[Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in children according to their age. A retrospective study]. / Prévalence de l'infection à Helicobacter pylori chez l'enfant en fonction de l'âge: étude rétrospective.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of H pylori infection in a Parisian children population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During a 3-year period, H pylori infection was investigated in 623 children admitted to our hospital. Children were enrolled into two groups; either a symptomatic children group with clinical gastritis manifestations as infant colics or recurrent abdominal pain for more than 3 months in whom H pylori infection was suspected, or a control children group with growth retardation of more than -2 standard deviation (SD). Ethnic origin for all enrolled children was identified. A written parental consent was obtained for all children. H pylori infection was identified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Cobas Core Roche, IgG, 2nd generation, Roche, France). RESULTS: H pylori infection was identified in 99 children out of 623 (15.8%). There was no difference between the two groups of children for age, sex, ethnic origin and prevalence of H pylori infection. The prevalence of H pylori infection was widely dependent on age and rose regularly with an annual acquisition rate of 2.1%. The prevalence of this infection varied from 1.8% during the first year of life to 30% in 15-year-old children. CONCLUSION: The latter prevalence is quite similar to that found in adults, suggesting that infection might occur in early life.

[Hospitalization for acute community-acquired rotavirus gastroenteritis: a 4-year survey]. / Hospitalisations pour gastroentérites aiguës communautaires à rotavirus: une enquête de quatre ans.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the number of hospitalizations due to community-acquired rotavirus acute gastroenteritis in a general pediatric unit during a four-year survey. RESULTS: From January 1997 to December 2000, 725 patients were admitted for acute gastro-enteritis to the general paediatric unit of a Parisian children hospital (nosocomial diarrhoea excluded) and 706 (97.5%) of these patients had had a stool microbiologic examination. Diarrhoea was caused by rotavirus in 359 patients (50.89%) and Salmonella sp in 61 (8.6%). Children and infants hospitalized for rotavirus acute gastroenteritis were younger (26% had three months or less, and 50.03% had six months or less) than in other European studies. CONCLUSION: This study is the first in France reporting a systematic survey of hospitalized gastroenteritis during four years. More than half of hospitalized community-acquired gastroenteritis were due to rotavirus in this Parisian area. The young age of patients should be investigated in other French areas, searching for risk factors and rotavirus strains.

[Ciprofloxacin after clinical failure of beta-lactam antibiotics in children with salmonellosis]. / Ciprofloxacine après échec des beta-lactamines dans les salmonelloses de l'enfant.

BACKGROUND: Children with enteric fever or severe salmonella infections are usually treated with beta-lactam antibiotics, particularly ceftriaxone. Due to their poor penetration into cells, beta-lactam antibiotics, even if active in vitro, are sometimes clinically ineffective because they cannot reach the intracellular sites of Salmonella multiplication. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate in a retrospective study usefulness, efficacy and safety of oral ciprofloxacin in patients with severe salmonellosis and clinical failure of ceftriaxone or beta-lactam antibiotics. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From July 1, 1995 to 2000, the bacteriology laboratory of a French pediatric hospital had identified 215 patients aged between 1 month and 15 years with positive blood or stools for Salmonella sp, 113 of them requiring hospitalization due to their clinical symptoms. Three were excluded for sickle-cell disease or poor nutritional status. None of the 110 strains (including 4 S. typhi, 51 S. typhimurium, 25 S. enteritidis, 6 S. hadar and 5 S. heidelberg) isolated was resistant to ceftriaxone or ciprofloxacin. Forty-one of the 110 strains (37.3%) produced a beta-lactamase. Twelve patients had a rapid recovery without antibiotic treatment, and 98 (mean age 3.9 years) were given antibiotics (ceftriaxone in 91 and amoxicillin in 7) for dysentery (43%), shock (15%) or persistent high fever and severe diarrhea (42%). RESULTS: In 72 children (mean age = 3.6 years) ceftriaxone treatment (amoxicillin in 5) for 5 or 7 days was rapidly effective: apyrexia was obtained in 1.5 day after the start of treatment and the number of stools per day was 4 or less in 2.2 days. Two to 3 weeks after clinical recovery, asymptomatic carriage was present in 22/38 patients. In the 26 other patients ceftriaxone (amoxicillin in 2) treatment was clinically ineffective, despite good in vitro activity, and was switch for oral ciprofloxacin (20 mg kg(-1) d(-1), 5 days) after 2 to 7 days of lasted fever and/or severe diarrhea. Clinical improvement with ciprofloxacin was obtained in less than 48 h. The strains involved in these 26 patients included the 4 S. typhi and 15 S. typhimurium (P < 0.05), 13/15 (P < 0.01) producing beta-lactamase. Asymptomatic carriage was found in 5/22 patients (P < 0.05) after recovery. None of the patient treated with ciprofloxacin had side effect. CONCLUSION: In severe salmonellosis, the clinical failure of treatment with ceftriaxone is not rare, particularly in S. typhimurium producing beta-lactamase infection and short treatment with oral ciprofloxacin is safe and allows to obtain a rapid recovery.