Contraction of Respiratory Viral Infection During air Travel: An Under-Recognized Health Risk for Athletes.

Air travel has an important role in the spread of viral acute respiratory infections (ARIs). Aircraft offer an ideal setting for the transmission of ARI because of a closed environment, crowded conditions, and close-contact setting. Numerous studies have shown that influenza and COVID-19 spread readily in an aircraft with one virus-positive symptomatic or asymptomatic index case.

Clinical Outcomes of Acutely Ill Children According to Cycle Threshold Values of Respiratory Viruses Detected by Multiplex PCR Testing.

In this cohort study of 800 children attending a pediatric emergency department at Oulu University Hospital, Finland with fever or respiratory symptoms, the cycle threshold values of point-of-care multiplex polymerase chain reaction testing for respiratory viruses were not associated with hospitalization, respiratory support, or need for intensive care.

Biomarkers of viral and bacterial infection in rhinovirus pneumonia.

Background: Rhinovirus (RV) is often detected in children hospitalized with pneumonia, but the role of RV in causing pneumonia is still unclear.

Methods: White blood cell count, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, and myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) levels were determined from blood samples in children ( = 24) hospitalized with radiologically verified pneumonia. Respiratory viruses were identified from nasal swabs by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays.

Influenza A Outbreaks in Two Professional Ice Hockey Teams during COVID-19 Epidemic.

Influenza A outbreaks occurred in two professional hockey teams just after two games they played against each other. Thirteen players and two staff members fell ill during 17-20 April 2022, while COVID-19 was prevalent. Altogether, seven players missed an important game due to influenza.

Non-SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Viruses in Athletes at Major Winter Sport Events, 2021 and 2022.

We performed prospective studies on respiratory viral infections among Team Finland participants during the 2021 Oberstdorf World Ski Championships and the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games. We enrolled 73 athletes and 110 staff members. Compared with similar studies we conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, illnesses and virus detections dropped by 10-fold.

Gut Microbiota and Serum Metabolome in Elite Cross-Country Skiers: A Controlled Study.

Exercise has been shown to affect gut the microbiome and metabolic health, with athletes typically displaying a higher microbial diversity. However, research on the gut microbiota and systemic metabolism in elite athletes remains scarce. In this study, we compared the gut microbiota profiles and serum metabolome of national team cross-country skiers at the end of an exhausting training and competitive season to those of normally physically-active controls.

Respiratory Viral Infections in Athletes: Many Unanswered Questions.

Upper respiratory tract infections ("common cold") are the most common acute illnesses in elite athletes. Numerous studies on exercise immunology have proposed that intense exercise may increase susceptibility to respiratory infections. Virological data to support that view are sparse, and several fundamental questions remain.

Survey of Viral Reactivations in Elite Athletes: A Case-Control Study.

Exercise-induced immune perturbations have been proposed to increase susceptibility to viral infections. We investigated the replication of persisting viruses as indicators of immune function in elite cross-country skiers after ten months of sustained high-performance exercise. The viruses evaluated, nine human herpesviruses (HHVs) and torque teno virus (TTV), are typically restrained in health but replicate actively in immunosuppressed individuals.

Increased risk of respiratory viral infections in elite athletes: A controlled study.

Background: Respiratory symptoms are commonly recognised in elite athletes. The occurrence, etiology and clinical presentation of the illnesses in athletes is unclear.

Methods: We performed a prospective controlled study of respiratory viral infections in Team Finland during Nordic World Ski Championships 2019.

Characteristics of Hospitalized Rhinovirus-Associated Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children, Finland, 2003-2014.

Rhinovirus (RV) is the most common cause of respiratory tract infections in children but, still, the clinical characteristics of RV-associated pneumonia have not been sufficiently investigated. We identified children and adolescents younger than 18 years of age treated for community-acquired pneumonia as inpatients at the Turku University Hospital from 2003 to 2014 and analyzed for RV by PCR of a respiratory tract specimen. We collected the data from medical records and compared RV-positive children with RV-negative children.

Common cold in Team Finland during 2018 Winter Olympic Games (PyeongChang): epidemiology, diagnosis including molecular point-of-care testing (POCT) and treatment.

Objectives: The common cold is the main cause of medical time loss in elite sport. Rapid diagnosis has been a challenge that may be amenable to molecular point-of-care testing (POCT).

Methods: We performed a prospective observational study of the common cold in Team Finland during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

Wheezing independently predicts viral infection in children with community-acquired pneumonia.

Aim: To assess whether there was a difference in the frequency of symptoms and signs among children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) with viral or bacterial infection.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Salvador, Brazil. Children less than 5-years-old hospitalized with CAP were recruited.

Comparison of serological assays using pneumococcal proteins or polysaccharides for detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in children with community-acquired pneumonia.

The aim of this study was to compare the results of serological assays using pneumococcal proteins or polysaccharides for the detection of pneumococcal infection in childhood pneumonia. Serological assays measured IgG against eight pneumococcal proteins (Ply,CbpA,PspA1,PspA2,PcpA,PhtD,StkP-C,PcsB-N), C-polysaccharide [in the whole study population, n = 183], or 19 pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides (1,2,4,5,6B,7F,8,9 V,10A,11A,12F,14,15B,17F,18C,19F,20,23F,33F) [only in a subgroup of patients, n = 53] in paired serum samples of children aged <5 years-old hospitalized with clinical and radiological diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia. We also performed an inhibition of binding test with the anti-capsular polysaccharide assay in order to confirm the specificity of the antibody responses detected.

Antibody responses against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis in children with acute respiratory infection with or without nasopharyngeal bacterial carriage.

Background: We studied Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody responses against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis in young children with acute viral type respiratory infection and analyzed the findings in a multivariate model including age, nasopharyngeal carriage of the tested bacteria and pneumococcal vaccination.

Methods: We included 227 children aged 6-23 months with acute respiratory infection. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were tested for bacterial carriage through detection of messenger RNA (mRNA) transcript with nCounter analysis.

Recovery from childhood community-acquired pneumonia in a developing country: Prognostic value of serum procalcitonin.

Background: Childhood community-acquired pneumonia is a common and potentially life-threatening illness in developing countries. We assessed the prognostic value of serum procalcitonin level upon admission on clinical response to antibiotic treatment.

Methods: Out of 89 patients, the median (IQR) age was 19(12-29) months and 60% were boys.

Dental staining after doxycycline use in children.

Background: The use of doxycycline has been avoided before 8 years of age due to known dental staining caused by tetracyclines, although doxycycline differs from classical tetracyclines in many ways. Doxycycline is still an important antimicrobial agent, but its dental safety is not well studied.

Objectives: To examine the state of permanent teeth after doxycycline exposure in children <8 years of age.

Serologically diagnosed acute human bocavirus 1 infection in childhood community-acquired pneumonia.

Aim: To assess the role of human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) as a causative agent of non-severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children.

Methods: Patients aged 2-59 months with non-severe CAP (respiratory complaints and radiographic pulmonary infiltrate/consolidation) attending a University Hospital in Salvador, Brazil were enrolled in a prospective cohort. From 820 recruited children in a clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.

Determination of avidity of IgG against protein antigens from Streptococcus pneumoniae: assay development and preliminary application in clinical settings.

The measurement of antibody levels is a common test for the diagnosis of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in research. However, the quality of antibody response, reflected by avidity, has not been adequately evaluated. We aimed to evaluate the role of avidity of IgG against eight pneumococcal proteins in etiologic diagnosis.

Infection by Streptococcus pneumoniae in children with or without radiologically confirmed pneumonia.

Objective: Community-acquired pneumonia is an important cause of morbidity in childhood, but the detection of its causative agent remains a diagnostic challenge. The authors aimed to evaluate the role of the chest radiograph to identify cases of community-aquired pneumonia caused by typical bacteria.

Methods: The frequency of infection by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis was compared in non-hospitalized children with clinical diagnosis of community acquired pneumonia aged 2-59 months with or without radiological confirmation (n=249 and 366, respectively).

Prednisolone for the first rhinovirus-induced wheezing and 4-year asthma risk: A randomized trial.

Background: Previous findings show that corticosteroid treatment during the first acute wheezing episode may reduce recurrent wheezing in children with high rhinovirus genome load at 12-month follow-up. Longer-term effects have not been investigated prospectively.

Methods: After PCR confirmation of rhinovirus from nasopharyngeal aspirate, 79 children with the first acute wheezing episode were randomized to receive orally prednisolone or placebo for 3 days.

Evolution of acute infection with atypical bacteria in a prospective cohort of children with community-acquired pneumonia receiving amoxicillin.

Background: Atypical bacteria are treatable causative agents of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, there is no conclusive evidence that a child with CAP should receive empirical treatment against such agents.

Objectives: We assessed the possibility of association between clinical failure and acute infection by these bacteria among children with CAP treated with amoxicillin.