Characterising the molecular epidemiology of human parechovirus in young infants in the UK and Canada.

Objectives: We evaluated the extent of virus heterogeneity in PeV infected infants in the UK, Canada and Australia.

Methods: Samples were collected from PeV infected infants during 2013-16. Next generation sequencing was used to obtain sequencing data and construct phylogenetic trees based on analysis of the VP1 region.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Following Childhood Viral Meningitis in Canterbury New Zealand.

Background: Most childhood meningitis is viral in countries with widespread conjugate vaccine use. This study assessed clinical features and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preschool children following enteroviral and parechoviral meningitis.

Methods: Children 18-42 months of age in Canterbury, New Zealand were included, who had enterovirus (EV) or parechovirus (HPEV) meningitis from 2015 to 2021.

The epidemiology of aseptic meningitis in New Zealand children from 1991 to 2020.

Aim: Aseptic meningitis, including culture negative and viral meningitis, contributes a significant health-care burden, including unnecessary antibiotic use and hospitalisation to treat possible bacterial meningitis. This study analysed aseptic meningitis hospitalisations in New Zealand (NZ) children over 29 years.

Methods: In this population-based study, aseptic meningitis hospitalisations in NZ children <15 years old were analysed from 1991 to 2020.

Three-year outcomes of childhood inflammatory bowel disease in New Zealand: A population-based cohort study.

Background And Aim: High rates of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been documented in New Zealand (NZ) children. The objectives of this study were to describe the outcomes and disease course of childhood IBD in the first 3 years following diagnosis.

Methods: All children diagnosed with IBD in 2015 in NZ were included.

Single high-dose oral vitamin D3 treatment in New Zealand children with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: High-dose oral vitamin D (stoss) is a novel treatment in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Vitamin D supplementation may have benefits in IBD beyond bone health including reduced disease activity and improvements in inflammatory markers. The aim of this study was to retrospectively assess the efficacy, safety and impact on disease activity of single oral high-dose vitamin D3 therapy in New Zealand (NZ) children with IBD and vitamin D deficiency.

Intravenous immunoglobulin for the treatment of childhood encephalitis.

Background: Encephalitis is a syndrome of neurological dysfunction due to inflammation of the brain parenchyma, caused by an infection or an exaggerated host immune response, or both. Attenuation of brain inflammation through modulation of the immune response could improve patient outcomes. Biological agents such as immunoglobulin that have both anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties may therefore be useful as adjunctive therapies for people with encephalitis.

Hospital admissions for viral meningitis in children in England over five decades: a population-based observational study.

Background: A substantial reduction in bacterial meningitis has occurred in the UK following successful implementation of immunisation programmes. Most childhood meningitis in developed countries is now caused by viruses. Long-term trends in paediatric viral meningitis in England have not previously been reported.

Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis In A Young Child With Histological Evidence On Brain Biopsy Of Coexistent Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection.

We report a 3-year-old boy with anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis with a typical syndrome of movement disorder and encephalopathy and evidence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 infection on brain biopsy. HSV type 1 infection and anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis are temporally linked in some cases: this case suggests that prodromal HSV type-1 infection may be clinically subtle and easily missed.

Childhood meningitis in the conjugate vaccine era: a prospective cohort study.

Bacterial conjugate vaccines have dramatically changed the epidemiology of childhood meningitis; viral causes are increasingly predominant, but the current UK epidemiology is unknown. This prospective study recruited children under 16 years of age admitted to 3 UK hospitals with suspected meningitis. 70/388 children had meningitis-13 bacterial, 26 viral and 29 with no pathogen identified.

Hospital admission rates for meningitis and septicaemia caused by Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae in children in England over five decades: a population-based observational study.

Background: Infection with Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae causes substantial mortality and long-term morbidity in children. We know of no study to assess the long-term trends in hospital admission rates for meningitis and septicaemia caused by these pathogens in children in England. We aimed to do such a study using routinely reported data in England.

A multicomponent serogroup B meningococcal vaccine is licensed for use in Europe: what do we know, and what are we yet to learn?

The first meningococcal vaccine with the potential to provide broad coverage against serogroup B disease has recently been approved for use in Europe. This vaccine, multi-component serogroup B vaccine (4CMenB), contains recombinant proteins and outer membrane vesicles, and has been extensively studied in clinical trials involving over 7500 adults, children and infants. As well as demonstrating immunogenicity against a range of serogroup B meningococcal strains, these trials have also demonstrated relatively high rates of fever following infant immunization.