The footprint of SARS-COV-2 infection in neonatal late sepsis.

BACKGROUND: Predicting and finding the viral agents responsible for neonatal late-sepsis has always been challenging. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, which has been done from September 2020 to December 2022, 145 hospitalized neonates suspected to late-onset sepsis alongside routine sepsis workup, were also evaluated for severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2) infection, by nasopharyngeal real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or serological tests. RESULT: 145 neonates including 81 girls and 64 boys with a mean age of 12.3 ± 5.9 days and an average hospitalization stay of 23.1 ± 15.4 days were enrolled in the study. While 76.6% of them had negative bacterial culture, 63 patients (43.4%) showed evidence of SARS-COV-2 infection in RT-PCR or serology tests. None of the underlying factors including gender, age, and laboratory investigation had a significant relationship with SARS-COV-2 infection. Similarly, the outcomes of death and length of hospitalization were not different between the two groups with positive and negative SARS-COV-2 RT-PCR (P < 0.05). There was only a significant relationship between radiological changes including reticulonodular pattern, consolidation, pleural effusion, and different types of infiltrations and SARS-COV2 infection. CONCLUSION: Considering the widespread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in newborns, it seems logical to investigate the SARS-COV-2 infection in late-sepsis.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) post-COVID-19 in Iran: clinical profile, cardiac features, and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: In April 2020, an association between multisystem inflammatory syndromes (MIS-C) was observed in children with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection (SARS-CoV-2). Most patients had heart involvement alone, and most patients had pericardial effusion. This study aimed to express and emphasize cardiac involvement in pediatric patients with respiratory symptoms who were diagnosed with COVID-19. METHODS: This study was conducted in July 2021 in Kerman province, Southeastern Iran, during a notable surge in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. The study included 904 pediatric patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Data collection involved a comprehensive assessment of clinical symptoms and manifestations. Patients with fever lasting more than five days were admitted to the hospital. Echocardiography was utilized for cardiac involvement diagnosis, with 47 patients undergoing this diagnostic procedure. RESULTS: Of the 904 patients, most of them had high fevers (74%). Fifty-five patients had a fever for more than five days and were hospitalized. Of the 47 patients who underwent echocardiography, 45 (81%) had heart involvement. In 75% of patients, pericardial effusion was the only cardiac involvement. Patients with pericardial effusion were treated with dexamethasone up to 3 mg every 8 h for 72 h. CONCLUSIONS: MIS-C has a wide range of clinical symptoms. In cases where the fever is prolonged and there are gastrointestinal symptoms, physicians have clinical suspicion to diagnose this syndrome. Most cases of pericardial effusion are alone and improve with treatment with glucocorticosteroids.

Finding positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR in cerebrospinal fluid of two pediatric patients with severe COVID-19: a brief case report.

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence of nervous system involvement and related complaints in children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, it seems that attempts to track of the virus in the nervous system have so far been unsuccessful. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we describe two pediatric cases of severe COVID-19 who had positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and nasopharyngeal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2). A 36-month-old girl who presented with fever, diarrhea, mild left ventricular dysfunction and bizarre movements, and a five-month-old boy who presented with fever, watery diarrhea, severe dehydration, mottling, and two episodes of seizure. Their CSF analyses and cultures were normal. They admitted in intensive care unit (ICU) for near four days and discharged after ten days without any complaint. CONCLUSION: This is one of the first reports of the presence of coronavirus in the central nervous system in COVID-19 pediatric patients, emphasizing the neurotropism and neuroinvasion characteristics of the virus.

Investigating the role of T helper related cytokines in cerebrospinal fluid for the differential diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in pre-treated paediatric patients.

Purpose: Given the challenge in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis (BM), we assessed different cytokines in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of antibiotics pre-treated patients.Materials and methods: Laboratory tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed for 480 CSF samples from children (2 m to 14 y), suspicious to meningitis and pre-treated with antibiotics, to detect bacterial and viral aetiologies. Sixty-one CSF were included and the levels of 13 cytokines such as IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-9, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-21, IL-22, IFN-γ and TNF-α were measured using flow-cytometry.Results: All bacterial cultures were negative, but 29 and eight CSF were positive for bacterial and viral agents by PCR. IL-6, IL-10 and IFN-γ were significantly up-regulated in BM. T helper (Th) subset cytokines showed significant upregulation of Th1, Th2, Th17, Th22 and Tfh cytokines in BM. Common Th subsets cytokines (IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α) were significantly different between the study groups. ROC curve analysis revealed good AUC for common Th related cytokines in discriminating BM.Conclusions: In pre-treated BM patients with negative bacterial cultures, cytokines IL-6, IL-10 and IFN-γ can predict BM which could be beneficial for rapid diagnosis and treatment to decrease the sequela of the disease.

CuFe2O4 nanoparticles-based electrochemical sensor for sensitive determination of the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil.

A fast and facile electrochemical sensor for the detection of an important anticancer drug, 5-fluorouracil, is fabricated using CuFe2O4 nanoparticles modified screen printed graphite electrode (CuFe2O4 NPs/SPGE). The electrochemical activity of the modified electrode was characterized by chronoamperometry, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) experiments. The CuFe2O4 NPs improved the electrochemical properties of the electrodes and enhanced their electroanalytical performance. Electrochemical measurements using differential pulse voltammetry showed a wide linear relationship between 5-fluorouracil concentration and peak height within the range 0.1 to 270.0 µM with a low detection limit (0.03 µM). Further, the sensor was testified with a urine sample and 5-fluorouracil injection sample, and the observed remarkable recovery results replicate its practical applicability.

Voltammetric determination of vitamin B6 in the presence of vitamin C based on zinc ferrite nano-particles modified screen-printed graphite electrode.

The zinc ferrite nano-particles (ZnFe2O4) modified screen-printed graphite electrode (ZnFe2O4/SPGE) was used for the voltammetric determination of vitamin B6 in real samples, using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). It has been found that the oxidation of vitamin B6 at the surface of such an electrode occurs at a potential about 150 mV less positive compared to an unmodified screen-printed graphite electrode. After optimization, a vitamin B6 sensor with a linear range from 0.8 to 585.0 µM and a detection limit of 0.17 µM. The ZnFe2O4/SPGE sensor exhibits good resolution between the voltammetric peaks of vitamin B6 and vitamin C, making it suitable for detecting vitamin B6 in the presence of vitamin C in real samples.