Neonatal herpes simplex virus infection: a report of 43 patients.

We present a series of 43 infants with neonatal herpes simplex virus infection treated at the Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, during a 16-year period from 1970 to 1985. Twelve mothers (28%) had a history of genital herpes during pregnancy, and two had had labial herpes infection. Eight infants (19%) were delivered by cesarean section.

Vaccination of children during treatment for leukemia.

Forty-one children receiving maintenance treatment for leukemia were vaccinated with inactivated mumps virus, meningococcal polysaccharide groups A and C and polyvalent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines. Antibodies against pneumococcal types 3, 18C, 19F and 23F and against meningococcal groups A and C were measured by radioimmunoassay. Mumps antibodies were determined by complement fixation, hemolysis-in-gel and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Outbreak of Kawasaki syndrome in Finland.

During a ten-month period from June 1981 to March 1982 83 patients with Kawasaki syndrome were diagnosed in Finland. The attack rate was 26/100 000 children under five years of age, corresponding to an annual attack rate of 31/100 000 children under five years. The course of the outbreak suggested geographic spreading.