Publications by authors named "Engels G"

Background: Since the beginning of the corona pandemic in Germany in January 2020, day care centres (DCC) have faced the challenge of reliably detecting cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection as early and reliably as possible in order to avoid major outbreaks and closures. Conducting regular virological screening tests for asymptomatic DCC children and childcare workers requires a high level of acceptance among participants and should be as easy as possible to implement. The present study aimed to evaluate childcare workers' and parents' attitudes and experiences regarding the acceptance and feasibility of various screening methods.

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As part of the Würzburg KiTa-CoV study series, SARS-CoV-2 pandemic-related attitudes/concerns of parents of preschool children attending day care centres were surveyed over a 21-month period. We expected associations between these parental attitudes/concerns and their change over the course of the pandemic, on the one hand, and the SARS-CoV-2 infection status of the children, on the other. Parents of children from nine day-care centres who completed a survey on pandemic-related attitudes/concerns in October 2020, July 2021 and July 2022, were included in the analysis.

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Offloading for DFS must not mean immobilisation. The independence of those affected must not be significantly restricted by the treatment outside of emergency situations. Surgical options, which must be adapted to the degree of mobility of the affected person, can be helpful here.

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Background: There is debate as to whether a coronavirus infection (SARS-CoV-2) affects older adults' physical activity, sleeping problems, weight, feelings of social isolation, and quality of life (QoL). We investigated differences in these outcomes between older adults with and without coronavirus infection over 180 days following infection.

Methods: We included 6789 older adults (65+) from the Lifelines COVID-19 cohort study who provided data between April 2020 and June 2021.

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Objectives: Patients who have recently suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor ischemic stroke are at increased risk of cognitive impairment. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effect of a 1-year exercise intervention on cognitive functioning up to 2 years post intervention.

Material And Methods: We conducted a single-blind randomized controlled trial to investigate the effect of an exercise intervention on cognitive functioning, compared with usual care, for up to 2 years.

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Article Synopsis
  • The IMMUNEBRIDGE project aimed to estimate protection levels against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 in the German population during summer 2022, addressing a lack of real-time data.
  • The study involved over 33,000 participants and assessed protection based on self-reported infections/vaccinations and antibody responses, identifying confirmed exposures that indicated varying protection levels.
  • Findings showed moderate to high protection against severe COVID-19, but low protection against infection, especially in older adults and those with comorbidities, highlighting the need for more protective measures for these vulnerable groups.
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Purpose: The study evaluates the effects on sero-immunity, health status and quality of life of children and adolescents after the upsurge of the Omicron variant in Germany.

Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study (IMMUNEBRIDGE Kids) was conducted within the German Network University Medicine (NUM) from July to October 2022. SARS-CoV-2- antibodies were measured and data on SARS-CoV-2 infections, vaccinations, health and socioeconomic factors as well as caregiver-reported evaluation on their children's health and psychological status were assessed.

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Background: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway is involved in kidney tissue repair and growth. Preclinical interventional data and scarce human data have suggested a role for this pathway in the pathophysiology of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), while other data have suggested that its activation is causally linked to repair of damaged kidney tissue. We hypothesize that urinary EGFR ligands, as a reflection of EGFR activity, are associated with kidney function decline in ADPKD in the context of tissue repair following injury, and as the disease progresses as a sign of insufficient repair.

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Modeling is a key activity in conceptual design and system design. Through collaborative modeling, end-users, stakeholders, experts, and entrepreneurs are able to create a shared understanding of a system representation. While the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is one of the major conceptual modeling languages in object-oriented software engineering, more and more concerns arise from the modeling quality of UML and its tool-support.

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Almost 2 years into the pandemic and with vaccination of children significantly lagging behind adults, long-term pediatric humoral immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 are understudied. The C19.CHILD Hamburg (COVID-19 Child Health Investigation of Latent Disease) Study is a prospective cohort study designed to identify and follow up children and their household contacts infected in the early 2020 first wave of SARS-CoV-2.

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Importance: Closure of day care centers (DCCs) to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with negative effects on children's health and well-being.

Objective: To investigate the acceptance of self-sampling methods for continuous SARS-CoV-2 surveillance among asymptomatic children and childcare workers (CCWs) in DCCs.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This nonrandomized pilot study included children and CCWs at 9 DCCs in Wuerzburg, Germany, from May to July 2021.

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Background: Feasibility of surveillance through continuous SARS-CoV-2 testing in pre-school children and childcare workers (CCWs) to prevent closure of day care centers (DCCs) was proven in the Wü-KiTa-CoV study. The purpose of this study was to describe the factors that facilitate or hinder the implementation of continuous SARS-CoV-2 testing from the perspective of parents and CCWs involved in the study.

Methods: A total of 148 semi-structured telephone interviews, repeated before and after the implementation of the surveillance protocols, were conducted with parents and CCWs belonging to the DCCs involved in Wü-KiTa-CoV and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study in Germany found that 67.9% of children with acute respiratory infections tested positive for various respiratory viruses using oropharyngeal swabs.
  • Rhinovirus was the most common (48.8%), while adenovirus (14.3%), endemic coronaviruses (14.9%), SARS-CoV-2, and influenza virus were found infrequently.
  • The results suggest that pandemic infection control measures have significantly affected the transmission of different respiratory viruses.
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Importance: Closure of day care centers has been implemented globally to contain the COVID-19 pandemic but has negative effects on children's health and psychosocial well-being.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of surveillance among children and childcare workers and to model the efficacy of surveillance on viral spread prevention.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This nonrandomized controlled trial was conducted at 9 day care centers in Wuerzburg, Germany, from October 2020 to March 2021.

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Background: Approximately 1700 children per year with end-stage kidney disease undergo kidney transplantation in Europe and the United States of America; 30%-50% are living donor kidney transplantations. There may be immunological differences between paternal and maternal donors due to transplacental exchange of cells between the mother and fetus during pregnancy leading to microchimerism. We investigated whether the outcome of living-related kidney transplantation in young children is different after maternal compared with paternal organ donation.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examined the rate of delayed immunization among extremely low gestational age neonates (ELGANs) in Germany over a 10-year period, focusing on the hexavalent and pneumococcal vaccines in a cohort of 8,401 preterm infants.
  • - Findings revealed that 9.8% of these infants did not receive their first vaccinations on time, with risk factors including being small for gestational age, impaired growth, and needing complex medical interventions.
  • - At the 5-year follow-up, children who were vaccinated on time had a lower incidence of bronchitis, but overall lung function (spirometry) was not significantly impacted, highlighting the importance of timely vaccinations for vulnerable infants. *
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Diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) is the most frequent reason for major amputations in Germany. The majority of foot lesions are triggered by repetitive pressure in diabetic polyneuropathy. Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) impairs wound healing and is the main risk factor for amputations.

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There are ca. 8 million persons with diabetes mellitus living in Germany. A late sequelae of diabetes is the diabetic foot syndrome (DFS), the prevalence of which is greatly increasing.

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Dynamics of the subsurface (2-3 m) mesozooplankton (i.e., > 200 μm) in the Bay of Calvi (Corsica, France) were explored, combining time series (2004-2016) of 14 zooplankton groups, wind gusts, water temperature, nitrate and chlorophyll-a.

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Multiple cases of potentially life-threatening thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) have resulted from intravenous abuse of medications containing polyethylene oxide (PEO), most often Opana ER (oxymorphone hydrochloride extended release). No validated models are available to assess the risk of TMA with different formulations and extraction methods following intravenous abuse. We have developed an in vitro system that involves passing pooled blood containing the excipient of interest through a syringe needle and assessing haemolysis via haemoglobin release.

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