TUM coordinates project on long-term sequelae of coronavirus in children and adolescents
New network for Long Covid treatment and research
The goal of the project is to establish specialized medical facilities in each of the German “Länder” – only Brandenburg and Berlin share a center. These centers will generate knowledge on the frequency, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of the disease and translate it into clinical practice. Among others, the PEDNET-LC network will develop medical guidelines, establish infrastructures for communication and research and carry out clinical and evaluation studies.
The centers of PEDNET-LC, short for "Pediatric Network for Care and Clinical Research on Post-Acute Sequelae of Covid-19, Similar Post-Acute Infection and Vaccination Syndromes and ME/CFS", are interdisciplinary and multi-professional by design. They are based at renowned hospitals and are each managed by a department of pediatrics and adolescent medicine together with a department of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. The centers cooperate with representatives of patients and their parents, with social pediatric centers, general practitioners, therapists, social and palliative care teams, health insurance companies, professional associations, specialist societies, politicians and public institutions such as schools.
Coordination at the TUM University Hospital
PEDNET-LC is coordinated by the MRI Chronic Fatigue Center for Young People (MCFC)t TUM University Hospital in collaboration with an interdisciplinary steering committee. "With our network, we want to establish standardized, needs-based care for young people with Long Covid, ME/CFS and similar diseases. Our aim is to identify these patients as early as possible, provide appropriate care also for those who are severely affected and support access to school education despite the disease," says Prof. Uta Behrends, Head of the MCFC. The project will be funded until December 2028.
- Clinical and scientific partners involved in PEDNET-LC are based in Augsburg, Berlin, Bielefeld, Bremen, Bruchweiler, Datteln, Dresden, Essen, Freiburg, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Greifswald, Hamburg, Hanover, Homburg, Jena, Kassel, Cologne, Lübeck, Magdeburg, Mainz, Marburg, Munich, Neuburg, Passau, Regensburg, Rostock, Wangen, Worms and Würzburg.
- In addition to PEDNET-LC, the projects "NKG4Family", "pedMYC-VAC" and "COVYOUTHdata" will also be funded by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG). The new funding priority launched by the BMG with "Model measures for the care of children and adolescents with Long Covid and diseases that have a similar cause or manifestation of disease cause or manifestation of the disease" complements the previous funding priority "Researching and strengthening needs-based care for the long-term consequences of Covid-19 (Long Covid)". The latter comprises 30 competitively selected projects for care-related research with a total volume of 73 million euros, whose project leaders met for the first time on February 10, 2025.
- Prof. Uta Behrends is a member of the TUM School of Medicine and Health. The MCFC is based at the TUM Children's Polyclinic, which is a cooperation between TUM, TUM University Hospital and Munich Hospital.
Technical University of Munich
Corporate Communications Center
- Paul Hellmich
- paul.hellmich@tum.de
- presse@tum.de
- Teamwebsite
Contacts to this article:
Prof. Dr. Uta Behrends
Technical University of Munich
Clinic and Polyclinic for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
uta.behrends@tum.de
www.mri.tum.de/chronische-fatigue-centrum-fuer-junge-menschen-mcfc
