The goal of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to support a network of US institutions to develop and implement standard research protocols to conduct prospective active surveillance for:
a) acute gastroenteritis (AGE) due to norovirus, rotavirus and other enteric viruses; b) acute respiratory

credit:

illnesses (ARI) due to respiratory viruses including, but not limited to, influenza, RSV, parainfluenza viruses, human metapneumovirus, rhinoviruses, enteroviruses (including EV-D68), adenoviruses, and coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-2); and c) acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) syndrome and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) among pediatric patients seeking healthcare at medical institutions.

The network should also provide accurate estimates of the effectiveness in this population of influenza, rotavirus, COVID-19 and other vaccines against respiratory or enteric virus-associated illnesses projected to become available during the period of performance (e.g., RSV, norovirus).

Participating institutions should identify AGE, ARI, AFM and MIS-C illnesses among pediatric patients seeking healthcare or diagnostic testing for acute illness in inpatient, outpatient and emergency departments.

Recipients should enroll patients meeting standard symptom criteria, and confirm viral infection using approved molecular assays.

Vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates will be calculated.

Estimates of VE, burden of disease, and information on the natural history of disease will be used to:
a) inform best practices for diagnosis and treatment protocols; b) inform vaccine recommendations; and c) assess public health impact of vaccination and public health programs to prevent viral illness-related healthcare encounters and medical visits among pediatric populations.