Effect of Macrolides and ß-lactams on Clearance of Bordetella pertussis in the Nasopharynx in Children With Whooping Cough.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study is to investigate the bactericidal effect of macrolides and ß-lactams on Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) in the nasopharynx and provide guidance for treating macrolides-resistant B. pertussis infections. METHODS: Patients with whooping cough was diagnosed by culture of nasopharynx swabs between January 2016 to December 2018. B. pertussis was identified using specific antisera against pertussis and parapertussis. Drug susceptibility test was carried out using the E-test method. The clearance of B. pertussis in nasopharynx at 7 and 14 days into and posttreatment with macrolides, and ß-lactams was compared. RESULTS: A total of 125 B. pertussis samples were collected from patients who received single antibiotic treatment. Among those isolates, 62.4% (78/125) had high resistance with minimum inhibitory concentrations greater than 256 mg/L for erythromycin and azithromycin. The MIC90 of piperacillin, cefoperazone-sulbactam, meropenem, ampicillin, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for these isolates was <0.016, 0.094, 0.094, 0.19, 0.19, 0.25 and 0.75 mg/L, respectively. The clearance rate with ß-lactams treatment (68.8%, 44/64) was significantly higher than that with macrolides treatment at 14 days posttreatment (50.8%, 31/61) (χ2 = 4.18, P = 0.04). Macrolides had a better clearance rate at 7 days posttreatment than ß-lactams (χ2 = 4.49, P = 0.03) for macrolides-sensitive isolates and a worse clearance rate for macrolides-resistant isolates. CONCLUSION: B. pertussis isolates had a high-resistant rate for macrolides in our study. Macrolides are the first choice for treating pertussis caused by macrolides-sensitive strains, and some ß-lactams such as piperacillin should be considered as alternative antibiotics for treatment of macrolides-resistant B. pertussis infection.

[Clinical analysis of 13 cases with growth hormone deficiency combined with pituitary stalk interruption].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical characteristics of the patients with pituitary stalk interruption syndrome (PSIS), and to achieve better comprehension of this disease. METHOD: Data of 13 patients with PSIS were retrospectively analyzed for the clinical, laboratory and imaging features. RESULT: All the 13 patients (9 male, 4 female) had the chief complaint of growth retardation, 81.5 - 135.0 cm in body height, which were minus two standard deviations below the average of the normal children of same age and same sex. GH stimulated peak levels were all below 5 microg/L; Among them, one was accompanied by delayed sexual development, one by central diabetes insipidus, one was complicated with central hypothyroidism and one was accompanied by central adrenocortical hypofunction. CONCLUSION: The most remarkable clinical manifestations of patients with PSIS were growth retardation, partial or complete adenohypophyseal dysfunction. MRI revealed absence of pituitary stalk or anterior pituitary hypoplasia with ectopic posterior pituitary gland.