The Pediatric infectious disease journal
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Oct 2003
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyProcalcitonin in pediatric emergency departments for the early diagnosis of invasive bacterial infections in febrile infants: results of a multicenter study and utility of a rapid qualitative test for this marker.
Procalcitonin (PCT) is a potentially useful marker in pediatric Emergency Departments (ED). The basic objectives of this study were to assess the diagnostic performance of PCT for distinguishing between viral and bacterial infections and for the early detection of invasive bacterial infections in febrile children between 1 and 36 months old comparing it with C-reactive protein (CRP) and to evaluate the utility of a qualitative rapid test for PCT in ED. ⋯ PCT offers better specificity than CRP for differentiating between the viral and bacterial etiology of the fever with similar sensitivity. PCT offers better sensibility and specificity than CRP to differentiate between invasive and noninvasive infection. PCT is confirmed as an excellent marker in detecting invasive infections in ED and can even make early detection possible of invasive infections if the evolution of the fever is <12 h. The PCT-Q test has a good correlation with the quantitative values of the marker.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Oct 2003
Comparative StudyInfluenza A community-acquired pneumonia in East London infants and young children.
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is common in young children, but there are few data in Europe on influenza A virus as a cause of childhood CAP. The aim of this study was to determine the relative contributions of different etiologic agents to CAP in children. ⋯ Influenza A virus caused more than one-third of all viral CAP cases, a rate comparable with that of RSV CAP. Viral PCR doubled the diagnostic yield of influenza A virus. The clinical burden of influenza A CAP was comparable with that of RSV CAP, as measured by the duration of fever, hospital stay and total duration of illness.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Oct 2003
Case ReportsKaposi sarcoma with upper airway obstruction and bilateral chylothoraces.
A 3-year-old boy infected with HIV presented with progressive dyspnea and upper airway obstruction necessitating airway stenting. Chest radiography revealed bilateral alveolar opacification and chylothoraces. Post,mortem examination confirmed disseminated Kaposi sarcoma with infiltration of the thoracic duct.