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SARS-CoV-2 infection in young children is often mild or asymptomatic; however, some children are at risk for severe disease. Data describing the protective effectiveness of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines against COVID-19-associated emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalization in this population are limited. Data from the New Vaccine Surveillance Network, a prospective population-based surveillance system, were used to estimate vaccine effectiveness using a test-negative, case-control design and describe the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in infants and children aged 6 months-4 years during July 1, 2022-September 30, 2023. Among 7,434 children included, 5% received a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result, and 95% received a negative test result; 86% were unvaccinated, 4% had received 1 dose of any vaccine product, and 10% had received ≥2 doses. When compared with receipt of no vaccines among children, receipt of ≥2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine doses was 40% effective (95% CI = 8%-60%) in preventing ED visits and hospitalization. These findings support existing recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination of young children to reduce COVID-19-associated ED visits and hospitalization., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Janet A. Englund reports institutional support from AstraZeneca, GSK, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Merck & Co. and consulting fees from Abbvie, AstraZeneca, Ark Biopharma, Meissa Vaccines, Moderna, Sanofi Pasteur, Shinogi, GSK, and Pfizer-BioNTech. John V. Williams reports institutional support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and compensation for service on Quidel’s Scientific Advisory Board through 2022 and on GSK’s Independent Data Monitoring Committee. Marian G. Michaels reports support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, and Merck & Co.; receipt of lecture honoraria from the Transplant Alliance; support for meeting attendance from NIH, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Transplant Alliance, the American Society of Transplantation, and the International Transplant Nurses Association; participation on a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Data Safety Monitoring Board; and services as Chair of the Infectious Diseases Committee of the International Pediatric Transplant Association. Geoffrey A. Weinberg reports institutional support from the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute and honoraria from Merck & Co. for writing and editing textbook chapters in the Merck & Co. Manual. Natasha B. Halasa reports grants from Sanofi, Quidel, and Merck & Co. Elizabeth P. Schlaudecker reports institutional support from NIH and Pfizer-BioNTech, support for attending a Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society meeting, uncompensated service on NIH Data Safety Monitoring Board, honorarium for service on Sanofi Pasteur advisory board, uncompensated membership in the World Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and uncompensated service as committee chair for the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. Mary Allen Staat reports institutional support from NIH, Merck & Co., Cepheid, and Pfizer-BioNTech and receipt of royalties from UpToDate. Peter G. Szilagyi reports a grant to the University of Rochester (subcontract to University of California at Los Angeles) No other potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Increases in severe respiratory illness and acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) among children and adolescents resulting from enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) infections occurred biennially in the United States during 2014, 2016, and 2018, primarily in late summer and fall. Although EV-D68 annual trends are not fully understood, EV-D68 levels were lower than expected in 2020, potentially because of implementation of COVID-19 mitigation measures (e.g., wearing face masks, enhanced hand hygiene, and physical distancing) (1). In August 2022, clinicians in several geographic areas notified CDC of an increase in hospitalizations of pediatric patients with severe respiratory illness and positive rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV) test results.* Surveillance data were analyzed from multiple national data sources to characterize reported trends in acute respiratory illness (ARI), asthma/reactive airway disease (RAD) exacerbations, and the percentage of positive RV/EV and EV-D68 test results during 2022 compared with previous years. These data demonstrated an increase in emergency department (ED) visits by children and adolescents with ARI and asthma/RAD in late summer 2022. The percentage of positive RV/EV test results in national laboratory-based surveillance and the percentage of positive EV-D68 test results in pediatric sentinel surveillance also increased during this time. Previous increases in EV-D68 respiratory illness have led to substantial resource demands in some hospitals and have also coincided with increases in cases of AFM (2), a rare but serious neurologic disease affecting the spinal cord. Therefore, clinicians should consider AFM in patients with acute flaccid limb weakness, especially after respiratory illness or fever, and ensure prompt hospitalization and referral to specialty care for such cases. Clinicians should also test for poliovirus infection in patients suspected of having AFM because of the clinical similarity to acute flaccid paralysis caused by poliovirus. Ongoing surveillance for EV-D68 is critical to ensuring preparedness for possible future increases in ARI and AFM., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

The New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN) is a prospective, active, population-based surveillance platform that enrolls children with acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) at seven pediatric medical centers. ARIs are caused by respiratory viruses including influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (HMPV), human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs), and most recently SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), which result in morbidity among infants and young children (1-6). NVSN estimates the incidence of pathogen-specific pediatric ARIs and collects clinical data (e.g., underlying medical conditions and vaccination status) to assess risk factors for severe disease and calculate influenza and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. Current NVSN inpatient (i.e., hospital) surveillance began in 2015, expanded to emergency departments (EDs) in 2016, and to outpatient clinics in 2018. This report describes demographic characteristics of enrolled children who received care in these settings, and yearly circulation of influenza, RSV, HMPV, HPIV1-3, adenovirus, human rhinovirus and enterovirus (RV/EV),* and SARS-CoV-2 during December 2016-August 2021. Among 90,085 eligible infants, children, and adolescents (children) aged <18 years † with ARI, 51,441 (57%) were enrolled, nearly 75% of whom were aged <5 years; 43% were hospitalized. Infants aged <1 year accounted for the largest proportion (38%) of those hospitalized. The most common pathogens detected were RV/EV and RSV. Before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, detected respiratory viruses followed previously described seasonal trends, with annual peaks of influenza and RSV in late fall and winter (7,8). After the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and implementation of associated pandemic nonpharmaceutical interventions and community mitigation measures, many respiratory viruses circulated at lower-than-expected levels during April 2020-May 2021. Beginning in summer 2021, NVSN detected higher than anticipated enrollment of hospitalized children as well as atypical interseasonal circulation of RSV. Further analyses of NVSN data and continued surveillance are vital in highlighting risk factors for severe disease and health disparities, measuring the effectiveness of vaccines and monoclonal antibody-based prophylactics, and guiding policies to protect young children from pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and RSV., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Janet A. Englund reports support from AstraZeneca, GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), and Pfizer, Inc., and consulting fees from Sanofi Pasteur, Meissa Vaccines, and AstraZeneca. Natasha B. Halasa reports grant support from Sanofi Pasteur and Quidel and an education grant from Genetech. Christopher J. Harrison reports institutional support from GSK, Merck, and Pfizer, Inc., and honoraria from Pediatric News. Rangaraj Selvarangan reports grants from Hologic, BioFire Diagnostics, Becton Dickinson, Luminex, and Cepheid and serves on the GSK advisory board. Geoffrey A. Weinberg reports consulting fees from ReViral and honoraria from Merck for writing textbook chapters in the Merck Manual. John V. Williams reports grant support from the National Institutes of Health (for work unrelated to the report), consulting fees from Quidel’s scientific advisory board, and honorarium from the Infectious Disease of Children for a conference presentation, participation on a GSK independent data monitoring committee and on a data safety monitoring board for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases IMPAACT Study. No other potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Cryptosporidium is a parasite that causes cryptosporidiosis, a profuse, watery diarrhea that can last up to 3 weeks in immunocompetent patients and can lead to life-threatening malnutrition and wasting in immunocompromised patients.* Fecal-oral transmission can occur by ingestion of contaminated recreational water, drinking water, or food, or through contact with infected persons or animals. For the period 2009-2017, public health officials from 40 states and Puerto Rico voluntarily reported 444 cryptosporidiosis outbreaks resulting in 7,465 cases. Exposure to treated recreational water (e.g., in pools and water playgrounds) was associated with 156 (35.1%) outbreaks resulting in 4,232 (56.7%) cases. Other predominant outbreak exposures included contact with cattle (65 outbreaks; 14.6%) and contact with infected persons in child care settings (57; 12.8%). The annual number of reported cryptosporidiosis outbreaks overall increased an average of approximately 13% per year over time. Reversing this trend will require dissemination of prevention messages to discourage swimming or attending child care while ill with diarrhea and encourage hand washing after contact with animals. Prevention and control measures can be optimized by improving understanding of Cryptosporidium transmission through regular analysis of systematically collected epidemiologic and molecular characterization data., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.