Molecular characteristics and clinical features of Staphylococcus epidermidis healthcare-associated late-onset bacteremia among infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units.

Background: Though Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common pathogen of late-onset sepsis (LOS) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), there haves been scanty reports on molecular epidemiology of S. epidermidis isolates from infants stayed in NICU and on correlation of molecular characteristics with clinical features in these infants.

Methods: We collected and characterized S.

Systemic Cytokines in Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a vasoproliferative vitreoretinal disorder, is the leading cause of childhood blindness worldwide. Although angiogenic pathways have been the main focus, cytokine-mediated inflammation is also involved in ROP etiology. Herein, we illustrate the characteristics and actions of all cytokines involved in ROP pathogenesis.

A longitudinal molecular surveillance of clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates in neonatal units in a teaching hospital, 2003-2018.

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been an important nosocomial pathogen in our neonatal units since 1990s. To understand the longitudinal changing molecular epidemiology of these MRSA isolates, we conducted this study.

Materials: From 2003 to 2018, we collected clinical MRSA isolates from 536 infants hospitalized at neonatal units of a medical center in northern Taiwan.

Changes in cardiac output and cerebral oxygenation during prone and supine sleep positioning in healthy term infants.

Objective: To investigate the changes in systemic and cerebral haemodynamics between supine and prone sleep in healthy term infants during the early postnatal period.

Design/methods: Healthy term infants without congenital anomalies, patent ductus arteriosus and/or small for gestational age status were enrolled. Infants were placed in supine (SP), prone (PP) and back in supine (SP) position for 15 min each while asleep.

Effect of mupirocin decolonization on subsequent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in infants in neonatal intensive care units.

Objective: To evaluate whether topical mupirocin treatment can effectively decolonize methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage and reduce subsequent MRSA infection in neonates.

Methods: During a 1-year period, the infants admitted to our neonatal intensive care units (NICUs)-1 and NICU-2 were included, and specimens from the nares and umbilicus were obtained within 24 hours, and specimen collection was repeated weekly for 2 weeks. Mupirocin was administered for 5 days to the infants with MRSA colonization in NICU-1 during the first half of the year and then switched to those in NICU-2 during the second half of the year.

Natural history of retinopathy of prematurity: two-year outcomes of a prospective study.

Purpose: To investigate the 2-year outcomes of the natural history of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Taiwan.

Methods: A prospective study was conducted at two tertiary medical centers. Premature infants were screened and examined for ROP.

Risk factors of late-onset neonatal sepsis in Taiwan: A matched case-control study.

Background: Infants in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) have a higher incidence of bloodstream infections (BSIs) than any other pediatric or adult population. The predisposing factors have not been comprehensively evaluated in this population in Taiwan.

Methods: A retrospective matched case-control study was conducted in the NICUs of a teaching hospital in Taiwan.

Retinopathy of prematurity in neonatal patients with birth weight greater than 1500 g in Taiwan.

Background: To understand the characteristics, ophthalmic outcomes, and risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in patients with birth weight (BW) greater than 1500 g. The applicability of the ROP screening criteria to the Taiwanese population was also examined.

Methods: The study included 104 eyes from 54 ROP patients who had BW greater than 1500 g from 1981 to 2008.

Clinical manifestations of a cluster of rotavirus infection in young infants hospitalized in neonatal care units.

Purpose: To define the clinical manifestations of rotavirus (RV) infection in neonates and young infants hospitalized in neonatal care units, which are rarely reported.

Materials And Methods: From October 2008 to September 2010, a total of 153 stool specimens positive for RV were detected from 100 neonates and young infants hospitalized in neonatal care units of our hospital. Four infants had two episodes of RV infection.

Successful control of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in endemic neonatal intensive care units--a 7-year campaign.

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is among the most important nosocomial pathogens in the intensive care unit (ICU) worldwide, including Taiwan. Since 1997, our neonatal ICUs (NICUs) had become endemic for MRSA.

Methodology/principal Findings: To control MRSA spread in our NICUs, we implemented a series of infection control measures stepwise, including reinforcement of hand hygiene since January 2000, augmentation of aseptic care over the insertion site of central venous catheter since July 2001, introduction of alcohol-based handrubs since April 2003, surveillance culture for MRSA and cohort care for the colonized patients between March 2003 and February 2004, and surveillance culture with subsequent decolonization of MRSA between August 2005 and July 2006.

Oral probiotics prevent necrotizing enterocolitis in very low birth weight preterm infants: a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial.

Objective: The goal was to investigate the efficacy of orally administered probiotics in preventing necrotizing enterocolitis for very low birth weight preterm infants.

Methods: A prospective, blinded, randomized, multicenter controlled trial was conducted at 7 NICUs in Taiwan, to evaluate the beneficial effects of probiotics in necrotizing enterocolitis among very low birth weight infants (birth weight: <1500 g). Very low birth weight infants who survived to start enteral feeding were eligible and were assigned randomly to 2 groups after parental informed consent was obtained.

Significance of coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from a single blood culture from neonates in intensive care.

Background: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are the most common pathogens of late-onset bacteraemia in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Discriminating true infection from contamination is difficult.

Methods: To evaluate the significance of a single blood culture yielding CoNS from only one blood culture obtained from NICU infants between July 1999 and November 2000, paired blood cultures were obtained simultaneously from two peripheral sites from infants hospitalised in two NICUs with clinically suspected late-onset sepsis, and a single blood culture was obtained peripherally from infants hospitalised in a third NICU.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization and its association with infection among infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units.

Objectives: We conducted this study to assess the rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization and its association with infection among infants hospitalized in methicillin-resistant S aureus-endemic NICUs.

Methods: Between March 2003 and February 2004, surveillance culture specimens from the nares, postauricular areas, axillae, and umbilicus of infants admitted to the NICUs at a children's hospital in Taiwan were obtained weekly for the detection of methicillin-resistant S aureus. All colonized and clinical isolates from each study infant with methicillin-resistant S aureus infection were genotyped with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, with Sma1 digestion, and compared.

Determining the significance of coagulase-negative staphylococci identified in cultures of paired blood specimens from neonates by species identification and strain clonality.

Of 13 paired coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) isolates recovered from cultures of paired blood specimens obtained simultaneously from peripheral sites from neonates with clinical sepsis, 12 were identical species with identical genotypes. Isolation of CoNS in cultures of 2 blood samples obtained simultaneously from separate sites in neonates usually represents true infection.

Clinical features of nosocomial infections by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in neonatal intensive care units.

Aim: To determine the risk factors for the acquisition of nosocomial extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae infection in infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and to evaluate the therapeutic outcome of these infants.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of infants with nosocomial ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae infection hospitalized in NICUs at Chang Gung Children's Hospital in 2001. The clinical features of these infants were compared with a cohort of non-ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae-infected infants during the same period.

Staphylococcal endocarditis and multiple emboli in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus.

We describe a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus who developed Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis following dental work. Multiple brain and cutaneous septic emboli developed despite aggressive antibiotic therapy.

Clinical experience with ganciclovir and anti-cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin treatment for a severe case of congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

We report on a female neonate with severe onset of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. She was noted to have cerebral ventriculomegaly on antenatal ultrasound, and presented with petechia after birth. Laboratory tests revealed severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count, 11,000/mm3) and hypoglycemia (serum glucose level, 5 mg/dl).

Hyperbilirubinemia in healthy neonates with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

A cohort study was carried out to assess the association between glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, diagnosed by quantitative enzyme assay, and neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, defined as serum total bilirubin >/=15 mg/dl, in the well-baby nursery of Chang Gung Children's Hospital. Among 42,110 inborn infants, 757 male (3.54%) and 326 female (1.

Congenital oligodendroglioma with initial manifestation of jaundice.

Neonatal brain tumor is a rare clinical entity. The initial presentation in affected newborn infants is often subtle, nonspecific, and rarely includes focal neurologic signs. We report a 2-day-old male infant with congenital oligodendroglioma with initial manifestations of hyperbilirubinemia.

Hepatoblastoma in a child of extremely low birth weight.

Hepatoblastoma is a rare childhood embryonal malignancy. Recent reports suggested a linkage between premature birth and later development of hepatoblastoma. In August 2000, we encountered a 24-month-old boy with extremely low birth weight who developed hepatoblastoma with an unfavorable histology.