Publications by authors named "Are Stuwitz Berg"
Vaccination was a key intervention in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic globally. In early 2021, Norway faced significant regional variations in COVID-19 incidence and prevalence, with large differences in population density, necessitating efficient vaccine allocation to reduce infections and severe outcomes. This study explored alternative vaccination strategies to minimize health outcomes (infections, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, deaths) by varying regions prioritized, extra doses prioritized, and implementation start time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of serious lower respiratory infections in young children and older adults, resulting in numerous hospitalizations and deaths, particularly in infants under 6 months.
- The lack of current RSV surveillance recommendations in the EU prompted a workshop among experts to establish a comprehensive national surveillance strategy aimed at improving data harmonization and comparison across Europe.
- The proposed surveillance strategy includes active community and hospital surveillance, passive laboratory monitoring, and the use of standardized PCR methods for RSV detection and genetic tracking, ultimately enhancing the understanding of RSV burden and guiding future vaccination efforts.
In response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, most countries implemented school closures. In Norway, schools closed on 13 March 2020. The evidence of effect on disease transmission was limited, while negative consequences were evident.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The aim of this study was to determine potential predictors of the need for major medical interventions in the context of assessing severity in pediatric pneumonia.
Methods: This was a prospective, cohort study of previously healthy children and adolescents younger than 18 years presenting to the pediatric emergency room with clinically suspected pneumonia and examining both the full cohort and those with radiologically confirmed pneumonia. The presence of hypoxemia (peripheral oxygen saturation ≤92%), age-specific tachypnea, high temperature (≥38.
Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae causes epidemics of upper respiratory disease and pneumonia. It is thought that M. pneumoniae usually causes milder upper respiratory disease in preschool children, with a greater chance of pneumonia in school-age children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: In this prospective, observational study on previously healthy children <18 years, we aimed to study the diagnostic ability of clinical features and inflammatory markers to (i) predict pathologic chest radiography in suspected pneumonia and (ii) differentiate etiology in radiological proven pneumonia. In 394 cases of suspected pneumonia, 265 (67%) had radiographs consistent with pneumonia; 34/265 had proof of bacterial etiology. Of the cases, 86.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Improved Childhood Immunizations Programs, especially the introduction of pneumococcal vaccination, better diagnostic methods and the importance of reduced antibiotic misuse, make this a critical time to increase knowledge on the etiology of pediatric pneumonia. Our main objective was to identify the contribution of various microbiological species that causes pneumonia in previously healthy children and adolescents in a population with high pneumococcal conjugate vaccine coverage.
Methods: This prospective, observational study enrolled patients with clinical and radiological signs of pneumonia over a 2-year period.