The Pediatric infectious disease journal
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Jul 2011
Herpes simplex virus infection in young infants during 2 decades of empiric acyclovir therapy.
To describe the clinical presentation of HSV-infected young infants and to seek distinctive features that could permit a targeted approach to empiric use of acyclovir. ⋯ Early manifestations of perinatally acquired HSV are frequently nonspecific, yet CNS infection is common. Empiric acyclovir strategy narrowly restricted to infants with onset of illness at ≤ 21 days of age, who would receive antibiotics empirically, captured 90% of HSV cases and anticipated a rate of HSV CNS infection similar to that of bacterial meningitis.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Jul 2011
2009 Influenza A H1N1 infections: delays in starting treatment with oseltamivir were associated with a more severe disease.
Respiratory failure has been the main severe complication described in pediatric patients with influenza A H1N1 2009 (pandemic H1N1) infection. We describe the pandemic H1N1 2009 disease in children who required hospital admission and the patients' data associated with pediatric intensive care unit admission. Respiratory failure was the main complication. ⋯ Of the 127 patients, 24 required pediatric intensive care unit admission. Four patients died. Patients admitted with chronic conditions and those in whom oseltamivir was delayed more than 72 hours had a more severe disease.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Jun 2011
Blood cultures in the emergency department evaluation of childhood pneumonia.
Blood cultures are frequently obtained in the emergency department (ED) evaluation of children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). ⋯ Children presenting to the ED for evaluation of CAP are at low-risk for bacteremia. Although positive blood cultures frequently altered clinical management, the overall impact was small because of the low prevalence of bacteremia.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Jun 2011
Meta AnalysisSafety of micafungin in pediatric clinical trials.
Pediatric patients with invasive fungal infections are often fragile hosts with multiple underlying conditions. Safety is an important feature of antifungal agents to be used in this setting. This study aims to evaluate safety of micafungin in pediatric patients (<16 years of age), enrolled in different studies including pharmacokinetic evaluations and clinical trials for invasive aspergillosis, candidiasis, and antifungal prophylaxis. ⋯ Micafungin was well tolerated by children of all ages including those with life-threatening underlying conditions. AEs thought to be drug related occasionally lead to discontinuation of the treatment.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Jun 2011
Antibody response to influenza vaccine in pediatric liver transplant recipients.
Data on the immunogenicity of the influenza vaccine in children after liver transplantation are sparse. Our study aims to evaluate the response of such patients to the trivalent influenza vaccine, administered by different protocols in 2 influenza seasons. ⋯ Liver-transplanted children respond to influenza vaccination. For some strains, the response is similar to that reported for healthy children. A second vaccine dose yielded no statistically significant benefit.