[Two children with skin rash and muscle weakness: juvenile dermatomyositis].

Two girls aged 1.5 and 3 years, presented with a skin rash, loss of proximal muscle power and malaise. The younger girl recovered quickly after a short course of corticosteroids but the elder girl proved more difficult to treat effectively with corticosteroids, methotrexate, ciclosporin, intravenous immunoglobulins and hydroxychloroquine.

[Q-fever as a cause of myocarditis in childhood].

Q-fever occurs in The Netherlands in childhood more often than used to be believed. We treated an 8-month-old infant with congestive myocarditis associated with a seroconversion against Coxiella burnetii. The infection was probably caused by the father, who a few weeks earlier had visited his native Surinam, where he frequently was surrounded by domestic animals and drank raw cow's milk.

[Ingestion of undesirable substances by children].

A retrospective study extending over five years was made of the consequences of ingestion of undesirable substances by children. Despite the publicity on this subject it remains a serious medical problem. An annual average of 90 children were seen in the emergency department.