COVID-related school absence in prmary school:considerations of parents and the role of preventive child health care

Inleiding: Na de heropening van de scholen per 11 mei 2020 bleef 3–5 % van alle leerlingen thuis vanwege COVID-19. Vraagstelling van dit onderzoek was wat de afwegingen zijn van ouders om hun kind thuis te houden, en welke rol de jeugdgezondheidszorg (JGZ) hierbij speelt. Methode: Kwalitatief onderzoek bestaande uit semigestructureerde interviews met vijf schoolmedewerkers (van drie reguliere basisscholen en twee speciaal (basis)onderwijsscholen) en ouders van vier gezinnen die hun kind(eren) thuis hebben gehouden, in Groningen. De interviews zijn thematisch geanalyseerd. Resultaten: De gepercipieerde risico’s voor de gezondheid van een van de gezinsleden was de meest voorkomende reden om een kind niet naar school te laten gaan. Andere redenen waren zorgen over de gezondheid van het kind zelf en een algemene angst voor het virus, zonder dat er gezinsleden waren die binnen de risicogroepen vielen. De JGZ is nauwelijks bij de afweging van ouders betrokken geweest. Conclusie: Dit onderzoek naar COVID-19-gerelateerd schoolverzuim op basisscholen laat zien dat ouders angstig zijn vanwege de gezondheidsrisico’s voor hun gezin, ook in een regio met een lage besmettingsgraad, zoals Groningen in de eerste COVID-19-golf. De rol die de JGZ voor scholen en ouders kan spelen was in deze fase van de epidemie onvoldoende bij hen bekend

Web-supported social network testing for HIV among men who have sex with men with a migration background : Protocol for a mixed methods pilot study

Acknowledgments The PREVENT project is funded by Aidsfonds (grants P-22603 and P-35609) as a high-risk high-gain project. We also thank the following people for their contributions: from Aidsfonds–Soa Aids Nederland, Suzan Bergh, Hanna Bos, Tatiana Mouhebati, and Marieke van den Borne; from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Birgit van Benthem; from Amsterdam Public Health Service, Anders Boyd and Adriaan Tempert; from Utrecht University, John de Wit; from Maastricht University, Nicole Dukers; from Trial Data Solutions, Gerben Rienk Visser. The time2test website was developed by TjunaPeer reviewedPublisher PD

COVID-19:Recovering at home is not easy

OBJECTIVE: To gain insight into 1) the symptoms and the disease process of healthcare professionals (HCPs) who tested positive for COVID-19 and were not hospitalized because of mild symptoms, 2) the impact on their psychological well-being and 3) the experiences with (after) care and infection prevention measures.DESIGN: Explorative mixed-methods study.METHOD: The municipal public health services of Groningen and Fryslân invited all HCPs aged above 18 years who tested positive for COVID-19 between March 18th and April 3rd 2020 to fill out an online questionnaire (n = 109), on average one month after diagnosis. 18 HCPs participated in telephone interviews.RESULTS: Almost all HCPs mentioned fatigue as a long-term symptom, less frequently mentioned were, among other things, feeling physically weak and having a cold. Nearly half of them did not have a fever, two-thirds experienced stress. HCPs with comorbidity had more symptoms. The interviews showed that stress in particular occurred in families with children and because of uncertainty about the duration of infectiousness, with lack of good (after)care. Respondents experienced many negative reactions of people in their environment that felt stigmatizing. The isolation at home was considered bearable.CONCLUSION: A COVID-19 infection has a significant impact on physical and mental health, even in HCPs with mild symptoms. Persistent fatigue in particular hinders patients' functioning. The absence of fever in almost half of the respondents is remarkable, as well as the negative impact on psychological well-being. HCPs are also dissatisfied with after-care. Infection prevention measures were relatively well-adhered too.</p

Measuring adherence to antiretroviral therapy in northern Tanzania: feasibility and acceptability of the Medication Event Monitoring System

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The COVID HOME study research protocol: Prospective cohort study of non-hospitalised COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines on COVID-19 management are developed as we learn from this pandemic. However, most research has been done on hospitalised patients and the impact of the disease on non-hospitalised and their role in transmission are not yet well understood. The COVID HOME study conducts research among COVID-19 patients and their family members who were not hospitalised during acute disease, to guide patient care and inform public health guidelines for infection prevention and control in the community and household. METHODS: An ongoing prospective longitudinal observational study of COVID-19 outpatients was established in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. Laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals of all ages that did not merit hospitalisation, and their household (HH) members, were enrolled after written informed consent. Enrolled participants were visited at home within 48 hours after initial diagnosis, and then weekly on days 7, 14 and 21 to obtain clinical data, a blood sample for biochemical parameters/cytokines and serological determination; and a nasopharyngeal/throat swab plus urine, stool and sperm or vaginal secretion (if consenting) to test for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR (viral shedding) and for viral culturing. Weekly nasopharyngeal/throat swabs and stool samples, plus a blood sample on days 0 and 21 were also taken from HH members to determine whether and when they became infected. All participants were invited to continue follow-up at 3-, 6-, 12- and 18-months post-infection to assess long-term sequelae and immunological status