Asthma Is an Independent Risk Factor for Acute Chest Syndrome in Children with Sickle Cell Disease in French Guiana.

The overall incidence of asthma in children with sickle cell disease in French Guiana is unknown. Asthma is common in children with sickle cell disease and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to describe the impact of asthma on the occurrence of acute chest syndrome in children with sickle cell disease who were followed up in French Guiana.

Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of acute malnutrition among under-5 children attending a rural hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Malnutrition, a public health problem in a low-income country such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), is a major killer among children under 5 who are most at risk of acute malnutrition. This study aims to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of acute malnutrition in children under 5 years old.

Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective and descriptive cross-sectional study on children under 5 with acute malnutrition from April 2022 to April 2023.

Acute ethmoiditis complicated by intraorbital abscess, orbital cellulitis, and cerebral empyema in a 14-year-old girl.

We report the case of a 14-year-old girl with pain and protrusion of the left eye and treated with diclofenac. Clinical and paraclinical examinations revealed a cerebral empyema and a left retro-orbital abscess complicating an acute ethmoiditis. Parenteral antibiotic remains essential in the management of acute ethmoiditis to prevent complications.

Bacteria and viruses in the upper respiratory tract of Congolese children with radiologically confirmed pneumonia.

Background: Acute pneumonia remains a leading cause of death among children below 5 years of age in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), despite introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in 2013. Potential pathogens in the nasopharynx of hospitalised children with pneumonia have not been studied previously in DR Congo. Here we compare clinical characteristics, risk factors and nasopharyngeal occurrence of bacteria and viruses between children with severe and non-severe pneumonia.

Decreased number of hospitalized children with severe acute lower respiratory infection after introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Introduction: acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) are a leading killer of children under five worldwide including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). We aimed to determine the morbidity and case fatality rate due to ALRI before and after introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PVC13) in DR Congo 2013.

Methods: data were collected from medical records of children with a diagnosis of ALRI, aged from 2 to 59 months, treated at four hospitals in the Eastern DR Congo.

High rate of antibiotic resistance among pneumococci carried by healthy children in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Background: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines have been introduced in the infant immunisation programmes in many countries to reduce the rate of fatal pneumococcal infections. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) a 13-valent vaccine (PCV13) was introduced in 2013. Data on the burden of circulating pneumococci among children after this introduction are lacking.