[Comment] COVID‑19 threat and frontline paediatric care professionals

‘How prepared are paediatric health professionals for a future pandemic?’ The answer by Professor Alan Michael Weindling, Professor of Perinatal Medicine at the University of Liverpool (UK), to this question by the Paediatric Virology Study Group (PVSG), almost two years ago, in the context of the ‘4th workshop on Paediatric Virology’ revealed a difficult reality: ‘Those who work in developing countries may be, but most paediatric health professionals probably are not. Professor Weindling also supported the commitment to ‘lifelong learning’, as well as the necessity of increased preparedness of the paediatric care professionals based on the ongoing, at that time, health crises of Ebola and Zika viruses (1,2). Since 2007, the PVSG has focused on continuing medical education of the frontline paediatric professionals (3). [...]additional changes have been tried to be performed regarding the development of triage in paediatric emergency settings, the usage of personal protective equipment (PPE), appropriate decontamination and isolation facilities, as well as general paediatric equipment, negative pressure rooms in tertiary paediatric care as well as new beds in paediatric intensive care units (PICU).