Assessment of type I interferon signatures in undifferentiated inflammatory diseases: A Japanese multicenter experience.

Purpose: Upregulation of type I interferon (IFN) signaling has been increasingly detected in inflammatory diseases. Recently, upregulation of the IFN signature has been suggested as a potential biomarker of IFN-driven inflammatory diseases. Yet, it remains unclear to what extent type I IFN is involved in the pathogenesis of undifferentiated inflammatory diseases.

Nationwide surveillance of bacterial pathogens isolated from children conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2017: General overview of pathogenic antimicrobial susceptibility.

A nationwide surveillance of the antimicrobial susceptibility of pediatric patients to bacterial pathogens was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in Japan in 2017. The isolates were collected from 18 medical facilities between March 2017 and May 2018 by the three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central laboratory (Infection Control Research Center, Kitasato University, Tokyo) according to the methods recommended by the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute.

Dominant mutations in ORAI1 cause tubular aggregate myopathy with hypocalcemia via constitutive activation of store-operated Ca²⁺ channels.

The store-operated Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) (CRAC) channel is activated by diminished luminal Ca(2+) levels in the endoplasmic reticulum and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), and constitutes one of the major Ca(2+) entry pathways in various tissues. Tubular aggregates (TAs) are abnormal structures in the skeletal muscle, and although their mechanism of formation has not been clarified, altered Ca(2+) homeostasis related to a disordered SR is suggested to be one of the main contributing factors. TA myopathy is a hereditary muscle disorder that is pathologically characterized by the presence of TAs.

Comparison between virus shedding and fever duration after treating children with pandemic A H1N1/09 and children with A H3N2 with a neuraminidase inhibitor.

Background: Shedding of the pandemic virus during an influenza pandemic is thought to persist longer than shedding of influenza viruses during annual influenza seasons, because people have much less immunity against a pandemic influenza. A correlation is thought to exist between the length of virus shedding and the clinical severity of influenza illness.

Methods: We compared the virus isolation rates of children with pandemic A H1N1/09 influenza infection and children with A H3N2 influenza infection after the patients had been treated with one of three neuraminidase inhibitors (NAI) such as peramivir, laninamivir and oseltamivir.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia diagnosed on nasal mucosal biopsy in two newborns.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a genetic disease that causes abnormalities in ciliary structure and/or function. Ciliated cells line the upper and lower respiratory tracts and the Eustachian tube. Impairment of mucus clearance at these sites leads to sinusitis, repeated pulmonary infections, bronchiectasis, and chronic otitis media.

[Efficacy and safety of faropenem in pediatric patients with bacterial infectious diseases].

The only oral penem antibiotic, faropenem (FRPM: Farom Dry Syrup for pediatrics), is one of the few antibiotics that exerts potent antibacterial activity against penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP), and the dosage and administration schedule has been established for children. We studied the efficacy and safety of the drug in 113 pediatric patients with mild-to-moderate bacterial infectious diseases: upper respiratory tract infection (pharyngitis or tonsillitis), acute bronchitis, otitis media and urinary tract infection (UTI). The patients were administered oral FRPM at the dose of 15-30 mg/kg/day three times a day for 3 to 8 days (or 5 to 14 days for group A streptococcal infection).

Prospective surveillance for atypical pathogens in children with community-acquired pneumonia in Japan.

A total of 141 children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) were studied prospectively to determine the causative microorganisms. Microbial investigations included examination of postnasal swabs, cultures, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and serology. The atypical pathogens occurring most frequently were Mycoplasma pneumoniae (58 patients [41.