Clinical Characteristics of Children with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: In December 2019, the infection caused by 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) led to an outbreak in Wuhan, situated in the Hubei Province of China. Following this, there has been a rapid increase in the number of cases. On 12th March 2020, there were over 100,000 confirmed cases and almost 4,300 deaths worldwide. The clinical profile of children with COVID-19 is unknown due to the few number of cases reported. Currently, available data suggest they may have a milder form of illness. METHODS: A review of the literature published from June 2019 to March 2020 was undertaken to evaluate the clinical presentation, management and outcomes of COVID-19 in in children. Data sources included EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane library, ISI Web of Knowledge and references within identified articles. RESULTS: We identified 303 potential studies, and 295 were excluded for reasons including duplicates, experimental studies and case reports. Eight studies were eligible for inclusion, including a total of 820 paediatric cases of COVID-19. Asymptomatic cases represented 14.3% (n = 117) of the total number of cases identified, and thus the remaining 85.7% (n = 703) experienced symptoms. Fever was the commonest symptom in 53.9% (n = 48) of cases, followed by cough in 39.3% (n = 35) of cases, and rhinorrhoea or pharyngeal congestion in 13.5% (n = 12) of cases. Diarrhoea and sore throats were less common symptoms, 7.9% (n = 7) and 9.0% (n = 8) respectively. Other symptoms, including fatigue, headache and dizziness were rare. CONCLUSION: Children are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and are more likely to run a milder cause of illness following this infection compared to adults. This outbreak only started 3 months ago, therefore, further population wide studies are needed to validate these findings.

ARE ANTIBIOTICS OF ANY USE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF GRANULOMA ANNULARE IN CHILDREN?

BACKGROUND: Granuloma annulare (GA) is a benign inflammatory dermatosis of unknown cause, of which generalised granuloma annulare (GGA) is a subtype that tends to be resistant to treatment. Various antibiotics have been used to treat GGA, the most recent being combination therapy with rifampicin, ofloxacin and minocycline (ROM). This study aims to explore the efficacy of antibiotics in treating GGA, and whether antibiotics may be useful in children with GGA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic review of literature published from 1947 to 2017 was undertaken in order to evaluate the use of antibiotics in treating GGA. Data on characteristics of children with GGA were extracted and eligible studies were then qualitatively analysed. RESULTS: Seven hundred and ninety (790) potential studies were identified, of which 16 were eligible for inclusion in the final analysis. Of these 16 studies, majority were case studies (n=9, 56.3%), with 2 case series (12.5%), 2 retrospective studies (12.5%) and 3 open-label prospective studies (18.8%). Main antibiotic treatments reported were either monthly combination therapy of rifampicin, ofloxacin and minocycline (ROM), or monotherapy with dapsone or doxycycline. Out of a total of 158 patients with GA, 72 patients (45.6%) were treated with antibiotics. Of the 72, 48.6% (n=35) of these patients had GGA while 4 were children; two with GA (2 with GGA), all of whom were treated with dapsone. CONCLUSION: There is paucity of evidence to support the use of antibiotics in the treatment of GGA in children. Although ROM has shown promising results in adults, more studies are needed to validate these findings in children.

Risk of Transverse Myelitis Following Dengue Infection: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

INTRODUCTION: Dengue virus (DENV) is one of the most common arbovirus diseases, with a wide spectrum of presentation. Spinal cord involvement in dengue infection (DF) is rare. However, the risk of transverse myelitis (TM) following Dengue has not been systematically assessed. METHODS: We undertook a systematic review of published English literature from January 1974 to December 2017 to assess risk of TM and outcomes following DF. Data sources included EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane library, ISI web of knowledge, conference proceedings and references within identified articles. RESULTS: We identified 242 potential studies, 62 were duplicates. A further 136 were excluded on the basis of title and abstract and 19 studies did not meet the eligibility criteria on full text screening. We included 25 publications involving 2672 cases of DF. A small proportion (10.8%, (289/2672)) had neurological complications, of which 2.3% (61/2672) was TM. For articles reporting epidemiological data, the neurological complication was twice in males compared to female 67.7% (130/192) vs. 32.7% (62/192) and 1.5-fold increase TM for males 59.3% (32/54) vs 40.7% (22/54). The mean age at presentation was 33.1years (range 0.75⁻61), with onset at 11.7days. The method of diagnosing TM due to DF was mainly IgM seropositivity 92% (n = 23/25) and the commonest treatment modality was steroid 78.3% (n = 18/23). Only half had full recovery 50.8% (n = 31/61). There was no mortality following dengue, however, the crude case fatality rate following TM was 3.3% (n = 2/61). CONCLUSION: This review highlights the risk of TM following dengue. Although neurological complications are rare, especially TM, once set in, it is associated with a significant morbidity.