The Control and Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission in Children: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Descrição do produto

Background: The pandemic following the rapid spread of the new SARS-CoV-2 virus has hit all continents and caused thousands
of deaths worldwide. Evidence has been published on epidemiological and clinical characteristics of population groups considered at
risk; however, information for the other population groups, especially for the child population, is needed. In this context, this protocol
describes a systematic review that will aim to identify the evidence on control and prevention of COVID-19 transmission
among children and adolescents, as well as to describe the epidemiological profile and clinical and immunological characteristics of
COVID-19 in this population.
Methods: This protocol will be developed in accordance with PRISMA-P. The searches will be conducted in PubMed, Web of
Science, ScienceDirect, EMBASE, and Scopus, seeking clinical trials. Observational studies and case reports with Children and
adolescents (
19 years) infected with SARS-CoV-2 will be included whether they report information on the control of prevention and
COVID-19 transmission. Two independent researchers will perform the selection of articles, removal of duplication, and screening by
Rayyan QCRI application. Cochrane’s RoB 2.0, ROBINS-I, and CASP tools will be used to assess the risk of bias. Meta-analysis,
subgroup analyses, and/or descriptive analyses will be carried out based on the data conditions included.
Results: A high-quality synthesis of the available evidences on the epidemiological profile, the clinical and immunological
characteristics involved in children, and adolescents diagnosed with COVID-19, as well as the participation of this population in the
transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 will be provided.
Conclusion: This systematic review has an important relevance in the current context because it has a great potential to help the
development of new control and prevention strategies in the pediatric population.