Outbreak of severe community-acquired bacterial infections among children in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), October to December 2022.

Purpose: In late 2022, a surge of severe S. pyogenes infections was reported in several European countries. This study assessed hospitalizations and disease severity of community-acquired bacterial infections with S.

Impact of the First COVID Lockdown on Accident- and Injury-Related Pediatric Intensive Care Admissions in Germany-A Multicenter Study.

Children's and adolescents' lives drastically changed during COVID lockdowns worldwide. To compare accident- and injury-related admissions to pediatric intensive care units (PICU) during the first German COVID lockdown with previous years, we conducted a retrospective multicenter study among 37 PICUs (21.5% of German PICU capacities).

Epilepsy in Aicardi-Goutières syndrome.

Background: Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS) is a genetically determined early-onset encephalopathy with variable phenotype, including neurologic manifestations such as dystonia, spasticity, epileptic seizures, progressive microcephaly, and severe developmental delay. The aim of our study was the characterization of epilepsy, one of the most frequent and severe AGS manifestations, in molecularly confirmed patients.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records, EEG, and CT/MRI findings in 16 patients aged 1-22 years that carried AGS1-5 mutations.

Expanding the phenotypic spectrum of lupus erythematosus in Aicardi-Goutières syndrome.

Objective: Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS) is an early-onset encephalopathy resembling congenital viral infection that is characterized by basal ganglia calcifications, loss of white matter, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocytosis, and elevated interferon-alpha levels in the CSF. Studies have shown that AGS is an autosomal-recessive disease linked to mutations in 5 genes, encoding the 3'-repair DNA exonuclease 1 (TREX1), the 3 subunits of ribonuclease H2 (RNASEH2A-C), and sterile alpha motif domain and HD domain-containing protein 1 (SAMHD1). In this study we further characterized the phenotypic spectrum of this disease.