Hospital-based surveillance to estimate the burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis among European children younger than 5 years of age.

Objectives: Rotavirus is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization in young children. Data on the burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis are needed to guide recommendations for rotavirus vaccine use. This study was undertaken to estimate the burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis in European children <5 years of age.

Knowledge and exposure to complementary and alternative medicine in paediatric doctors: a questionnaire survey.

Background: Complementary and alternative medicines are increasingly used by the general population. A survey was conducted to ascertain the knowledge of Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAMs) amongst paediatric physicians, and whether seniority increases the likelihood of its use being considered in consultations, or of families discussing it.

Methods: Anonymous survey of general paediatric doctors in a large inner-city district general hospital (DGH) and tertiary children's centre (TC) using a questionnaire.

Comparison of oral amoxicillin and intravenous benzyl penicillin for community acquired pneumonia in children (PIVOT trial): a multicentre pragmatic randomised controlled equivalence trial.

Objective: To ascertain whether therapeutic equivalence exists for the treatment of paediatric community acquired pneumonia by the oral and intravenous (IV) routes.

Methods: A multicentre pragmatic randomised controlled non-blinded equivalence trial was undertaken in eight paediatric centres in England (district general and tertiary hospitals). Equivalence was defined as no more than a 20% difference between treatments of the proportion meeting the primary outcome measure at any time.

Changing trends in sex specific prevalence rates for childhood asthma, eczema, and hay fever.

Numerous surveys of school-aged children have shown increasing asthma prevalence with a less publicized but noticeable change in the male to female ratio. We sought to confirm this change in the sex ratio in four questionnaire-based surveys and investigate possible explanations. Identical questionnaire surveys were performed in 1989 (n=3,390), 1994 (n=4,047), 1999 (n=3,540) and 2004 (n=1,920) in school-children aged 9-11 years.

A comparison of virus-associated and multi-trigger wheeze in school children.

To examine differences between virus-associated wheeze and wheeze associated with other triggers (multi-trigger wheeze) in elementary school children, we performed a cross-sectional school-based questionnaire study of 5,998 children mainly 7 to 12 years of age, with outliers 6 and 13 years of age. Using parent-completed questionnaires, we identified 522 children who wheezed only during upper respiratory tract infections (virus-associated wheeze), 1,186 children who wheezed on other occasions (multi-trigger wheeze), and 4,290 children with no wheeze. In comparison with children who had multi-trigger wheeze, children with virus-associated wheeze were more likely to be male, to be younger, and to have less frequent wheezy episodes.

Brittle asthma.

Asthma is recognised as a heterogeneous disease and, within this heterogeneity, brittle asthma is identified as a distinct phenotype. Two types of brittle asthma have been recognised in adults: type 1, showing more than 40% diurnal variability in PEF rate on most days over long periods and type 2, with acute severe attacks on a background of apparently good asthma control. The exact incidence of these phenotypes in adults is unknown but both seem to carry an increased risk of death and considerable morbidity.

Criteria for a specialist paediatric asthma clinic.

Childhood asthma is insufficiently controlled in a large number of patients, highlighting the need for improved provision of paediatric asthma care. This paper presents consensus criteria for a paediatric asthma clinic. These are intended to provide a basis for the delivery of asthma care to children in primary and secondary care clinics.