Knowledge and beliefs of endocrine disruptors in pediatrics: all hands on deck!

Endocrine disruptors (ED) are ubiquitous pollutants, possibly implicated in chronic disease. Exposure of vulnerable populations; including neonates, infants and children; must therefore be limited. Informing parents is now a public health challenge. We conducted a quantitative cross-sectional study at the Lyon Mother and child Hospital. We used questionnaires to assess the beliefs and knowledge about ED of parents and pediatric healthcare professionals in the pediatric ward in Lyon, France. A total of 746 questionnaires were completed: 444 for professionals and 302 for parents. The majority of both populations had already heard of ED but only 10% of parents and 5% of professionals felt sufficiently informed. Professionals answered better than parents (73% vs. 60%). The main source of information was similar: media. Only 20% of professionals had read a scientific article about ED and 4% have followed a training. Environmental exposure and EDs is an increasing concern for parents but specific knowledge remains scare for parents and professionals. Specific training is needed.

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: from signaling insights to therapeutic advances.

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectsia (HHT) is an inherited vascular disorder with highly variable expressivity, affecting up to 1 in 5,000 individuals. This disease is characterized by small arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) in mucocutaneous areas (telangiectases) and larger visceral AVMs in the lungs, liver, and brain. HHT is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the BMP9-10/ENG/ALK1/SMAD4 signaling pathway. This Review presents up-to-date insights on this mutated signaling pathway and its crosstalk with proangiogenic pathways, in particular the VEGF pathway, that has allowed the repurposing of new drugs for HHT treatment. However, despite the substantial benefits of these new treatments in terms of alleviating symptom severity, this not-so-uncommon bleeding disorder still currently lacks any FDA- or European Medicines Agency-approved (EMA-approved) therapies.

Increase of recurrent central line-associated bloodstream infections in children with home parenteral nutrition in a rehabilitation care facility compared to home.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) are the main complication in children with home parenteral nutrition (HPN) and some patients develop recurrent CLABSIs (REC-CLABSIs), defined as two or more infections within six months. Our aims were to assess the incidence and to characterize the risk factors of REC-CLABSIs in children with HPN. METHODS: We characterized 79 HPN children from 2014 to 2019 and calculated the incidence of CLABSIs. To minimize the risk of bias related to the exposure time of the septic risk, we paired the patients according to their central venous catheter (CVC) dwell time. After analyzing the whole cohort, a univariate and multivariate unconditional logistic regression was performed on the paired cohort. RESULTS: We included 75 (94.9%) children with a mean age of 7.11 years. The rate of septicemia was 1.55/1000 CVC days, mainly with Staphyloccocus sp. The patients with recurrent CLABSIs (REC group) represented 25% of the cohort, with an incidence of 2.99/1000 CVC days. In the whole cohort, a higher risk of recurrent infections was significantly associated with a longer CVC dwell time (OR = 1.04, IC 95% [1.01-1.06], p = 0.004), and with care located in rehabilitation care facilities (RCF) compared to home (OR = 6, IC 95% [1.5-26.6], p = 0.012). When children were paired according to their CVC dwell time, only in univariate analysis did the care in RCF remain significant (OR = 6.27, IC 95% [1.21-32.5], p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent CLABSIs incidence was 2.99/1000 CVC days. Our study suggests that preventive measures should be implemented especially in RCFs to reduce the proportion of children with recurrent infections. A multicenter study is needed to confirm our results in a larger cohort with several RCFs.