COVID 19 Audit

Audit of COVID-19 Infections: Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes at PREDICT Sites

In a collaboration between emergency departments across the PREDICT (Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative) network, we are conducting an audit of COVID 19 cases in children to collect and analyse key information about possible or confirmed COVID-19 cases at participating PREDICT sites. A retrospective data collection from medical records will be undertaken from all possible and confirmed COVID-19 cases at 18 hospitals across Australia.

This study aims to:

Describe clinical features and outcomes of patients < 18 years with COVID-19 and the proportion of those testing positive out of all children tested < 18 years.

Study design

Multicentre, retrospective observational study

Completed

Infection/ Sepsis

Franz Babl (Chief Principal Investigator)
Laila Ibrahim (Principal Investigator)
Simon Craig (Principal Investigator)
Cate Wilson (Associate Investigator)
See site PIs below under site locations.

Time frame

2020 – 2022

Funding

Nil      


  • Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC (Site PI Franz Babl)
  • Monash Health, VIC (Site PI Simon Craig)
  • Box Hill Hospital, VIC (Site PI Paul Buntine)
  • Maroondah Hospital, VIC (Site PI Paul Buntine)
  • Angliss Hospital, VIC (Site PI Paul Buntine)
  • The Northern Hospital, VIC (Site PI Mark Corden)
  • Sunshine Hospital, VIC (Site PI Doris Tham)
  • University Hospital Geelong, VIC (Site PI Karen Robins-Browne)
  • Austin Hospital, VIC (Vi Chong)
  • John Hunter Hospital, NSW (Site PI Michael Zhang)
  • Mt Druitt Hospital, NSW (Stephen Teo)
  • Blacktown Hospital NSW (Stephen Teo)
  • The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, NSW (Site PI Shefali Jani)
  • Gold Coast University Hospital, QLD (Site PI Shane George)
  • Perth Children’s Hospital, WA (Site PI Meredith Borland)
  • Royal Darwin Hospital, NT (Site PI Anna Lithgow)
  • Palmerston Hospital, NT (Site PI Anna Lithgow)
  • Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide, SA (Site PI Amit Kochar)

Sample

PREDICT ~1,000 (depending on prevalence of infections), children aged <18 yrs who test positive for COVID 19.

Contact

franz.babl@rch.org.au or laila.ibrahim@rch.org.au

Publications to date


Parr M, Wilson CL, Jones B, Crawford NW, Ferguson S, Ramesh S, Eapen N, Craig S, Hearps S, Babl FE; Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) Research Network. Emergency department presentations for chest complaints after mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations in children and adolescents. Emerg Med Australas. 2023 Oct 23. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.14327. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37872323. [Link].

Freedman SB, Kuppermann N, Funk AL, et al; Pediatric Emergency Research Network-COVID-19 Study Team. Corticosteroids and Other Treatments Administered to Children Tested for SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Emergency Departments. Acad Pediatr. 2022 Apr 22:S1876-2859(22)00234-0. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2022.04.006. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35462066; PMCID: PMC9023083. [Link] 

Funk AL, Kuppermann N, Florin TA, et al Freedman SB; Pediatric Emergency Research Network–COVID-19 Study Team. Post- COVID-19 Conditions Among Children 90 Days After SARS-CoV-2 Infection. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Jul 1;5(7):e2223253. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.23253. Erratum in: JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Aug 1;5(8):e2231131. [Link] 

Funk AL, Florin TA, Kuppermann N, et al Freedman SB; Pediatric Emergency Research Network-COVID-19 Study Team. Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2-Positive Youths Tested in Emergency Departments: The Global PERN-COVID-19 Study. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Jan 4;5(1):e2142322. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.42322. PMID: 35015063; PMCID: PMC8753506. [Link]

Funk A, Florin TA, Dalziel SR, et al Freedman SB, on behalf of the PERN-COVID-19 study team. Prospective Cohort Study of Children with Suspected SARS-CoV-2 Infection Presenting to Pediatric Emergency Departments: A Pediatric Emergency Research Networks (PERN) Study Protocol. BMJ Open  2021 Jan 15;11(1):e042121. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042121. [Link]

Ibrahim LF, Tham D, Chong V, Corden M, Craig S, Buntine P, Jani S, Zhang M, George S, Kochar A, O’Brien S, Robins-Browne K, Tosif S, Daley A, McNab S, Crawford NW, Wilson C, Babl FE. The characteristics of SARS-CoV-2-positive children who presented to Australian hospitals during 2020: a PREDICT network study. Med J Aust. 2021 Sep 6;215(5):217-221. doi: 10.5694/mja2.51207. Epub 2021 Aug 13. PMID: 34389995. [Link]

Ibrahim L, Wilson C, Tham D, Corden M, Jani S, Zhang M, Kochar A, Tan KF, George S, Phillips NT, Buntine P, Robins-Browne K, Chong V, Georgeson T, Lithgow A, Davidson S, O’Brien S, Tran V, Babl FE. The characteristics of SARS-CoV-2-positive children in Australian hospitals: a PREDICT network study. Med J Aust. 2023 Jun 5;218(10):460-466. doi: 10.5694/mja2.51934. Epub 2023 Apr 22. PMID: 37087105. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37087105/] [Link]