Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade de Pernambuco, Recife 50100-010, Brazil.
Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
Viruses. 2021 Apr 1;13(4):602. doi: 10.3390/v13040602.
This cohort profile aims to describe the ongoing follow-up of children in the Microcephaly Epidemic Research Group Paediatric Cohort (MERG-PC). The profile details the context and aims of the study, study population, methodology including assessments, and key results and publications to date. The children that make up MERG-PC were born in Recife or within 120 km of the city, in Pernambuco/Brazil, the epicentre of the microcephaly epidemic. MERG-PC includes children from four groups recruited at different stages of the ZIKV microcephaly epidemic in Pernambuco, i.e., the Outpatient Group (OG/ = 195), the Microcephaly Case-Control Study (MCCS/ = 80), the MERG Pregnant Women Cohort (MERG-PWC/ = 336), and the Control Group (CG/ = 100). We developed a comprehensive array of clinical, laboratory, and imaging assessments that were undertaken by a 'task force' of clinical specialists in a single day at 3, 6, 12, 18 months of age, and annually from 24 months. Children from MCCS and CG had their baseline assessment at birth and children from the other groups, at the first evaluation by the task force. The baseline cohort includes 711 children born between February 2015 and February 2019. Children's characteristics at baseline, excluding CG, were as follows: 32.6% (184/565) had microcephaly, 47% (263/559) had at least one physical abnormality, 29.5% (160/543) had at least one neurological abnormality, and 46.2% (257/556) had at least one ophthalmological abnormality. This ongoing cohort has contributed to the understanding of the congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) spectrum. The cohort has provided descriptions of paediatric neurodevelopment and early epilepsy, including EEG patterns and treatment response, and information on the frequency and characteristics of oropharyngeal dysphagia; cryptorchidism and its surgical findings; endocrine dysfunction; and adenoid hypertrophy in children with Zika-related microcephaly. The study protocols and questionnaires were shared across Brazilian states to enable harmonization across the different studies investigating microcephaly and CZS, providing the opportunity for the Zika Brazilian Cohorts Consortium to be formed, uniting all the ZIKV clinical cohorts in Brazil.
本队列简介旨在描述 Microcephaly Epidemic Research Group Paediatric Cohort (MERG-PC) 中儿童的持续随访情况。简介详细介绍了研究的背景和目的、研究人群、包括评估在内的方法以及迄今为止的主要结果和出版物。MERG-PC 中的儿童出生于 Recife 或该市 120 公里范围内的巴西伯南布哥州，该地区是小头畸形疫情的中心。MERG-PC 包括在伯南布哥州 ZIKV 小头畸形疫情的不同阶段招募的四个组的儿童，即门诊组（OG/=195）、小头畸形病例对照研究（MCCS/=80）、MERG 孕妇队列（MERG-PWC/=336）和对照组（CG/=100）。我们开发了一套全面的临床、实验室和影像学评估方法，由一组临床专家在 3、6、12、18 个月大时以及 24 个月后每年进行一次评估。MCCS 和 CG 的儿童在出生时进行基线评估，而其他组的儿童则在专家组的第一次评估时进行。基线队列包括 2015 年 2 月至 2019 年 2 月期间出生的 711 名儿童。除 CG 外，基线队列儿童的特征如下：32.6%（184/565）患有小头畸形，47%（263/559）至少存在一种身体异常，29.5%（160/543）至少存在一种神经异常，46.2%（257/556）至少存在一种眼科异常。该持续进行的队列为了解先天性寨卡综合征（CZS）的谱提供了帮助。该队列提供了关于儿科神经发育和早期癫痫的描述，包括脑电图模式和治疗反应，以及关于口咽吞咽困难的频率和特征的信息；隐睾及其手术发现；内分泌功能障碍；以及与寨卡相关的小头畸形儿童的腺样体肥大。研究方案和问卷在巴西各州之间共享，以实现对不同小头畸形和 CZS 研究的协调，从而有机会成立巴西寨卡病毒队列联盟，将巴西所有 ZIKV 临床队列联合起来。
