The Pediatric infectious disease journal
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Jun 2004
Comparative StudyLow birth weight infants and Calmette-Guérin bacillus vaccination at birth: community study from Guinea-Bissau.
In developing countries, low birth weight (LBW) children are often not vaccinated with Calmette-Guérin bacillus (BCG) at birth. Recent studies have suggested that BCG may have a nonspecific beneficial effect on infant mortality. We evaluated the consequences of not vaccinating LBW children at birth in Guinea-Bissau. ⋯ The policy of not vaccinating with BCG at birth had a negative impact on vaccination coverage for LBW children. Early BCG vaccination had no large negative impact on TST and BCG scarring. Mortality was lower for BCG-vaccinated than for unvaccinated LBW children controlling for available background factors. BCG vaccination of LBW children may have a beneficial effect on survival that cannot be explained by protection against tuberculosis. Future studies should examine possible adverse effects from equalizing BCG policy for LBW and NBW children.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · May 2004
Impact of wheezing after respiratory syncytial virus infection on health-related quality of life.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is often followed by recurrent wheezing episodes during childhood. The effect of postbronchiolitis wheezing on the well-being of the child is not known. This study aimed to determine the impact of RSV LRTI hospitalization before age 13 months on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at age 3 years. ⋯ Postbronchiolitis wheezing has broad implications for long-term well-being of children. Decreased HRQoL was attributed to postbronchiolitis wheezing, but not to preexistent risk factors, such as premature birth. This study underscores the importance of developing new strategies to prevent and treat long term airway morbidity after RSV LRTI.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · May 2004
Driscoll Children's Hospital respiratory syncytial virus database: risk factors, treatment and hospital course in 3308 infants and young children, 1991 to 2002.
Treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infection has historically been one of the most frequent reasons for admission to Driscoll Children's Hospital. ⋯ Patients with three or more risk factors were at very high risk for having a severe or complicated disease course associated with admission to the PICU, placement on mechanical ventilation and a longer hospital length of stay.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · May 2004
Outbreak of human metapneumovirus infection in norwegian children.
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) was recently discovered in children with acute respiratory tract infection. We have studied the occurrence of hMPV and report clinical findings of 50 hMPV-infected children who were hospitalized during an outbreak in Norway. ⋯ Human metapneumovirus was the most common virus isolate during the winter season 2002 to 2003 in children hospitalized for respiratory tract infection. Upper respiratory tract infections and mild to severe bronchiolitis were most common, but a relatively high proportion of hospitalized children developed severe pneumonia.
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Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. · Apr 2004
ReviewUnderstanding vaccine safety information from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is administered by the Food and Drug Administration and CDC and is a key component of postlicensure vaccine safety surveillance. Its primary function is to detect early warning signals and generate hypotheses about possible new vaccine adverse events or changes in frequency of known ones. VAERS is a passive surveillance system that relies on physicians and others to voluntarily submit reports of illness after vaccination. ⋯ Signals detected in VAERS should be subjected to further clinical and descriptive epidemiologic analysis. Confirmation in a controlled study is usually required. An understanding of the system's defined objectives and inherent drawbacks is vital to the effective use of VAERS data in vaccine safety investigations.