Experience on postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling to ascertain the cause of death determination in South African children: A case for implementing as standard of care.

Determining the death burden for prioritising public health interventions necessitates detailed data on the causal pathways to death. Postmortem minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS), incorporating histology, molecular and microbial culture diagnostics, enhances cause-of-death attribution, particularly for infectious deaths. MITS proves a valid alternative to full diagnostic autopsies, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In Soweto, South Africa (SA), the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) programme has delineated over 1 000 child and stillbirth deaths since 2017. This SA CHAMPS site supports advocating for the use of postmortem MITS as routine practice, for more granular insights into under-5 mortality causes. This knowledge is crucial for SA's pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal 3.2, targeting reduced neonatal and under-5 mortality rates. This commentary explores the public health advantages and ethicolegal considerations surrounding implementing MITS as standard of care for stillbirths, neonatal and paediatric deaths in SA. Furthermore, based on the data from CHAMPS, we present three pragmatic algorithmic approaches to the wide array of testing options for cost-effectiveness and scalability of postmortem MITS in South African state facilities.

Diffuse alveolar haemorrhage in children hospitalised in a tertiary­level hospital: A retrospective descriptive study.

Background: Diffuse alveolar haemorrhage (DAH) is considered a rare condition in children. There is no consensus on the management of DAH syndromes in Africa or other low- and middle-income countries. In this brief report, the clinical characteristics, management and outcomes of children treated for DAH in the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital paediatric pulmonology unit in Johannesburg, South Africa are described. Fifteen children were included in this case series, of whom 11 (73.3%) presented with severe microcytic anaemia. Of the 11 children who had bronchoalveolar lavage, 9 (81.8%; 60.0% of the total) had haemosiderin-laden macrophages on microscopy. Only 5 children had a lung biopsy, of whom 3 (60.0%) had capillaritis. All the children were started on oral prednisone at presentation, and 11 (73.3%) received additional complementary treatment. Nine children (60.0%) had normal haemoglobin levels 1 year after initiation of treatment. Our series supports previous reports that DAH is uncommon in children. A large proportion of our patients responded well to treatment despite some resource limitations. What the study adds: The study provides additional data on children presenting with diffuse alveolar haemorrhage in a South African tertiary hospital. What are the implications of the findings: There is a need for South African pulmonologists to come together and conduct a national audit of these patients in different hospitals to determine the incidence in our country, as well as to inform a management plan in the presence or absence of specialised tests.

Giant thymolipoma in a child: The silent chest mass.

Thymolipoma is a rare benign anterior mediastinal tumour of thymic origin containing both thymic and mature adipose tissues. In most cases it has a silent course and can grow to large sizes before presenting with respiratory symptoms. We report a case of a giant thymolipoma in a 4-year-old girl treated at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, South Africa.

Sepsis in previously healthy neonates discharged home after delivery in Soweto, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data on the aetiology of neonatal sepsis in sub-Saharan Africa. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the incidence, aetiology and outcomes of physician-diagnosed sepsis in hospitalised neonates who had previously been discharged home after delivery in Soweto, South Africa. METHODS: A retrospective review using data abstracted from clinical and laboratory databases identified physician-diagnosed sepsis cases in neonates admitted to the general paediatric wards at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital from January 2015 to September 2016. Neonates with physician-diagnosed sepsis were categorised into two groups based on putative pathogens recovered from blood and/or cerebrospinal fluid specimens: (i) culture-confirmed sepsis; and (ii) culture-negative sepsis. RESULTS: Of 1 826 neonatal admissions, 1 025 (56.2%) had physician-diagnosed sepsis: 166 (16.2%) with culture-confirmed sepsis and 859 (83.8%) with culture-negative neonatal sepsis. The commonest pathogens causing culture-confirmed neonatal sepsis were Streptococcus viridans (n=53; 26.5%), S. agalactiae (n=38; 19.0%), and Staphylococcus aureus (n=25; 12.5%). The case fatality rates for culture-confirmed sepsis and culture-negative sepsis were 10.8% (18/166) and 2.6% (22/859), respectively. The odds of death occurring during hospitalisation was 10-fold (95% confidence interval 3.7 - 26.9) higher in neonates with culture-confirmed sepsis compared with culture-negative sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: In our setting, physician-diagnosed sepsis represents a huge disease burden in previously healthy neonates hospitalised from home. Most sepsis cases were attributed to S. viridans, S. agalactiae and S. aureus.

COVID-19 mass vaccination campaign for healthcare workers in a low-resource setting: A clinician-driven initiative.

COVID-19 vaccination has been globally accepted as a critical public health response measure to prevent severe disease and death, alleviate strain on healthcare systems, and prevent onward transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The South African Department of Health's plan to vaccinate 1.25 million healthcare workers through the Sisonke Early Access Vaccine Rollout for Healthcare Workers presented both opportunities and challenges in terms of designing and implementing a mass vaccination roll-out in the resource-limited state sector. We present our experiences and challenges from the largest hospital in Africa, and hope that this will assist other institutions with planning successful COVID-19 mass vaccination campaigns.

Incidence of febrile seizures and associated factors in children in Soweto, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Febrile seizures (FSs) are a common cause of paediatric emergencies, but there is limited research on the aetiology and epidemiology of FSs, especially in Africa. OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of FS hospitalisations in children aged 6 - 59 months in Soweto, South Africa, and factors associated with FS hospitalisations. METHOD: In a secondary data analysis using a cohort of children enrolled in a 9-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine efficacy trial conducted in Soweto during 1998 - 2005, the incidence of FS hospitalisation was calculated and stratified by age group. Regression analysis was used to investigate factors associated with FS at the time of hospitalisation. Influenza A, influenza B, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus and parainfluenza were investigated for among those with respiratory symptoms using immunofluorescent assays. RESULTS: FSs accounted for 780 (11.0%) of 7 126 hospitalisations during the study period. The overall incidence of FSs was 4.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) 4.10 - 4.97) per 1 000 person-years, with the highest incidence in children aged 12 - 23 months (7.25; 95% CI 6.44 - 8.14). Among hospitalised children, FS hospitalisation was associated with HIV-negative status (odds ratio (OR) 6.25; 95% CI 4.34 - 8.99), body temperature ≥39ºC (OR 2.03; 95% CI 1.56 - 2.64) and concurrent diagnosis of acute otitis media (OR 2.16; 95% CI 1.74 - 2.67). Influenza A was identified in 44/515 FS hospitalisations (8.5%) compared with 123/3 794 non-FS hospitalisations (3.2%) (OR 2.22; 95% CI 1.56 - 3.16). In contrast, RSV detection was less commonly identified in children with FSs (21; 4.1%) than without (419; 11.0%) (OR 0.36; 95% CI 0.24 - 0.54). CONCLUSIONS: FSs contributed significantly to the burden of paediatric hospitalisations in Soweto, and were strongly associated with influenza A virus infection.

Children caught in the long shadow of COVID-19

Despite the more transmissible delta variant being associated with higher rates of COVID-19 in unvaccinated adolescents, children have remained relatively spared from severe disease. Nevertheless, children are indirectly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which threatens to have far-reaching consequences. The effect of disruptions of seasonal patterns of circulation of respiratory pathogens on future immunity against such pathogens, childhood immunization programmes, and HIV and tuberculosis treatment programmes poses a threat to the future wellbeing of children. Furthermore, the economic devastation caused by the pandemic, including an increase in unemployment, gives rise to numerous challenges, such as food insecurity, which is likely to worsen childhood nutritional status. Also, COVID-19 has ongoing effects on the mental wellbeing of children, driven in part by the interruption of schooling and other opportunities to socialize. An increase in psychological illnesses has manifested in children consequent to the stresses of the pandemic, lockdowns, caregiver deaths. In this article, we highlight the indirect effects of COVID-19 on children, and suggest solutions to mitigate against the long-term sequelae. A focused health, nutrition, education and child protection response is required from government and healthcare practitioners to safeguard the health and wellbeing of South African children.

Chylothorax in a child with rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis.

Chylothorax is rare in children. Only a few cases of tuberculosis (TB)-associated chylothorax have been reported. We present a child on standard four-drug TB treatment who presented with wheezing and a chylothorax. Bronchoscopy showed caseating lymph nodes, and rifampicin-resistant TB was identified from the bronchoalveolar lavage specimen. There was marked clinical and radiological improvement 1 month after starting multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB treatment and steroids. The association of chylothorax and MDR-TB has not been described in children. MDR-TB should be considered in children who fail adherent, empirically started drug-susceptible TB treatment.

An evaluation of the quality of discharge summaries from the general paediatric wards at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Hospital discharge summaries are deemed to be an essential part of the medical record in South Africa, but formal assessment of their quality is rarely undertaken. At Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH) in Johannesburg, medical admission notes (bedletters) are difficult to retrieve from the hospital archives and the discharge summary is often the only readily available medical record that documents details of the hospital admission. OBJECTIVES: To determine the proportion of discharge summaries that were appropriately completed for children admitted to the general paediatric wards at CHBAH. METHODS: A retrospective review of discharge summaries completed for children admitted from 1 May to 31 July 2016 was undertaken. The completeness of the following demographic and clinical variables was assessed: patient identifiers, hospital outcome, HIV infection status and anthropometric status. The documentation of correct International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10) codes was assessed in children diagnosed with any form of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), which is the commonest diagnosis recorded in hospitalised children at CHBAH. RESULTS: Discharge summaries were available for 1 148 (78.3%) of 1 466 children admitted during the study period. For completed discharge summaries, 80.1 - 93.3% of patient identifiers and 91.4% of patient outcomes were appropriately completed. HIV exposure was documented in 84.7% of summaries. Anthropometric parameters, including weight and length/height at admission and discharge weight, were appropriately completed in 91.4%, 70.9% and 50.0% of summaries, respectively. The ICD-10 code for children with LRTI was appropriately recorded by medical staff in 338 (67.2%) of 503 cases. ICD­10 codes and anthropometric parameters, which are important clinical parameters in the paediatric follow-up consultation, were both correctly recorded for only 21.6% of children who required follow-up clinical consultations at CHBAH. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with similar studies, both the rate of completion and the quality of completed discharge summaries were modest in this tertiary academic teaching hospital. As discharge summaries are crucial medical documents, interventions to improve their completeness rate and quality need to be developed.

Empyema in children hospitalised at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of information on empyema in children from low- and middle-income countries since the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. OBJECTIVES: To describe the aetiology and management of empyema in a setting of high HIV and tuberculosis (TB) prevalence. METHODS: A retrospective descriptive study was undertaken between January 2012 and December 2016 in children aged <14 years at a large secondary-tertiary referral hospital in Soweto, South Africa. Cases of empyema were identified through administrative databases. Clinical, laboratory and radiological data were extracted from patient records. RESULTS: We identified 65 cases of protocol-defined empyema, including 22 (33.8%) referred from surrounding hospitals. The median age at presentation was 53.2 months (interquartile range (IQR) 19.5 - 103.6). Thirteen patients (20.0%) were HIV-infected and 6 (9.2%) were HIV-exposed but uninfected. A bacterial pathogen was identified in 36 cases (55.3%). The commonest causative organisms were Staphylococcus aureus (14/65, 21.5%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (5/65, 7.7%). Treatment for TB, initiated in 28 children (43.1%), was more frequent in HIV-infected children (10/13, 76.9%) (p=0.011); however, microbiological evidence of TB was present in only 5 cases (7.7%). Forty-three children (66.2%) had an intercostal drain (ICD) inserted and 16 (24.6%) a pigtail percutaneous catheter, while a fibrinolytic was only used in 6 (10.2%). Eight children (12.3%) had a thoracotomy and 7 (10.7%) had video-assisted thorascopic drainage, all of whom had a prior ICD inserted, a median of 20 days (IQR 10 - 33) before surgery. Overall, 7 children (10.8%) were mechanically ventilated and 1 (1.5%) died. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a dominance of S. aureus as a cause of empyema. A high proportion of HIV-infected children with empyema were initiated on TB treatment, highlighting challenges in managing TB-HIV co-infection. Although fibrinolytics or early surgery are recommended, neither practice was common in this setting.

Incidence of tuberculosis meningitis in a high HIV prevalence setting: time-series analysis from 2006 to 2011.

SETTING: This study was undertaken at a tertiary hospital in Soweto, a peri-urban low-middle income setting. Mycobacterium tuberculosis meningitis (TBM) is a severe manifestation of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis. OBJECTIVE: To describe the incidence, mortality and clinical features of TBM in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected and non-infected children in South Africa from 2006 to 2011. DESIGN: A retrospective, cross-sectional descriptive study. METHODS: Electronic databases and individual patient records of all children with a discharge diagnosis of TBM were reviewed to yield incidence rate ratios (IRR) in HIV-infected and non-infected children. Clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics were compared between HIV-infected and non-infected children with TBM. RESULTS: Overall TBM incidence per 100 000 population in 2006 was 6.9 (95%CI 4.4-10.3) and 9.8 (95%CI 6.9-13.6) in 2009, but had subsequently declined to 3.1 (95%CI 1.6-5.5) by 2011. There was a significant reduction in the IRR of TBM among HIV-infected children (IRR 0.916, P = 0.036). The overall case fatality ratio was 6.7%. Clinical features, cerebrospinal fluid and computed tomography brain findings were similar in HIV-infected and non-infected children. CONCLUSION: TBM incidence decreased over the study period from 2006 to 2011, and was temporally associated with an increase in the uptake of antiretroviral treatment in HIV-infected individuals.

Maternal group B Streptococcus-related stillbirth: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Limited epidemiological data on the association between maternal rectovaginal group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonisation and stillbirth makes assessment of antenatal interventions for GBS stillbirth difficult. OBJECTIVES: To systematically review the existing literature and evaluate the incidence of GBS-related stillbirth by region up to March 2015. SEARCH STRATEGY: A systematic review of the published literature was completed using PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, and Cochrane Library, with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and search terms based upon the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Active Bacterial Core Surveillance (ABCs) GBS-related stillbirth definition and chorioamnionitis. SELECTION CRITERIA: Studies reporting original data on GBS-related stillbirth occurring ≥20 weeks of gestation, with GBS confirmed by autopsy or by culture from the placenta, amniotic fluid, or other normally sterile site samples from the stillborn. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Descriptive analyses were performed with the absolute GBS-related stillbirth rates and proportion of stillbirths attributed to GBS calculated per study where possible. Differences in stillbirth definitions did not allow for pooled estimates to be calculated. MAIN RESULTS: Seventeen studies reported GBS-related stillbirth rates varying from 0.04 to 0.9 per 1000 births, with the proportion of stillbirths associated with GBS ranging from 0 to 12.1%. Most studies reported data from before the year 2000 and from high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: The sparsely available epidemiological evidence was not reported consistently, emphasising the importance of standardised stillbirth definitions and diagnostic methods to optimally assess the effectiveness of any future antenatal interventions. Timing of stillbirth, GBS serotype, and global diversity were gaps in the current evidence. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Systematic review finds Group B Streptococcus causes up to 12.1% of stillbirths, but more research is needed.

The effect of topical calcipotriol or zinc on tuberculin skin tests in hospitalised South African children.

BACKGROUND: The tuberculin skin test (TST) is used to help diagnose tuberculosis (TB) in acutely ill hospitalised children. OBJECTIVE To investigate the potential augmentative effect of topical calcipotriol (a vitamin D analogue) or zinc on TST induration. METHODS: Three TSTs were performed among 64 hospitalised children; each site was covered with topical aqueous cream (control), calcipotriol or zinc and assessed 24 and 48 h later by investigators blinded to all topical applications. RESULTS: TSTs were reactive in 15 (23.4%) children, of whom 13 (20.3%) were TST-positive. Topical calcipotriol and zinc induced TST positivity in two children with reactive but negative control TSTs. These treatments, however, did not significantly increase TST positivity rates. In children with reactive TSTs, the median 48 h induration diameter was not significantly different between the control, calcipotriol- or zinc-treated groups, which were respectively 12.0 (25%-75% IQR 5.0 - 18.0), 14.0 (25%-75% IQR 10.0 - 15.0) and 12.0 (25%-75% IQR 8.0 - 15.0) mm. Topical treatments did not induce TST reactivity or TST positivity in children with culture-confirmed TB disease (n = 4), human immunodeficiency virus infection (n= 18) or kwashiorkor (n = 9). CONCLUSIONS: Topical calcipotriol or zinc does not induce TST reactivity or significantly increase TST positivity rates in acutely ill hospitalised children. However, further studies are required to assess the effects of topical treatments on TST positivity in severely malnourished children.

Woman abuse in South Africa: an exploratory study.

PIP: This study aims to address the problem of woman abuse in South Africa as a basis for program development for survivors of violence. It also presents documentation for the expansion of social, health, and legal services for abused women and children. Ethnographic interviews were conducted on 37 South African women from various community settings and institutions in the Johannesburg region. Two focus groups discussed issues from the interview data. Two aspects of woman abused in South Africa were revealed in this study, namely, the endemic culture of violence, and the existence of cheap labor of domestic workers. It was observed that women abuse and sexual assault are rampant because of the endemic culture of violence and by customs, culture, and tradition which tends to objectify women and make them feel like male property. Regarding child and elderly abuse, it appears that more cases are being reported in South Africa. This study confirms the need for national survey data and in-depth research with abused women themselves in order to acquire a clearer picture of the personal, familial, and societal costs of violence against women. Furthermore, acknowledgement of domestic violence and its overall burden on community stability and health is vital in implementing reforms in South Africa.^ieng