University of Calgary researcher looking into effects of coronavirus on children
Posted March 24, 2020 12:16 pm.
Last Updated March 25, 2020 7:36 am.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – As little is known about how coronavirus affects children, a study led by a University of Calgary researcher aims to find answers.
Dr. Stephen Freedman says they want to enrol over 12,000 children from 50 sites in 14 countries including the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
“We may be able to reach that goal in several months time but we won’t necessarily wait several months til we disseminate our results. If we think there are findings that are relevant as they evolve, we will look at this data and try to share it.”
@UCalgary researcher to lead global study to improve diagnosis and treatment for children infected by #COVID19 https://t.co/sLQqyEhVPL@ACHFKids @CIHR_IRSC @UofCr4kids @OBrien_IPH @UCalgaryPeds pic.twitter.com/VnwbR9N7bK
— UCalgaryMedicine (@UCalgaryMed) March 24, 2020
The study will involve examining the short term effects of the virus and will follow up after three months to see if there are any long term problems.
“Can we predict who actually has coronavirus infection (and) can we predict the children that are going to have adverse or undesirable bad outcomes related to it both in the short term but we’re also doing followup with these children up to 90 days,” said Freedman, “We want to identify the differences in symptoms between children infected by SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses such as influenza so we can tailor testing and treatment approaches to achieve the best results.”
Information from the study will be shared with doctors, the public and government health agencies to help determine how to treat the virus.
Those participating in the study will include children who test positive for COVID-19 and those who test negative. This allows researchers to make comparisons between those infected by the coronavirus and those with other respiratory illnesses.
“It seems that adults get sickest seven to 10 days after first seeing a doctor. We need to know whether that’s the same for children so that we can identify at-risk children, provide them with the most beneficial interventions, at the best time to promote their recovery,” said Freedman.
The study is one of 49 new COVID-19 research projects funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). In total, there are 96 projects across the country.
