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Was aimed to characterize COVID-19 cases in children residing in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, and analyze their outcomes. A cross-sectional, descriptive, retrospective, qualitative-quantitative study, limited to March 2020 to December 2021, and data were collected from the Health Information Support Monitor (Painel Mais Saúde), Sivep-Flu (Sivep-Gripe), and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), being year, month, municipality, number of cases, age group, gender, lethality rate, and deaths. During the study period, 14,616 cases of COVID-19 were reported among children aged 0 to 9 years. Notably, the peak occurrence was in May 2021, followed by a sharp decline until December of the same year. The most reported symptoms among the affected children were fever (44.4%), cough (43%), sore throat (25.2%), and difficulty breathing (4.1%). A total of 1.9% of influenza-like illness cases associated with COVID-19 progressed to SARS, particularly in those under one year of age. Among the children who developed SARS due to COVID-19, 43.3% had comorbidities, and the lethality rate was 5%. In conclusion, COVID-19 occurrence in children in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul had a moderate prevalence, with a low number of cases progressing to SARS. However, the 5% lethality rate in this population emphasizes the significance of the disease for this age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genomic surveillance has emerged as a crucial tool in monitoring and understanding the dynamics of viral variants during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Midwest region of Brazil, Mato Grosso do Sul has faced a significant burden from the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, with a total of 613,000 confirmed cases as of June 2023. In collaboration with the Central Public Health Laboratory in the capital city of Campo Grande, we conducted a portable whole-genome sequencing and phylodynamic analysis to investigate the circulation of the Omicron variant in the region. The study aimed to uncover the genomic landscape and provide valuable insights into the prevalence and transmission patterns of this highly transmissible variant. Our findings revealed an increase in the number of cases within the region during 2022, followed by a gradual decline as a result of the successful impact of the vaccination program together with the capacity of this unpredictable and very transmissible variant to quickly affect the proportion of susceptible population. Genomic data indicated multiple introduction events, suggesting that human mobility played a differential role in the variant's dispersion dynamics throughout the state. These findings emphasize the significance of implementing public health interventions to mitigate further spread and highlight the powerful role of genomic monitoring in promptly tracking and uncovering the circulation of viral strains. Together those results underscore the importance of proactive surveillance, rapid genomic sequencing, and data sharing to facilitate timely public health responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]