Sociodemographic determinants of spatial disparities in early childhood caries: An ecological analysis in Braunschweig, Germany.

To identify spatial disparities in dental caries experience (measured by dmft (decayed missing filled teeth) index) of children in the city of Braunschweig and to evaluate whether these disparities can be explained by sociodemographic characteristics

Dried blood spot eluates are suitable for testing of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies targeting Spike protein 1 and Nucleocapsid protein

Dried blood spots (DBS) provide easy handling and are thus a beneficial tool for data collection, e.g. for epidemiological studies. The suitability of DBS for the assessment of antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was analyzed with regards to the use in future studies addressing seroprevalence in the population.121 volunteers gave a venous blood sample and capillary blood samples on two DBS cards (PerkinElmer and Ahlstrom-Munksjö) via self-sampling under supervision. All samples were analyzed using the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 ELISA (IgG) and the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 NCP ELISA (IgG) from EUROIMMUN performed on the EUROIMMUN EUROLabWorkstation ELISA. Correlation coefficients between ELISA results based on the different sampling methods were calculated.Results of DBS analysis for SARS-CoV-2 IgG S1 and NCP highly correlated with the serum values (r = 0.96). In addition, the calculation of the phi coefficient showed no significant difference between the qualitative results of both sampling methods (rφ = 0.98–1.0). Further analysis of DBS eluates after prolonged storage of 6–8 h also showed a high correlation with serum results (r = 0.97 and r = 0.93, respectively).The study results indicate suitability of DBS for the analysis of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 S1 and NCP. For DBS eluate, a stability of 6–8 h for measurement of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies can be assumed

Symptom Burden and Factors Associated with Acute Respiratory Infections in the First Two Years of Life-Results from the LoewenKIDS Cohort.

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the most common childhood illnesses worldwide whereby the reported frequency varies widely, often depending on type of assessment. Symptom diaries are a powerful tool to counteract possible under-reporting, particularly of milder infections, and thus offer the possibility to assess the full burden of ARIs. The following analyses are based on symptom diaries from participants of the German birth cohort study LoewenKIDS. Primary analyses included frequencies of ARIs and specific symptoms. Factors, which might be associated with an increased number of ARIs, were identified using the Poisson regression. A subsample of two hundred eighty-eight participants were included. On average, 13.7 ARIs (SD: 5.2 median: 14.0 IQR: 10-17) were reported in the first two years of life with an average duration of 11 days per episode (SD: 5.8, median: 9.7, IQR: 7-14). The median age for the first ARI episode was 91 days (IQR: 57-128, mean: 107, SD: 84.5). Childcare attendance and having siblings were associated with an increased frequency of ARIs, while exclusive breastfeeding for the first three months was associated with less ARIs, compared to exclusive breastfeeding for a longer period. This study provides detailed insight into the symptom burden of ARIs in German infants