Background: Although most children with status epilepticus have a good prognosis, its effects on newborns are unclear. Objective: We compare the neurodevelopmental consequences of recurrent seizures and status epilepticus in newborns. Methods: One hundred six newborns with video-EEG–confirmed seizures, consecutively admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of the University of Parma between January 1999 and December 2004, were enrolled in the study. Fifty-one were preterm and 55 were full-term newborns. Neonatal status epilepticus was defined as continuous seizure activity for at least 30 minutes or recurrent seizures lasting a total of >30 minutes without definite return to the baseline neurologic condition of the newborn between seizures. Neurologic outcome was assessed at 24 months of corrected age. Results: Thirty-six newborns had a normal outcome, 20 died, and 50 presented an adverse outcome. All but 1 of the 26 subjects with neonatal status epilepticus had an adverse outcome. Birth weight, severely abnormal cerebral ultrasound scans, and status epilepticus were independent predictors of abnormal outcome. Depending on gestational age (GA), neonatal status epilepticus seems to be a risk factor of adverse outcome in full-term newborns (GA ≥ 37 weeks: odds ratio [OR] 20.312, 95% CI 2.417 to 170.679, p = 0.006), and a risk factor of epilepsy in early preterm and full-term newborns (GA ≤ 29 weeks: OR 10.500, 95% CI 1.211 to 91.026, p = 0.033; GA ≥ 37 weeks: OR 6.517, 95% CI 1.321 to 32.148, p = 0.021). Conclusion: Newborns with status epilepticus are at high risk of severe neurologic disability and postneonatal epilepsy. This is particularly evident in early preterm and full-term infants.

COVID-19 outbreak and the unprecedent measures imposed by the government, including quarantine and social distancing, cause psychological distress in children and adolescents. we review literature about mental health effects of COVID-19 pandemic by using the keywords "COVID-19", "coronavirus", "pandemic", "mental health", "psych*", "adolescent" and "child". early evidence show high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, due to the pandemic itself, to social isolation and to parents' stress. High grade students, females and low-income families are at higher risk to develop psychiatric symptoms. Psychological distress can be reduced by maintaining contact with peers through social networks and by accurate updates provided by the government through the mass media. Online resources such as information about mental health education and preventive measure, video-counselling, telemedicine and telepsychiatry services, can be useful to reduce the psychosocial effects of the novel coronavirus. there is urgent need to plan new strategies for early psychological interventions in order to reduce the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children and adolescents mental health status.