ABSTRACT
Airplanes are widely used by families and their children and pediatricians are increasingly asked to answer questions on this subject. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of pediatricians in this field except for medical transportation. Pediatricians belonging to the AFPA, the SFP, the SNPEH, or the SP2A were emailed a questionnaire on the physiological particularities of airborne transportation, contraindications to flight related to diseases (infections, diabetes, sickle-cell anemia, respiratory diseases, etc.) and the possible medication intake on board. Among the 232 responders, 82.3% had an exclusive hospital practice and 65% were specialized in more than one area of medicine. Regarding contraindications to flying, the rate of correct answers varied from 14 to 84% with divided opinions regarding respiratory and hematological pathologies. However, contraindications related to infections were well known. Items related to oxygen therapy raised questions as 35-68% of pediatricians stated that they could not answer. On the whole, this work demonstrated very fragmented knowledge on this topic.
Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Data Collection , Pediatrics , Travel , Adult , Aged , Child , Clinical Competence , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Specialization , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
We report 2 cases of children with group A streptococcus pyogenes pleuropneumonia, in one child associated with Kawasaki disease and in the other with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. These 2 features, with theoretically well-defined clinical and biological criteria, are difficult to differentiate in clinical practice, however, likely due to their pathophysiological links. In case of clinical doubt, an echocardiography needs to be performed to search for coronary involvement and treatment including intravenous immunoglobulins, and an antibiotic with an anti-toxin effect such as clindamycin has to be started early.