Health Care Resource Utilization of Late Premature Versus Term Infants With Bronchiolitis.

It is controversial whether it is cost-beneficial for late preterm infants to receive respiratory syncytial virus prophylaxis. This study compares community and hospital health care resource utilization (HCRU) of late premature infants (33-36 weeks gestational age) with term infants (>36 weeks gestational age) hospitalized with bronchiolitis. This was a retrospective, population-based, observational study spanning a 9-year period (2004-2012). HCRU data were obtained from the Health Maintenance Organization "Clalit" and included duration of hospitalization, physician visits, laboratory tests, and treatments. Compared with term infants, late preterm infants had significantly longer duration of hospitalization and higher admission rates to pediatric intensive care unit. They also had higher rates of mean outpatients clinic visits, total outpatient clinic and specialist visits, blood chemistry, and virology testing. HCRU of term infants with bronchiolitis was also substantial, indicating that they also can greatly benefit from respiratory syncytial virus prophylaxis. These findings can guide stakeholders in decisions concerning the prevention of bronchiolitis and will be useful in performing further cost-benefit analysis.

Maternal Education Is Inversely Related to Vaccination Delay among Infants and Toddlers.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between parents' level of education and delay in vaccination among infants and toddlers. STUDY DESIGN: A case-control study done in 2015-2016. Charts of 2- to 4-year-old children vaccinated in 5 neighborhood Maternal-Child Health Centers (MCHCs) in southern Israel were examined for demographic variables. Five vaccination opportunities between age 7 months and 18 months were selected to test for delays. In each MCHC, children vaccinated at the longest time-period after planned vaccination dose (fifth quintile) were compared with those vaccinated during the middle quintile. Using this relative delay approach rather than absolute delay approach permitted us to adjust the findings to the prevailing environmental and to cultural and programmatic variations between the various neighborhoods. Each of the planned vaccination visits and overall, demographic and health behavior-related variables that were significantly associated to delays by univariate analysis were tested by multivariate analysis and further adjusted by using stepwise logistic regression, using goodness of fit measures. RESULTS: Data for 2072 subjects were collected (398-426 per MCHC). Fathers' education was not associated with delays. In contrast, mothers' education was inversely associated with the probability of vaccination delay by 4%-9% (depending on the vaccination visit) for each year of schooling beyond 10 years. CONCLUSION: Using the relative delay approach, we demonstrated that maternal education, measured by schooling years, was independently inversely associated with risk of vaccination delay. This suggests that education can be regarded as an important positive component of the overall disease prevention planning at national and global levels.

Surveillance of pneumococcal diseases in Central and Eastern Europe.

Pneumococcal infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The burden of disease associated with S. pneumoniae is largely preventable through routine vaccination. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (e.g. PCV7, PCV13) provide protection from invasive pneumococcal disease as well as non-invasive infection (pneumonia, acute otitis media), and decrease vaccine-type nasopharyngeal colonisation, thus reducing transmission to unvaccinated individuals. PCVs have also been shown to reduce the incidence of antibiotic-resistant pneumococcal disease. Surveillance for pneumococcal disease is important to understand local epidemiology, serotype distribution and antibiotic resistance rates. Surveillance systems also help to inform policy development, including vaccine recommendations, and monitor the impact of pneumococcal vaccination. National pneumococcal surveillance systems exist in a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe (such as Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia), and some have introduced PCVs (Czech Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovakia and Turkey). Those countries without established programs (such as Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine) may be able to learn from the experiences of those with national surveillance systems. The serotype distributions and impact of PCV13 on pediatric pneumococcal diseases are relatively similar in different parts of the world, suggesting that approaches to vaccination used elsewhere are also likely to be effective in Central and Eastern Europe. This article briefly reviews the epidemiology of pneumococcal disease, presents the latest surveillance data from Central and Eastern Europe, and discusses any similarities and differences in these data as well the potential implications for vaccination policies in the region.

Dissemination of Kingella kingae in the community and long-term persistence of invasive clones.

BACKGROUND: Although Kingella kingae is being increasingly recognized as an important pediatric pathogen, our current understanding of the transmission of the organism is limited. The dissemination of K. kingae in the community was studied in 2 ethnic groups living side-by-side in Southern Israel. METHODS: Organisms recovered from oropharyngeal cultures, obtained from healthy young Jewish and Bedouin children during a 12-month period, were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and compared. RESULTS: Isolates from Bedouin children usually differed from those derived from Jews, confirming the relative social isolation of the 2 populations and the importance of close mingling in the spread of K. kingae. Significant clustering of genotypic clones in households and Bedouin neighborhoods was observed, indicating person-to-person transmission through intimate contact. Organisms detected in the study were identical to historical isolates recovered over the last 15 years from respiratory carriers and patients with bacteremia or skeletal infections. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates that children may be asymptomatically colonized in the respiratory tract by virulent K. kingae clones. The organism is transmitted from child-to-child through intimate contact. Some strains exhibit increased fitness and are maintained in the population for prolonged periods.

Community-acquired pneumonia in children: quantifying the burden on patients and their families including decrease in quality of life.

OBJECTIVES: Childhood respiratory infections have an important impact on society and are a frequent cause of physician visits, consumption of antibiotics and over-the-counter drugs, work loss, and reduction of quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess the burden of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) on children and their families, including quantification of expenses and decrease in quality of life. METHODS: Patients <3 years old with pneumonia were enrolled in 3 sites in southern Israel: pediatric wards, the pediatric emergency department, and a primary health clinic. In the primary health clinic, the diagnosis was based on clinical judgment, and in the hospital the diagnosis was based on the World Health Organization Standardization of Interpretation of Chest Radiographs for the diagnosis of CAP in children. Data regarding the children's medical history and various aspects of direct and indirect burden were gathered every 2 to 3 days during the 29 days of follow-up. The patients' parents were asked to give the names of 2 healthy children who could serve as controls from among the child's friends, neighbors, or day care center attendees. RESULTS: Two-hundred thirteen children with pneumonia were enrolled: 34 (16.0%) in the pediatric wards, 73 (34.2%) in the pediatric emergency department, and 106 (49.8%) in the primary pediatric clinic. The control group consisted of 99 children. During the 29 follow-up days, hospitalized children had the most severe and prolonged symptoms, followed in decreasing order by children seen at the emergency department, primary health clinic, and controls: The mean +/- standard deviation (SD) of febrile days was 4.9 +/- 2.8, 4.8 +/- 3.1, 3.3 +/- 2.5, and 1.4 +/- 3.3, respectively (statistically significant between any patient group and the control group). The mean duration of respiratory distress +/- SD was 3.8 +/- 5.6, 2.8 +/- 4.4, 2.2 +/- 4.4, and 0.4 +/- 1.8 days, respectively (statistically significant between any patient group and the control group). The median duration of nonroutine days as judged by the parents was 13, 8, 7, and 0, respectively. The mean number of workdays lost by working mothers +/- SD was 4.2 +/- 4.8, 2.0 +/- 2.6, 1.7 +/- 1.9, and 0.2 +/- 0.9, respectively (between any patient group and the control group). The quality-of-life-questionnaire analysis reveals statistically significant differences with regard to all 11 questions asked between any of the patient groups and the control group. There was a clear trend toward decreasing quality of life from the control group to the primary health clinic, pediatric emergency department, and pediatric wards groups. CONCLUSIONS: CAP in children causes a significant burden on both patients and their families, including substantial expenses, loss of routine, and decrease in quality of life.

Acquisition of Streptococcus pneumoniae and nonspecific morbidity in infants and their families: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Most children are believed to acquire Streptococcus pneumoniae asymptomatically, with only a few developing overt S. pneumoniae disease. This study investigates the relationship between acquisition of S. pneumoniae and mild nonspecific infection leading to general practitioner (GP) consultation. METHODS: A prospective birth cohort study of 213 infants assessed at home 9 times during 24 weeks by nasopharyngeal swab and parental interview was conducted. RESULTS: All positive S. pneumoniae swabs (including acquisition and carriage) were significantly associated with GP consultations for infection by the study infant compared with infants with negative swabs [odds ratio (OR), 1.6; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-2.2; P = 0.005]. There was a stronger association with S. pneumoniae acquisition alone (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.3-3.4; P = 0.001) than with carriage only (OR 1.4; 95% CI 0.9-2.0; P = 0.1). Multivariate analysis confirmed that S. pneumoniae acquisition by the study subject was independently associated with GP consultations: adjusted hazard ratio, 1.8 (95% CI 1.1-2.9); P = 0.02. A similar and independent association was found between S. pneumoniae acquisition by the study subject, and GP consultations for infection by the family (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.8; 95% CI 1.1-2.8; P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Acquisition of S. pneumoniae by the study infant was significantly associated with GP consultations for infection by the infant or family.