, which can lead to the death of millions of people around the world. Thus, several pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapeutic strategies have been developed in recent decades with the objective of improving lipid profiles, including the use of probiotics. Therefore, the purpose of this protocol is to describe the steps that will guide the construction of an overview to demonstrate the scientific evidence of the efficacy of probiotics in improving the lipid profile of dyslipidemic individuals and to propose specific recommendations regarding their use. METHODS: The search will be conducted in the following databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, PROSPERO, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports, Google Scholar, and CADTH. Reviewers will select systematic evaluations and data analyses from randomized clinical trials that evaluated the effects of probiotics on lipid profiles. The studies will be analyzed for methodology quality by the AMSTAR 2 tool and risk of bias by ROBIS. The data will be extracted by three independent reviewers based on a data extraction sheet, which will include the most relevant variables for the analysis and interpretation of the results. The variables will be categorized and described in narrative form or in tables. DISCUSSION: There are some systematic reviews about the use of probiotics to prevent and/or treat dyslipidemia; however, their outcomes related to the ability of probiotics to improve lipid profiles are conflicting. So, an overview on this topic is needed to clarify this important issue. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42017080328.