Archives of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Volume:9 Issue: 3, Jul 2021

 Many problems in the diagnosis of patients with suspected appendicitis have led to the design of clinical scoring systems. In children, diagnostics tools for appendicitis are more critical. Younger patients, diagnostic challenges become more. Practical scoring systems are useful without any particular material and necessitate novel ability.

 However, in spite of the reported outstanding consequences, these scoring systems are not employed regularly.

 In this cross-sectional study performed from October 2016 to October 2017, ten provinces out of the 31 provinces in Iran were randomly selected. A total of 631 patients referring to the hospitals with the suspicion of acute appendicitis were assessed. Related variables such as age, sex, right lower quadrant (RLQ) pain, migration of pain to RLQ, nausea, and presence of vomiting, anorexia, tenderness in RLQ and guarding, presence of rebound tenderness, and degree of fever were taken from recorded files by pediatricians. Alvarado scoring system was used for included cases to assess the accuracy of this test for diagnosis of appendicitis in our centers.

 The mean age of eligible patients was 9.3 ± 3.21 years ranged from 3 years to 18 years, and 380 (60.5%) were male. Using the Alvarado score system in this study, considering the cut-off point value of 7 to decide for operation, the positive predictive value (PPV) showed 32.6%, and negative predictive value (NPV) was 76.73%, with a sensitivity of 44.05% and, specificity of 66.95%. There were statistically no significant correlations among the scoring of the Alvarado and diagnosis of AA (P < 0.05). Regarding receiver operator characteristic curves (ROC), the area under curve (AUC) was 0.58 (0.54 to 0.63) for Alvarado. The AUC was very low, so there was no value for the diagnosis of appendicitis. According to the findings of the present study, the cut-off point of 4.5 is suggested for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children with a sensitivity of 73% and specificity of 58%.

 Although the Alvarado scores supply obviously practical diagnostic information in the management of pediatric population with supposed appendicitis, this method delivers no adequate PPV for clinical practice as a safe way for determining necessary operation.

 Nosocomial Infection (NI) is one of the leading causes of short- and long-term morbidity and mortality among neonates, especially in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs).

 We aimed to evaluate the epidemiology of NIs and associated factors.

 From March 2017 to September 2018, all the neonates who were admitted to the NICUs of Bahrami Children’s Hospital were enrolled. Nosocomial infections were identified based on the definition of CDC-NNIS. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data of the patients were extracted from the medical records.

 A total of 979 neonates were admitted to the NICU, of whom 60 were diagnosed with NI. The incidence of NI was 6.1 per 100 hospitalized patients. The most prevalent NI was bloodstream infection (30%), followed by pneumonia (21.7%). The most frequent presentations were respiratory distress (31.7%) and poor feeding (26.7%). Major pathogens were Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (25.7%) and Coagulase-negative staphylococci (25.7%). The mean hospital stay was 25.2 ± 20.89 days. The mortality rate of patients with NI was 16.7%. The factors associated with an increased risk of mortality among patients with NI were a lack of ventilation support, low birth weight, and WBCs with an abnormal range.

 The results of the present study showed that the incidence of NI was high, and the cultures collected from body fluids had a particular role in the diagnosis and treatment of NI. Standard infection control practices should be applied to reduce the incidence of NI and subsequent morbidity and mortality.

 Myxomas, as primary cardiac tumors, are rare neoplasms manifesting with constitutional, obstructive, and embolic symptoms. Systemic signs and symptoms make infective endocarditis one of the most common differential diagnoses. Nonspecific systemic signs and symptoms of myxomas can cause great challenges in management and treatment.

 A 21-month-old boy was admitted to our center with a high-grade fever and gastrointestinal symptoms, but no significant respiratory complaints were noted. A history of lower limb pain and morning claudication was also present. The patient had leukocytosis with an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) of two months' duration. Other acute phase reactants were detected despite previous antibiotic therapy; however, his blood culture result was negative. In echocardiography, multiple masses were seen in the left atrium near the mitral valve apparatus. The diagnosis of infective endocarditis was made, and intravenous antibiotics were prescribed for up to two weeks. He then underwent surgery because of poor response to medical treatment and renal complications. During surgery, a small mass was seen in the left atrium, and two other masses were within the mitral chordae. The histopathology report confirmed atrial myxoma. Shortly after surgical resection of the tumors, the patient's symptoms improved, and inflammatory indices returned to normal.

 Constitutional manifestations of myxoma render it reasonable to consider it as a differential diagnosis of infective endocarditis. Obtaining a complete clinical history and using imaging tools are necessary for the correct diagnosis and prevention of complications of inappropriate treatment.

 The most important complication of port access catheters (PAC) compared to peripheral lines is a higher incidence of infections.

 This study investigated the frequency of catheter infection and related factors in Dr. Sheikh Children Hospital (SCH).

 This is a retrospective descriptive study at Sheikh children’s hospital, Mashhad, Iran. The data of children with an operation for PAC surgery were gathered from hospital files and completed by calling the parents. The definition of PAC infection was based on clinical signs of catheter infection and any positive blood culture (peripheral or catheter sample) or the resolution of signs of infection after the extraction of the catheter in the absence of positive blood cultures.

 During six years, 70 children received PAC, all of whom (except five) were followed by telephone calls. Forty percent of them were younger than two years, and 71.4% had malignant disease. Catheter infection occurred in 16 (22.8%) cases. Signs of catheter infection were fever and cellulitis over the port in nine (56%) cases (pocket infection), chills and fever during catheter usage (without port infection) in six (37.5%) cases, and persistent fever in one patient (6.2%). Blood culture was positive in 75% (12 cases) of catheter infections, and the responsible organisms were Gram-negative bacilli (five cases), Coagulase-negative staphylococci (three cases), Candida (three cases), and group B streptococci (GBS). The success rate for “medical therapy per se” was 68% in catheter infections. The catheter was removed in 22 (31.4%) patients, which was due to infection in half of them. The mean time to removal was 15.3 months.

 The incidence of catheter infection, especially pocket infection, is high in this population, which necessities revision in all procedures of catheter implantation and care.
 

Diarrhea and vomiting with or without fever are common symptoms in children, while one of the most common clinical findings of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is gastrointestinal symptoms. Therefore, there is a need to develop an algorithm for dealing with a patient with gastroenteritis in the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic.

Context:

 Sepsis’s primary therapy consists of antibiotics therapy, supportive therapies, and source control of infection. The failure rate of this approach is about 20 - 40%. The widespread use of antibiotics has caused multiple drug resistance in primary etiological agents of sepsis in community-acquired and healthcare-associated infections. In the absence of new antibiotic options, alternative treatment modalities seem necessary.

Evidence Acquisition:

 Herein, we have reviewed and discussed current problems with sepsis management and stem cell therapy in sepsis, preclinical, experimental studies, and early-phase clinical trials using stem cells to treat sepsis. In the preparation of the paper, PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate), Scopus, and the web address (www.clinicaltrials.gov) were searched by the keywords (sepsis and cell therapy, septic shock, and cell therapy).

 After the inclusion of criteria, we reviewed 301 original articles. Few articles were found for phase II and phase III clinical trials. Eighty-three articles were included in the current review article. Besides problems with infection source control, the host immune response to the infection enumerated for primary underlying pathophysiologic dysregulation of sepsis and complicated the treatment. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) therapy offers a promising treatment option for sepsis. Indeed, immunomodulatory properties, antimicrobial activity, the capacity of protection against organ failure, enhance the resolution of tissue injury, tissue repair, and restoration after sepsis confer MSCs with a significant advantage to treat the immune and inflammatory dysfunctions associated with severe sepsis and septic shock.

 It seems that MSCs therapy exhibits an appropriate safety index. Future trials should focus on strengthening study quality, reporting MSCs’ therapeutic effects and adverse events. Although early clinical trials seem promising and have beneficial effects, we need more controlled clinical studies, especially in phases II and III.

 The research aimed to evaluate the Pediatric Index of Mortality 3 (PIM-3) for determining the risk of mortality among pediatric intensive care unit patients.

 A retrospective analysis was conducted on case records, as well as patient data from all admissions to the PICU of Mofid Children’s Hospital, Tehran, from October 2017 to February 2018. Employing an android calculator application, the PIM-3 score was estimated early within the first PICU admission. Then, the PIM-3 score and mortality rate were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. In addition, calibration and discrimination were assessed by the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test and a receiver operating characteristic curve method, respectively. Finally, the Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR) was calculated.

 In this study, 365 young infants, ranging from 10 to 29-months-old, were included. The overall mortality rate was 10.4%. Further, the patients’ PIM-3 scores ranged from 0.06% to 2.37% (95% confidence interval), with a mean of 1.45% (4.16% in non-survivors and 1.14% in survivors). The SMR was estimated at 7.18, demonstrating the underprediction of the death rate. The AUC of 0.714 (95% CI: 0.626 to 0.801) demonstrated a fair to good discrimination power of PIM-3 as an international standard risk-adjusted mortality indicator. Moreover, this score underpredicted the risk of mortality in young infants admitted to our ICU in 2017. Generally, the prediction was weak among low-risk patients. Therefore, the Pediatric Index of Mortality-3 score has the potential to be implemented in our PICU by modifying the expected probability of death by multiplying the original PIM-3 score by 7.12.

COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic that is not known well. According to our current knowledge, although respiratory manifestations are the most common symptoms of COVID-19, but non-pulmonary manifestations are also commonly reported, such as rashes, appendicitis, volvulus, diverticulitis, and mesenteric lymphadenitis. In this case series, we introduced four children with COVID-19 who presented with gastrointestinal symptoms.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a frequent cause of acquired heart disease in infants and young children, which may be triggered by infectious agents, with the highest incidence in Asian countries. Several genotypes are identified as susceptibility genes for KD, but none is known in the Iranian population.

Due to the racial differences in the frequency and significance of the identified genes, we aimed to investigate the 8p22- 23-rs2254546 genotypes in a sample of Iranian children and their association with aneurysm and resistance to treatment.

In this prospective cross-sectional study, 100 children with KD as the sample group were compared with 100 matched unrelated healthy Iranian children with no history of KD or immune-related disease. The control subjects were ethnically recruited from the same hospital at the time of a routine physical examination. The 8p22-23-rs2254546 genotypes were analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing techniques, and the frequency of the three genotypes (GA, AA, and GG) was reported. Finally, the frequency of aneurysm and IVIG resistance was reported, and their associations with 8p22-23-rs2254546 genotypes were tested by SPSS software.

Of 100 patients with a mean age of 1.9 ± 1.7 (0.1 - 10.2) years, 57% were boys and 43% were girls. Of them, 62% had GG, 30% GA, and 8% AA genotypes. Besides, 21% of the studied patients were resistant to IVIG, and 19% had aneurysm, but resistance to IVIG and aneurysm was not associated with GG and GA genotypes of 8p22-23-rs2254546 (P = 0.29 and 0.88, respectively).

The majority of the children with KD were shown to have this genetic susceptibility, which shows the importance of the 8p22-23-rs2254546 genotype in Iranian children. However, this genotype was not associated with the risk of resistance to IVIG and aneurysm.