Probiotics in Infancy and Childhood for Food Allergy Prevention and Treatment.

Food allergy represents a failure of oral tolerance mechanisms to dietary antigens. Over the past few years, food allergies have become a growing public health problem worldwide. Gut microbiota is believed to have a significant impact on oral tolerance to food antigens and in initiation and maintenance of food allergies.

Values of PCT in neonates.

Background: Procalciton (PCT) is a precursor polypeptide of the hormone calcitonin, produced in C cells of the thyroid. It has been demonstrated that microbial toxins and proinflammatory mediators can cause the release of PCT from tissues and cells in the body. PCT thus has become an important marker in the diagnosis of infection.

Management of Preschool Wheezing: Guideline from the Emilia-Romagna Asthma (ERA) Study Group.

Preschool wheezing should be considered an umbrella term for distinctive diseases with different observable and measurable phenotypes. Despite many efforts, there is a large gap in knowledge regarding management of preschool wheezing. In order to fill this lack of knowledge, the aim of these guidelines was to define management of wheezing disorders in preschool children (aged up to 5 years).

Prevention of Surgical Site Infections in Neonates and Children: Non-Pharmacological Measures of Prevention.

A surgical site infection (SSI) is an infection that occurs in the incision created by an invasive surgical procedure. Although most infections are treatable with antibiotics, SSIs remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality after surgery and have a significant economic impact on health systems. Preventive measures are essential to decrease the incidence of SSIs and antibiotic abuse, but data in the literature regarding risk factors for SSIs in the pediatric age group are scarce, and current guidelines for the prevention of the risk of developing SSIs are mainly focused on the adult population.