Time-motion observations to characterize the developmental environment in a paediatric post-acute care hospital.

Background: Chronically hospitalized children are at risk for neurodevelopmental delay, compounded by restricted social interactions, movement and environmental stimulation. We measured patients' movements and interactions to characterize developmentally relevant aspects of our inpatient environment and identify opportunities for developmental enrichment.

Methods: As part of a quality improvement initiative to inform neurodevelopmental programming for children with medical complexity at our paediatric post-acute care specialty hospital, we conducted >232 hours of time-motion observations.

A 5-Year-Old With Fever, Headache, Neck Stiffness, and Leg Pain.

A 5-year-old boy presented with fever, headache, fatigue, neck stiffness, and 2 episodes of nocturnal urinary incontinence, prompting a visit to the emergency department. He had experienced intermittent frontal headaches and leg and buttock pain for several months, which had worsened over the previous 2 weeks. His history was notable for a spinal hemangioma with vascular tract, but he was otherwise healthy.

Prevention of Recurrent Staphylococcal Skin Infections.

Staphylococcus aureus infections pose a significant health burden. The emergence of community-associated methicillin-resistant S aureus has resulted in an epidemic of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI), and many patients experience recurrent SSTI. As S aureus colonization is associated with subsequent infection, decolonization is recommended for patients with recurrent SSTI or in settings of ongoing transmission.

Molecular Epidemiology of Recurrent Cutaneous Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections in Children.

We assessed the relatedness by repetitive-sequence polymerase chain reaction of isolates obtained from children with recurrent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus cutaneous infections over 6 years. Ninety percent of the cases could be attributed to recurrence of the same strain type, suggesting that optimized decolonization methods in children might effectively prevent recurrent infection.

Contamination of environmental surfaces with Staphylococcus aureus in households with children infected with methicillin-resistant S aureus.

Importance: Household environmental surfaces may serve as vectors for the acquisition and spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among household members, although few studies have evaluated which objects are important reservoirs of MRSA.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of environmental MRSA contamination in households of children with MRSA infection; define the molecular epidemiology of environmental, pet, and human MRSA strains within households; and identify factors associated with household MRSA contamination.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Fifty children with active or recent culture-positive community-associated MRSA infection were enrolled from 2012 to 2013 at St Louis Children's Hospital and at community pediatric practices affiliated with the Washington University Pediatric and Adolescent Ambulatory Research Consortium in St Louis, Missouri.

Fatal human herpesvirus 6-associated encephalitis in two boys with underlying POLG mitochondrial disorders.

Background: Human herpesvirus 6 is a significant cause of the febrile illness roseola infantum in young children. Infection with human herpesvirus 6 typically causes a self-limited febrile illness but occasionally is associated with central nervous system manifestations, including febrile seizures and encephalitis. Host factors associated with severe manifestations of human herpesvirus 6-associated neurological disease remain poorly characterized.

Molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated in serial cultures from the respiratory tract of children with cystic fibrosis.

Background: Little is known about strain relatedness of methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aureus (MRSA) isolated at serial time points from the respiratory tract of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The objectives are to interrogate the genetic diversity of MRSA recovered in serial cultures from children with CF and to correlate strain relatedness with clinical characteristics.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of children with CF from whom MRSA was isolated from serial respiratory cultures from 2005 to 2011.

A serologic correlate of protective immunity against community-onset Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is among the leading causes of human infection. Widespread drug resistance, emergence of highly virulent strains, and the ability of S. aureus to colonize >30% of the human population contribute to this organism's pathogenic success.

Graphium basitruncatum fungemia in an immunosuppressed child post stem-cell transplantation.

Graphium basitruncatum is genetically and morphologically distinct from other Graphium and Scedosporium species, and has been reported only once previously as a cause of human disease. We report a case of Graphium basitruncatum fungemia in a two year old child with dyskeratosis congenita who underwent stem cell transplantation two months prior to infection.

Congenital pancytopenia and absence of B lymphocytes in a neonate with a mutation in the Ikaros gene.

Background: Congenital pancytopenia is a rare and often lethal condition. Current knowledge of lymphoid and hematopoietic development in mice, as well as understanding regulators of human hematopoiesis, have led to the recent discovery of genetic causes of bone marrow failure disorders. However, in the absence of mutations of specific genes or a distinct clinical phenotype, many cases of aplastic anemia are labeled as idiopathic, while congenital immune deficiencies are described as combined immune deficiency.