Impact of COVID-19 public health restrictions on hospital admissions for young infants in Victoria, Australia.

AIM: Strict public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic led to less support for infants and their parents. We aimed to characterise the frequency and nature of infant admissions to the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH), Melbourne in 2020, compared to the previous year. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records identified infants ≤3 months admitted to the general medicine unit, RCH from March to September in 2019 and 2020. Diagnoses potentially related to the impact of public health measures and reduced family and community supports were identified and compared to all infant diagnoses across both years. Clinical characteristics and need for referral for additional supports or mental health services were also ascertained. RESULTS: There were fewer admissions for infants ≤3 months in 2020 (n = 411) compared to 2019 (n = 678), with a threefold increase in admissions with a primary or secondary diagnosis of feeding difficulties, growth disturbance, infant irritability or maternal mental health concerns (191/411; 46% vs. 97/678; 14%). There were more infants of first-time parents (112/191; 59% vs. 44/97; 45%) and a reduction in the number of admissions due to infection (145/411; 35%; vs. 467/678; 69%). CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a threefold increase in admissions for infants ≤3 months due to poor growth, feeding difficulties, irritability and maternal mental health concerns in 2020 compared to 2019. These findings may inform future pandemic planning and policy development to ensure maintenance of community supports such as maternal child health nurse (MCHN) service delivery for young infants.

COVID-19 and complicated bacterial pneumonia in children.

Social distancing measures instituted due to #SARSCoV2 have dramatically reduced paediatric thoracic empyema cases in Australia https://bit.ly/3akG98M.

Bevacizumab for the treatment of high-grade glioma.

INTRODUCTION: Gliomas are highly vascular and rich in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that promotes angiogenesis. Bevacizumab is a monoclonal antibody against VEGF inhibiting angiogenesis by preventing receptor activation. Phase II clinical trials using bevacizumab in both newly diagnosed and recurrent high-grade glioma (HGG) showed promising results. AREAS COVERED: This is a review of clinical trials investigating bevacizumab in newly diagnosed and recurrent HGGs with a focus on outcome results. A future perspective about the expected role of bevacizumab is given. Bevacizumab efficacy, safety and tolerability, the combination of radiation and bevacizumab as well as the use of bevacizumab to treat pseudoprogression are discussed. Further criteria of response evaluation needed to be adjusted in the age of anti-angiogenic therapy and this will be discussed. EXPERT OPINION: Bevacizumab has been shown to be safe and tolerable in HGG. In the recurrent disease setting, bevacizumab alone might be sufficient for a clinical benefit and is currently approved as a single agent for this indication. While clinical trials demonstrate a prolonged progression-free survival in bevacizumab-treated HGG, a benefit on OS has not been demonstrated yet. Bevacizumab has also been introduced into other settings in neuro-oncology including concurrent administration with re-irradiation for recurrent HGG.