Presse Med
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INFECTIOUS AGENT: The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a febrile pneumonia initially observed in China at the end of 2002. The infectious agent has rapidly been identified as a new coronavirus, baptised SARS-associated coronavirus (CoV-SARS). Transmission is inter-human, via respiratory particles mainly. ⋯ During the first half of 2003, the spreading of the virus has been very fast, with a pandemic mode of evolution. More than 8,000 people were infected and 774 died. The reservoir of the virus, which may be animal, is still unknown. The epidemic seems to be controlled, but sporadic or epidemic re-emergences may occur and have been observed in China during January 2004.
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Review Comparative Study
[Outpatient antibiotherapy in children with neutropenia and fever. A review of the literature].
NEW STRATEGIES: Fever in a neutropenic patient requires the rapid initiation of a broad spectrum antibiotic and continued until correction of the neutropenia. Several studies have been conducted recently in order to define the populations of children in whom the antibiotherapy could be suspended early without risk of relapse of fever and/or severe infection. Moreover, the high costs of hospitalisation and the limited number of beds in the departments of Paediatric Oncology Haematology have led to studies on the feasibility of an antibiotherapy at home. ⋯ The first studied the feasibility of an antibiotherapy at home following antibiotherapy in the hospital in order to reduce the costs and duration of hospitalisation. The others proposed an antibiotherapy at home from the start, either with the intravenous or the oral route. Following all these studies, it appeared that, in certain low-risk neutropenic children with fever, not only the antibiotics could be suspended before the complete correction of the neutropenia, but also a large spectrum oral antibiotherapy could replace the intravenous antibiotherapy and outpatient treatment would therefore be feasible.