Psychomotor development after ganciclovir selectively treated congenital and perinatal cytomegalovirus infection.

Aim: To study the development of children with selectively treated cytomegalovirus infection.

Patients And Methods: We studied prospectively a risk group of 12 children with cytomegalovirus infection. These children were diagnosed by serological screening in the first three months after birth and are defined as congenital and perinatal infections.

Ventilator-associated pneumonias in children (II)--prophylaxis and treatment.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the second most common nosocomial infection among children treated in intensive care units. The risk factors for developing this condition are generated by the patient's bedside conditions, the equipment used and the specific treatment administered to the child. Prophylaxis of VAP should necessarily include all measures that have been proven to be efficient in this respect such as rigorous hygiene control of hands and protective clothing of attending staff, changing breathing circuits of ventilators only if they malfunction or if they are visibly contaminated, preference of orotracheal intubation (instead of nasotracheal intubation) and use of endotracheal tubes with dorsal lumens to allow respiratory secretions to drain, and introduction of a uniform approach to patient care and staff training.

Ventilator-associated pneumonias in children (I)--diagnostic criteria, etiology and pathogenesis.

Ventilator-associated pneumonias have been estimated to be the second most common nosocomial infections among children treated in intensive care units. They occur in mechanically ventilated patients through intubation tube or tracheostomy, the inflammation usually involving the lung parenchyma. The ventilator-associated pneumonia is associated with a longer antibiotic treatment, greater duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) and higher mortality rates in children.