Infectious Diseases

A child with normal kidneys is not at significant risk of developing chronic kidney disease because of recurrent urinary tract infections.

The first rapid influenza testing system that provides a digital readout of test results for 7 strains of influenza A and B has been given 501(k) clearance and a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments waiver by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Infants who are immunized in the afternoon sleep better during the first 24 hours after immunization than those immunized earlier in the day, particularly if they have elevated temperatures.

Now more than ever you are on the front lines in the battle to get children immunized against dangerous diseases. More than 1 in 8 parents have adopted an alternative vaccination schedule for their children, with almost twice that number saying they do not believe the government’s recommended schedule is the best one to follow. You might be shocked to find out how dramatically risk increases when even 1 scheduled vaccine is skipped.

Pediatricians should just say no to drugs when considering prescribing antibiotics for conditions that don?t usually require them. That?s the position of public health officials who say that pediatricians are doing a better job of limiting antibiotic prescriptions but still have a way to go before reaching appropriate levels of use. Inappropriate use of antibiotics continues unabated in 3 of 5 acute respiratory infections. Find out which ones.

The influenza vaccine?s formulation may be unchanged from last year, but immunity in children can decline precipitously without another dose this year, according to new recommendations. The good news is that kids aged 6 months to 8 years need only 1 dose if they were vaccinated last year; others in that age group will still require 2 doses. Find out what else the new recommendations have to say, especially about immunization for youngsters with egg allergies.

The CDC is warning pediatricians to be on the lookout for influenza in patients with recent exposure to pigs after 2 separate cases of swine-origin influenza were identified in children late this summer. Clinicians are being asked to speedily obtain an analysis and to consider starting the patient on antiviral treatment to quickly limit potential human transmission if a case is identified. Find out why these cases are different from other cases of animal-transmitted influenza.

With influenza being one of the most common reasons for hospitalization of children, finding the most effective vaccination combination is increasingly important. That?s what researchers recently set out to do, finding that although the live attenuated influenza vaccine nasal spray and trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine shots are effective, only the nasal spray may confer additional immunity. Could a change in guidelines be on the horizon?

For many pediatricians, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) may be the oral antibiotic of choice when a patient presents with a community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, but another drug?clindamycin?may actually work better, according to a new study. Find out why the experts recommend clindamycin, even though there seemed to be good reasons to prescribe TMP-SMX.

Investigators conducted a comparative examination of the practice of early resuscitation with saline or albumin fluid boluses in children with shock and life-threatening infections living in settings with limited resources.

According to an evaluation of the cost effectiveness of immunoprophylaxis with palivizumab against respiratory syncytial virus infection, based on actual cost and observed RSV incidence rates in various pediatric risk groups during the 2004 to 2005 RSV infection season in Florida, the answer is no.

A comparison of real-time polymerase-chain-reaction-based testing of liquid and dried-saliva specimens with standard rapid culture of saliva specimens obtained at birth showed that PCR assays of both types of saliva specimens have high sensitivity for detecting congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

Giving children intravenous (IV) fluids early in the course of Escherichia coli infection appears to lower the odds of developing severe renal failure.

Imagine if you had a quick and easy way to prove to a parent that their child?s illness was viral not bacterial, and that an antibiotic was not necessary. That day may be coming sooner than you think. Israel researchers have developed such a test that is time-saving, easy to perform and may soon be commercially available.

A prospective study described the uropathogen frequencies and antimicrobial resistance rates of first UTI in 209 children who were diagnosed at the ED of a Belgian hospital.

To help establish utility of surrogate markers of serious bacterial infection in the post-pneumococcal vaccination era, investigators compared the diagnostic properties of these markers and clinical evaluation for detecting SBIs.

We must realize, as physicians, that learning the "art of medicine" goes hand-in-hand with learning the art of communication.

A first national survey of ophthalmology specialists reveals that transmission of ocular toxocariasis (OT) continues to place children at risk of debilitating ophthalmologic disease, including permanent vision loss, from unintentional ingestion of zoonotic parasites shed by dogs and cats.

Neonates who are vitamin D-deficient at birth may have increased risk of developing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) during their first year of life, according to a study in Pediatrics.

Skin Antibiotics - MRSA causes most purulent skin and soft tissue infections in children,antibiotic for skin infections

Results of a prospective clinical and imaging study delineate the characteristics and clinical evolution of first urinary tract infection (UTI) in children with fever.

C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), white blood cell count (WBC), and absolute neutrophil count (ANC) have similar diagnostic properties and are superior to clinical evaluation in detecting serious bacterial infection (SBI) in children with fever without source who have been vaccinated against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Canadian researchers report.

A 14-month-old girl presented with persistent fever, cough, and worsening rash of 5 days’ duration. On the first day of the illness, the infant was brought to an acute care clinic for evaluation.

For children with uncomplicated skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs), careful wound care and follow-up may be more important than the initial choice of antibiotic, new findings suggest.

The parents of a 4-year-old boy complain that he has developed a frightening, rapidly progressive skin rash over the course of 3 days.

Australian researchers say that children with type 1 diabetes mellitus are almost 10 times more likely to have enterovirus infection than children without the disease. The odds of infection also are higher in children diagnosed with prediabetes.

Five-year-old girl with redness and light sensitivity of the right eye of 2 days' duration. She denied any significant pain or decreased vision. She initially presented to an urgent care clinic, where application of polymyxin B/trimethoprim eye drops 4 times a day was prescribed.

Trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine may be associated with febrile seizures in infants and children aged 6 to 23 months who received the vaccine this current flu season, according to a vaccine safety update released by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Pregnant women who get vaccinated against influenza appear to reduce the risk for their infants younger than 6 months old from being hospitalized for influenza.

Physicians should be on the alert for secondary bacterial infections in children with H1N1.