Severity of Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome Temporally Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Diminished During Successive Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Data from a Nationwide German Survey.

Objective: To elucidate how the clinical presentation of Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome temporally associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus 2 (PIMS-TS) was influenced by the successive variants of concern (VOC) and patient age.

Study Design: A nationwide PIMS-TS registry was established in Germany in May 2020, shortly after the first cases were described in the US and United Kingdom. The registry captured information on patient characteristics, clinical course, laboratory findings, imaging, and outcome.

Maternal Streptococcus agalactiae colonization in Europe: data from the multi-center DEVANI study.

Introduction: Despite national guidelines and use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP), Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococci (GBS)) is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in newborns in Europe and the United States. The European DEVANI (Design of a Vaccine Against Neonatal Infections) program assessed the neonatal GBS infection burden in Europe, the clinical characteristics of colonized women and microbiological data of GBS strains in colonized women and their infants with early-onset disease (EOD).

Methods: Overall, 1083 pregnant women with a GBS-positive culture result from eight European countries were included in the study.

Pharmacological profile of dicaffeoylquinic acids and their role in the treatment of respiratory diseases.

Dicaffeoylquinic acids (DCQAs) are polyphenolic compounds found in various medicinal plants such as and whose multi-constituent extracts are used worldwide to treat respiratory diseases. Besides triterpenes, saponins, alkamides, and other constituents, DCQAs are an important group of substances for the pharmacological activity of plant-derived extracts. Therefore, the pharmacological properties of DCQAs have been studied over the last decades, suggesting antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, hypoglycaemic, cardiovascular protective, neuroprotective, and hepatoprotective effects.

Level and correlates of physical activity among children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis compared to controls: results from a German nationwide prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Physical active lifestyles are essential throughout growth and maturation and may offer potential preventive and therapeutic benefit in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Insufficient physical activity (PA), in contrast, can lead to aggravation of disease-related symptoms. This study aimed to i) examine PA levels in children and adolescents with JIA compared to general population controls and ii) investigate correlates of pronounced physical inactivity in order to identify risk groups for sedentary behaviour.

Long-term safety and effectiveness of canakinumab in patients with monogenic autoinflammatory diseases: results from the interim analysis of the RELIANCE registry.

Objective: Interim analysis of the RELIANCE registry, an on-going, non-interventional, open-label, multicentre, prospective study evaluating the long-term safety, dosing regimens and effectiveness of canakinumab in patients with cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS), familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), tumour-necrosis factor receptor-associated periodic syndrome (TRAPS) or mevalonate-kinase deficiency (MKD)/hyperimmunoglobulin-D syndrome (HIDS).

Methods: From September 2017 for patients with CAPS, and June 2018 for patients with FMF, TRAPS or MKD/HIDS, the registry enrolled paediatric (aged ≥2 years) and adult patients (aged ≥18 years) receiving canakinumab as part of their routine medical care. Safety, canakinumab dose, disease activity and quality of life outcome measures were evaluated at baseline and every 6 months until end of study visit.

Clinical recommendations for the inpatient management of lower respiratory tract infections in children and adolescents with severe neurological impairment in Germany.

Children and adolescents with severe neurological impairment (SNI) require specialized care due to their complex medical needs. In particular, these patients are often affected by severe and recurrent lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs). These infections, including viral and bacterial etiology, pose a significant risk to these patients, often resulting in respiratory insufficiency and long-term impairments.

[Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology (GKJR) diagnosis and treatment optimization board-New ways to the diagnosis and treatment of complex diseases : An analysis after 2 years testing in practice].

With the diagnosis and treatment optimization board, the Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology (GKJR) has developed a new format for expert-based discussion of rare and complex diseases. So far, 32 cases, predominantly from the areas of hyperinflammation, systemic lupus erythematosus, myositis and nonbacterial osteomyelitis, could be discussed in 8 conferences. The digital format enabled a high number of participants and the involvement of national and international experts.

[Time to Antibiotics (TTA) - Reassessment from the German Working Group for Fever and Neutropenia in Children and Adolescents (DGPI/GPOH)].

Background: The current German guidance from 2016 recommends a Time to Antibiotics (TTA) of<60 min in children and adolescents with febrile neutropenia (FN).

Methods: Critical analysis of available studies and recent meta-analyses, and discussion of the practical consequences in the FN working group of the German Societies for Paediatric Oncology and Haematology and Paediatric Infectious Diseases.

Results: The available evidence does not support a clinically significant outcome benefit of a TTA<60 min in all paediatric patients with FN.

Antimicrobial use in pediatric oncology and hematology in Germany and Austria, 2020/2021: a cross-sectional, multi-center point-prevalence study with a multi-step qualitative adjudication process.

Background: Due to the high risk of severe infection among pediatric hematology and oncology patients, antimicrobial use is particularly high. With our study, we quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated, based on institutional standards and national guidelines, antimicrobial usage by employing a point-prevalence survey with a multi-step, expert panel approach. We analyzed reasons for inappropriate antimicrobial usage.

Comparing the Toxicological Responses of Pulmonary Air-Liquid Interface Models upon Exposure to Differentially Treated Carbon Fibers.

In recent years, the use of carbon fibers (CFs) in various sectors of industry has been increasing. Despite the similarity of CF degradation products to other toxicologically relevant materials such as asbestos fibers and carbon nanotubes, a detailed toxicological evaluation of this class of material has yet to be performed. In this work, we exposed advanced air-liquid interface cell culture models of the human lung to CF.

A comparison of pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporarily-associated with SARS-CoV-2 and Kawasaki disease.

The connection between Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome (PIMS) and Kawasaki Disease (KD) is not yet fully understood. Using the same national registry, clinical features and outcome of children hospitalized in Germany, and Innsbruck (Austria) were compared. Reported to the registry were 395 PIMS and 69 KD hospitalized patients.

Neonatal invasive disease caused by Streptococcus agalactiae in Europe: the DEVANI multi-center study.

Purpose: Group B streptococcus (GBS) remains a leading cause of invasive disease, mainly sepsis and meningitis, in infants < 3 months of age and of mortality among neonates. This study, a major component of the European DEVANI project (Design of a Vaccine Against Neonatal Infections) describes clinical and important microbiological characteristics of neonatal GBS diseases. It quantifies the rate of antenatal screening and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis among cases and identifies risk factors associated with an adverse outcome.

[Care of infectious diseases in underage refugees exemplified by Ukraine].

Background: By early June 2022, around 300,000 children and adolescents from Ukraine were registered in the German central registry for foreigners.The updated recommendations for action should provide the foundations for an evidence-based and targeted care for the diagnosis and prevention of infectious diseases in underage refugees and asylum seekers, exemplified by Ukraine.

Objective: The recommendations for action are intended to support medical personnel in the care of minor refugees in order to1) ensure early recognition and completion of an incomplete vaccination status,2) diagnose and treat common infectious diseases,3) ensure early recognition and treatment of infectious diseases that are rare in the German healthcare system.

Axillary Staging after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Initially Node-Positive Breast Carcinoma in Germany: Initial Data from the AXSANA study.

To date, the optimal axillary staging procedure for initially node-positive breast carcinoma patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) has been unclear. The aim of the AXSANA study is to prospectively compare different surgical staging techniques with respect to the oncological outcome and quality of life for the patients. Little is known about current clinical practice in Germany.

SARS-CoV-2 variants and the risk of pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 among children in Germany.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between the risk of pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) in children and the predominance of different SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) over time.

Methods: In relation to the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron VOC phases of the pandemic, the risk of developing PIMS-TS was calculated by analyzing data for rtPCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections reported to the German statutory notification system, along with data captured by a separate, national PIMS-TS registry. Both overall infection rates and age group-specific ratios of PIMS-TS during the different pandemic phases were calculated using the Alpha period as the baseline.

Risk for severe outcomes of COVID-19 and PIMS-TS in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Germany.

Unlabelled: Although children and adolescents have a lower burden of SARS-CoV-2-associated disease compared to adults, assessing the risk for severe outcomes among SARS-CoV-2-infected children remains difficult due to a high rate of undetected cases. We combine data from three data sources - a national seroprevalence study (the SARS-CoV-2 KIDS study), the nationwide, state-based reporting system for PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections in Germany, and a nationwide registry on children and adolescents hospitalized with either SARS-CoV-2 or pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS-TS, also known as MIS-C) - in order to provide estimates on the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19-related treatment, intensive care admission, and death due to COVID-19 and PIMS-TS in children. The rate of hospitalization for COVID-19-related treatment among all SARS-CoV-2 seropositive children was 7.