[Pertussis worldwide. Vaccinating children and adults].

Pertussis (whooping cough) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in infants world-wide, and continues to be a public health concern despite high vaccination coverage. The disease, caused by bacterium is present in all countries. Before vaccines became widely available in the 1950s, pertussis was one of the most common childhood diseases worldwide.

Recovery from childhood community-acquired pneumonia in a developing country: Prognostic value of serum procalcitonin.

Background: Childhood community-acquired pneumonia is a common and potentially life-threatening illness in developing countries. We assessed the prognostic value of serum procalcitonin level upon admission on clinical response to antibiotic treatment.

Methods: Out of 89 patients, the median (IQR) age was 19(12-29) months and 60% were boys.

Invasive pneumococcal disease in children can reveal a primary immunodeficiency.

Background: About 10% of pediatric patients with invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) die from the disease. Some primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) are known to confer predisposition to IPD. However, a systematic search for these PIDs has never been carried out in children presenting with IPD.

European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition/European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases evidence-based guidelines for the management of acute gastroenteritis in children in Europe: update 2014.

Objectives: These guidelines update and extend evidence-based indications for the management of children with acute gastroenteritis in Europe.

Methods: The guideline development group formulated questions, identified data, and formulated recommendations. The latter were graded with the Muir Gray system and, in parallel, with the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations system.

Association of procalcitonin with acute pyelonephritis and renal scars in pediatric UTI.

Background And Objective: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common childhood bacterial infections that may involve renal parenchymal infection (acute pyelonephritis [APN]) followed by late scarring. Prompt, high-quality diagnosis of APN and later identification of children with scarring are important for preventing future complications. Examination via dimercaptosuccinic acid scanning is the current clinical gold standard but is not routinely performed.

Risk factors associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae carriage at admission in an infant cohort at a tertiary teaching hospital in France.

We describe risk factors associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae fecal carriage at admission in an infant population. 12.6% were carrying extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.

Risk associated with a systematic search of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.

We evaluated 74 children with previous fecal extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae colonization who were hospitalized and receiving a course of antibiotic therapy for suspected infection. Sixty-four patients (86.5%) received a carbapenem agent.

Procalcitonin predicts response to beta-lactam treatment in hospitalized children with community-acquired pneumonia.

Background: Antibiotic treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children remains mostly empirical because clinical and paraclinical findings poorly discriminate the principal causes of CAP. Fast response to beta-lactam treatment can be considered a proxy of pneumococcal aetiology. We aimed to identify the best biological predictor of response to beta-lactam therapy in children hospitalized for CAP.

Prediction of high-grade vesicoureteral reflux after pediatric urinary tract infection: external validation study of procalcitonin-based decision rule.

Background: Predicting vesico-ureteral reflux (VUR) ≥3 at the time of the first urinary tract infection (UTI) would make it possible to restrict cystography to high-risk children. We previously derived the following clinical decision rule for that purpose: cystography should be performed in cases with ureteral dilation and a serum procalcitonin level ≥0.17 ng/mL, or without ureteral dilatation when the serum procalcitonin level ≥0.

Prediction of moderate and high grade vesicoureteral reflux after a first febrile urinary tract infection in children: construction and internal validation of a clinical decision rule.

Purpose: Urinary tract infection leads to a diagnosis of moderate or high grade (III or higher) vesicoureteral reflux in approximately 15% of children. Predicting reflux grade III or higher would make it possible to restrict cystography to high risk cases. We aimed to derive a clinical decision rule to predict vesicoureteral reflux grade III or higher in children with a first febrile urinary tract infection.

[Epidemiology of parasitic diseases, hypereosinophilia, IgE from tropical and European parasitological origins].

Etiologic investigations of hypereosinophilia, often accompanied by IgE elevation, depends on the patient's geographic origin and travel history. In France, helminth diseases are the only parasitoses associated with hypereosinophilia. Some, such as oxyurosis in children, are frequent but generally mild.

Molecular and clinical characterization of rotavirus from diarrheal infants admitted to pediatric emergency units in france.

Background: rotaviruses are the major cause of acute gastroenteritis in young children worldwide, and require careful surveillance, especially in the context of vaccination programs. Prospective surveillance is required to monitor and characterize rotavirus infections, including viral and clinical data, and to detect the emergence of potentially epidemic strains.

Methods: between 2006 and 2009, stool samples and clinical records were collected from 2044 children with acute diarrhea admitted to the pediatric emergency units of 13 French university hospitals.

Distinguishing between bacterial and aseptic meningitis in children: European comparison of two clinical decision rules.

Background: Clinical decision rules (CDRs) could be helpful to safely distinguish between bacterial and aseptic meningitis (AM).

Objective: To compare the performance of two of these CDRs for children: the Bacterial Meningitis Score (BMS) and the Meningitest.

Design: Secondary analysis of retrospective multicentre hospital-based cohort study.

Underestimation of influenza viral infection in childhood asthma exacerbations.

Bocavirus was found in 11.6% of hospitalized children and 13% of ambulatory patients with exacerbations of asthma, and respiratory syncytial virus was found in 13.5% and 17.

Procalcitonin is useful in identifying bacteraemia among children with pneumonia.

Empirical antibiotic use is prescribed in managing children with pneumonia worldwide. We assessed the usefulness of procalcitonin (PCT) and interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) in differentiating viral from bacterial pneumonia. Among 159 hospitalized children, pneumonia was diagnosed based on clinical complaints plus pulmonary infiltrate.

Impressive renal damage after acute pyelonephritis in a child.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in children, and its role in the pathogenesis of scarred kidney is debated. We report on a 7-year-old child who presented with severe UTI. The early (day 4) renal computed tomography (CT) scan showed normal-sized kidneys (110 mm on the left, 105 mm on the right), whereas the control CT scan and dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scan, performed 1 and 2 months later, respectively, showed a small scarred right kidney (60 mm) with a 12% residual function.

Hospitalization for severe bacterial infections in children after exposure to NSAIDs: a prospective adverse drug reaction reporting study.

Background: NSAIDs are widely used to treat fever and pain in children, but their possible role in the progression of some bacterial infections is controversial.

Objective: This study was performed to analyse reported cases of severe bacterial infection associated with NSAID exposure in children admitted for this reason to a general paediatric department.

Methods: This study was based on the reporting system of hospital admissions for severe bacterial infections in children after NSAID exposure, and followed the recommendations of the European Guidelines of Pharmacovigilance for medicines used in a paediatric population.

Severity of acute gastroenteritis in infants infected by G1 or G9 rotaviruses.

Background: Group A rotaviruses are the main viral causative agent of acute diarrhea, and cause considerable morbidity in children. G9 rotaviruses have recently emerged all over the world and are thought to give more severe symptoms because of a lack of previous exposure and the absence of maternal antibodies in patients.

Objectives: To determine the clinical severity of G9 infections compared to G1 infections in hospitalized children.

Human bocavirus: a cause of severe asthma exacerbation in children.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction for human bocavirus (HBoV) was performed in nasopharyngeal aspirate specimens from 166 children over 2 years of age hospitalized for severe asthma exacerbation. Whereas HBoV was detected in 21 of these children (13%), it was found in only 1 of 50 ambulatory children with stable asthma (2%), suggesting a major role of HBoV in acute exacerbations in asthmatic children.

Clinical decision rules for evaluating meningitis in children.

Purpose Of Review: Distinguishing between bacterial and aseptic meningitis in children is sometimes difficult. Guidelines recommend that patients with acute meningitis be systematically hospitalized and treated with antibiotics until the cerebrospinal fluid culture results are available. This strategy ensures rapid treatment for bacterial meningitis, but also involves unnecessary admissions and antibiotics for aseptic meningitis.

Serum procalcitonin level and other biological markers to distinguish between bacterial and aseptic meningitis in children: a European multicenter case cohort study.

Objective: To validate procalcitonin (PCT) level as the best biological marker to distinguish between bacterial and aseptic meningitis in children in the emergency department.

Design: Secondary analysis of retrospective multicenter hospital-based cohort studies.

Setting: Six pediatric emergency or intensive care units of tertiary care centers in 5 European countries.