Surge in macrolide dispensing to Swiss children in a period of increased incidence of detection: an interrupted time-series analysis.

Objectives: To evaluate the trend in macrolide ambulatory use among children in Switzerland following a global surge in infections in late 2023.

Methods: We conducted a population-based interrupted time-series analysis of macrolide use in Swiss children aged 0 to 11 years from 2018 to 2023 using national ambulatory antibiotic claims data. The main outcome was the evolution of macrolide use in ambulatory setting, expressed as monthly defined daily doses (DDD) per 1000 children.

Dynamic of Pediatric Invasive Bacterial Infections in Switzerland: A 2017-2024 Time-series Analysis of National Data.

This nationwide, population-based, time-series analysis of invasive bacterial infections (IBIs) in Swiss children shows that vaccine-preventable IBIs were less affected by nonpharmaceutical interventions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic compared with invasive group A streptococcal infections. These findings emphasize the distinct epidemiological dynamics of bacterial pathogens in response to public health measures.

Guidelines for the management of emergencies and critical illness in pediatric and adult patients with sickle cell disease.

Forty-two questions were evaluated concerning management of emergencies and critical illnesses in paediatric and adult patients with sickle cell disease. The assessment covered the following areas: patient referral, vaso-occlusive crisis, acute chest syndrome, transfusion therapy, and priapism. The patient referral category included guidelines for admission to intensive care unit and management at specialized reference centers.

Adjunctive dexamethasone and 30-day all-cause death after hospital admission in paediatric pneumococcal meningitis: a propensity score analysis.

Background: Pneumococcal meningitis is a leading cause of bacterial meningitis and the most deadly pneumococcal disease in children worldwide. There is a paucity of evidence concerning the benefit of dexamethasone to prevent death in paediatric pneumococcal meningitis. We aimed to compare the effect of early adjunctive therapy with dexamethasone versus no dexamethasone on death in children with pneumococcal meningitis.

Cardiogenic Shock Risk Score at Diagnosis of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children: A Multicenter Study.

Severe cardiovascular involvement is associated with mortality in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). This study aimed to test a previously published cardiogenic shock risk score at diagnosis of MIS-C and build a new screening tool in a larger pediatric cohort. The first score published in a single-center cohort (age > 8 years, time to diagnosis ≥ 6 days, and NT-proBNP at diagnosis ≥ 11.

Characteristics of Children Hospitalized for Acute COVID-19 in France From February 2020 to December 2023.

We describe the characteristics of children hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 in France with a focus on the post-BA.1 Omicron period (February 2022-December 2023). We identified 3 main groups of children: those ≤90 days old (44.

Did the resurgence of childhood lower respiratory infections offset the initial benefit of COVID-19-related non-pharmaceutical interventions in children? A time-series analysis.

Background: Following non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) lifting in 2021, an important surge in childhood lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) was reported in several countries, raising major concerns about the middle-term consequences of such interventions. Whether this recent upsurge overwhelms the initial benefit of NPI remains unknown.

Methods: We conducted an interrupted time-series analysis based on exhaustive national surveillance systems.

Surge of Pediatric Respiratory Tract Infections after the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Concept of "Immune Debt".

Objective: To investigate a dose-response relationship between the magnitude of decrease in pediatric respiratory tract infections (RTIs) during the 2020 implementation of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and the increase thereafter during NPI lifting.

Study Design: We conducted an interrupted, time-series analysis based on a multinational surveillance system. All patients <16 years of age coming to medical attention with various symptoms and signs of RTI at 25 pediatric emergency departments from 13 European countries between January 2018 and June 2022 were included.

[Consensus update of the POPI tool].

Medication errors are one of the causes of iatrogenic medication use in children. The POPI tool for detecting inappropriate drug prescriptions and prescription omissions in paediatrics was the first tool to be published in this field in 2014. Our aim was to update the POPI tool for French use based on current recommendations and practice.

Infection and Pediatric Arterial Ischemic Stroke Presumably Related to Focal Cerebral Arteriopathy: Data From the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: Infection may trigger pediatric arterial ischemic stroke (PAIS), notably when related to focal cerebral arteriopathy. Community- and individual-level nonpharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a major decrease in pediatric viral infections. We explored the consequences on the incidence of PAIS.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2-related and imputable deaths in children: results from the French pediatric national registry.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for an important mortality rate worldwide. We aimed to evaluate the actual imputability of SARS-CoV-2 on the mortality rate associated with SARS-CoV-2-related illnesses in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Secondary objectives were to identify risk factors for death.

Vaccine-preventable Pediatric Acute Bacterial Meningitis in France: A Time Series Analysis of a 19-Year Prospective National Surveillance Network.

Background: In France, vaccination has been implemented against Hi serotype b (Hib), pneumococcus with pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV), and Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (MenC). These interventions with different coverage and uptake have disrupted the epidemiology of vaccine-preventable acute bacterial meningitis (ABM).

Methods: We analyzed data from a French prospective surveillance network of ABM in children ≤15 years old enrolled by 259 pediatric wards (estimated national coverage: 61%).

Early formative objective structured clinical examinations for students in the pre-clinical years of medical education: A non-randomized controlled prospective pilot study.

Background: The value of formative objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) during the pre-clinical years of medical education remains unclear. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of a formative OSCE program for medical students in their pre-clinical years on subsequent performance in summative OSCE.

Methods: We conducted a non-randomized controlled prospective pilot study that included all medical students from the last year of the pre-clinical cycle of the Université Paris-Cité Medical School, France, in 2021.

Age-Specific Resurgence in Invasive Pneumococcal Disease Incidence in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era and Its Association With Respiratory Virus and Pneumococcal Carriage Dynamics: A Time-Series Analysis.

Using multiple national surveillance systems, we found an increase in the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease during after the relaxation of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19, which strongly varied by age. Age groups with higher incidence of respiratory syncytial virus and influenza also experienced higher increase in invasive pneumococcal disease incidence, with no change in pneumococcal carriage.

Antimicrobial treatment of lower respiratory tract infections in children.

Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) encompass a wide range of clinical syndromes, prominently including bronchiolitis, bronchitis and pneumonia. LRTIs are the second leading cause of antibiotic prescriptions. The vast majority of these infections are due to (or triggered by) viruses and are self-limited diseases.

Unique Changes in the Incidence of Acute Chest Syndrome in Children With Sickle Cell Disease Unravel the Role of Respiratory Pathogens: A Time Series Analysis.

Background: Acute chest syndrome (ACS) is a life-threatening complication of sickle cell disease (SCD). Although respiratory pathogens are frequently detected in children with ACS, their respective role in triggering the disease is still unclear. We hypothesized that the incidence of ACS followed the unprecedented population-level changes in respiratory pathogen dynamics after COVID-19-related nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs).

Immunomodulatory Therapy for MIS-C.

Context: Studies comparing initial therapy for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) provided conflicting results.

Objective: To compare outcomes in MIS-C patients treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), glucocorticoids, or the combination thereof.

Data Sources: Medline, Embase, CENTRAL and WOS, from January 2020 to February 2022.

Neurological features related to influenza virus in the pediatric population: a 3-year monocentric retrospective study.

Unlabelled: Influenza virus is generally characterized by fever, myalgia, and respiratory symptoms. Neurological entities have already been described, such as acute necrotizing encephalitis (ANE). We aimed to highlight the non-exceptional nature and explore the clinical spectrum and evolution of neurological features related to influenza virus in children.

Risk of Admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron Infections.

Background: The severity of SARS-CoV-2-related diseases in children remains unclear. This study aimed to describe the incidence of French pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) admissions with acute COVID-19, incidental positive SARS-CoV-2 test result, and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) during the delta and omicron variant periods.

Methods: This study used the French PICU registry to obtain data on all patients admitted to 41 French PICUs diagnosed with acute COVID-19, incidental positive SARS-CoV-2 test result, or MIS-C between August 30, 2021 and April 20, 2022.

A high-throughput sequencing approach identifies immunotherapeutic targets for bacterial meningitis in neonates.

Background: Worldwide, Escherichia coli is the leading cause of neonatal Gram-negative bacterial meningitis, but full understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease is not yet achieved. Moreover, to date, no vaccine is available against bacterial neonatal meningitis.

Methods: Here, we used Transposon Sequencing of saturated banks of mutants (TnSeq) to evaluate E.