Background And Objectives: Vaccination is one of the most searched health topics online, yet the quality of resources varies considerably. This study evaluated the quality of Canadian COVID-19 vaccines online resources for caregivers of 5-11-year-old children.
Methods: We reviewed Canadian public-facing websites from academic pediatric hospitals, governments, professional organizations, and public health authorities until April 22, 2022.
Background: Patients admitted to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) constitute a high-risk group with a heightened likelihood of receiving inappropriate antimicrobial prescriptions. This study describes an Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme (ASP) in the PICU of a tertiary hospital in Italy.
Method: A pre-post quasi experimental study was conducted between 01/01/2019 and 31/12/2022 in the PICU of the Department for Women's and Children's Health, University Hospital of Padua.
Background And Objectives: Quadrivalent live attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIV-4) offer an alternative to inactivated influenza vaccines (IIV) for children aged 2-17 years, but data on their comparative effectiveness are limited. This study assessed vaccination rates and real-world effectiveness of LAIV-4 and IIV in preventing influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI) in Italian children during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons.
Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study of children aged 2-14 years from September 2022 to April 2024, using data from Pedianet, a pediatric primary care database of anonymized records from family pediatricians.
Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in young children pose a significant global health challenge, leading to high rates of illness and death. They are estimated to be the fourth leading cause of mortality worldwide, particularly impacting children under five. This study aimed to identify the most effective time series model(s) for forecasting the epidemiological season burden of ARIs for the current 2023/2024 period in Italy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOPD is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, so it represents a significant public health challenge. Over the years, new effective therapies have been proposed. However, the burden of COPD is still conditioned by frequent acute events defined as exacerbations (exacerbation of COPD-ECOPD), which have a significant impact not only on the patient's quality of life but also on the progression of the disease, morbidity, and mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe significant impact of acute respiratory tract infections on healthcare systems is well-documented, given their contribution to emergency department admissions, hospitalizations, and increased use of antibiotics and other medications. However, further research is needed to understand the burden of acute respiratory tract infections in pediatric community care to develop effective public health interventions and improve child health outcomes. Real-world data were retrieved from Pedianet, an Italian network of over 200 family pediatricians.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Invasive fungal infections (IFI) are a relevant cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with haematological neoplasms (HMs). Since 2002, a classification of IFI based on host factors, clinical and radiological features and mycological tests was published for research purpose.
Objectives: These criteria are widely used in clinical practice to identify patients at risk for IFI.
The nuclear two-photon or double-gamma (2γ) decay is a second-order electromagnetic process whereby a nucleus in an excited state emits two gamma rays simultaneously. To be able to directly measure the 2γ decay rate in the low-energy regime below the electron-positron pair-creation threshold, we combined the isochronous mode of a storage ring with Schottky resonant cavities. The newly developed technique can be applied to isomers with excitation energies down to ∼100 keV and half-lives as short as ∼10 ms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Parents are the primary decision makers for their children's vaccination, yet, we have limited knowledge on what influences their decision making related to COVID-19 vaccination. The study aimed to understand these different considerations that shape the decisions of parents of children aged 5-11 years old.
Methods: We conducted a qualitative study that included online focus group discussions (FGDs) with parents of children aged 5-11 years old.
While children have experienced less severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) after SARS-CoV-2 infection than adults, the cause of this remains unclear. The objective of this study was to describe the humoral immune response to COVID-19 in child vs. adult household contacts, and to identify predictors of the response over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Although COVID-19 vaccine safety in 5-11-year-old children has been documented, half of Ontarian children this age remain unvaccinated. This study aimed to assess caregivers' vaccine acceptance for 5-11-year-old children and identify factors associated with vaccine non-acceptance.
Methods: A multi-language self-administered survey was sent to caregivers of 5-11-year-old children through schools and community health centers within the Greater Toronto Area from April-July 2022.
Background: Maxillary sinus augmentation is one of the most performed procedures to increase the bone quantity of the atrophic maxilla to allow implant placement. The aim of the present case series was to describe a surgical protocol to perform maxillary sinus augmentation with the "bone lid technique," and its outcomes in a cohort of patients eligible for the procedure.
Methods: After the initial clinical evaluation, a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) examination was performed for preoperative assessment.
Saliva is a promising matrix with several purposes. Our aim is to verify if salivary anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody determination is suitable for monitoring immune responses. One hundred eighty-seven subjects were enrolled at University-Hospital Padova: 105 females (56.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding the correlation between immune response and protection from COVID-19 will play a pivotal role in predicting the effectiveness of vaccines in children. We studied SARS-CoV-2 reinfection risk in children 12 months post-mild COVID-19. Children under 5 years old exhibited lower reinfection risk than older infected or vaccinated siblings during 12 months postimmunization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: mRNA vaccines elicit a durable humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 in adults, whereas evidence in children is scarce. This study aimed to assess the early and long-term immune response to the mRNA vaccine in children with or without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Methods: In a multicentre prospective observational study, we profiled the immune response to the Pfizer BioNTech (BNT162b2) vaccine in 5-11-year-old children attending the University Pediatric Hospital of Padua and Bambino-Gesù Hospital in Rome (Italy) from December-2021 to February-2023.
Introduction: In Sofala province (Mozambique), young people living with HIV (YPLHIV) are estimated at 7% among people aged 15-24 years. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic threatened HIV health services, data on the impact of COVID-19 on YPLHIV people are lacking. This study aimed at exploring the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and associated factors among young people based on their HIV status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Children have largely been unaffected by severe COVID-19 compared to adults, but data suggest that they may have experienced new conditions after developing the disease. We compared outcomes in children who had experienced COVID-19 and healthy controls.
Methods: A retrospective nested cohort study assessed the incidence rate of new-onset conditions after COVID-19 in children aged 0-14 years.
Introduction: COVID-19 features changed with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in adults. This study aims to describe COVID-19 symptoms in children and adolescents during the Parental, Delta, and Omicron eras.
Methods: A single-centre, prospective observational study was conducted on individuals aged 0-20 years attending the University Hospital of Padua (Italy) from April 2020 to December 2022.
Background: Possible cardiac impairment after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination is a common driver of parental vaccine hesitancy. We performed a comprehensive echocardiographic evaluation of biventricular function in vaccinated children with or without previous COVID-19 compared to healthy controls.
Methods: We conducted a single-center, prospective, case-control study enrolling children and adolescents aged 5-18 years attending the pediatric clinic of the University Hospital of Padua from April to June 2022.
As a synergistic treatment approach with systemic antimicrobial therapy or a systemic antibiotic-sparing strategy, the local administration of antimicrobial agents has been proposed as an alternative route for complicated infections. With the rationale of concentrating the active principle in the desired target site, avoiding potentially toxic systemic levels and bypassing anatomical and physiological barriers, local irrigation or infusion of antibiotics may effectively shorten the antimicrobial therapy course and reduce both infection-related and systemic therapy-related complications. Although evidence from the adult population supports its use in selected patients with an acceptable safety profile, data specifically focused on the pediatric population are limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlanine racemase (Alr) is a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the racemization of l-alanine to d-alanine. Alr is one of the two targets of the broad-spectrum antibiotic d-cycloserine (DCS), a structural analogue of d-alanine. Despite being an essential component of regimens used to treat multi- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis for almost seven decades, resistance to DCS has not been observed in patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Methicillin-resistant (MRSA), methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative (MR-CoNS), and vancomycin-resistant (VRE) are increasing worldwide and represent a threat for the limited treatment options in pediatric patients and neonates compared to adults. Recommendations in pediatrics are mainly extrapolated from adults' studies.
Methods: A literature search for the treatment of these pathogens in children (<18 years old) was conducted in Embase, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library.
Background: COVID-19 is associated with increased nursing workload, therefore a high nurse-to-patient ratio would be required.
Aim: To analyse difference in nursing workload, as expressed with the Nursing Activities Score (NAS), between COVID-19 patients versus control patients without COVID-19 disease (NCOVID-19 group) in an Italian Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) centre.
Study Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data, enrolling consecutive patients admitted to a general Intensive Care Unit, between 1st May 2019 and 28th February 2021.
(1) Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection is notably mild in children, though comorbidities may increase the risk of hospitalization and may represent a risk for increased disease severity. There is an urgent need for targeted therapies with an acceptable efficacy and safety profile. To date, most of the medicines for COVID-19-specific treatment are prescribed off-label for children due to a lack of clinical trials and consequent evidence in this population.
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