Meningococcal ACWY conjugate vaccine immunogenicity and safety in adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease: A prospective observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Immunogenicity to meningococcal serogroup ACWY (MenACWY) conjugate vaccine has not been studied in immunocompromised minors with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We determined immunogenicity of a MenACWY-TT vaccine in JIA and IBD patients at adolescent age and compared results to data from aged-matched healthy controls (HCs). METHODS: We performed a prospective observational cohort study in JIA and IBD patients (14-18 years old), who received a MenACWY vaccination during a nationwide catch-up campaign (2018-2019) in the Netherlands. Primary aim was to compare MenACWY polysaccharide-specific serum IgG geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) in patients with HCs and secondary between patients with or without anti-TNF therapy. GMCs were determined before and 3-6, 12, and 24 months postvaccination and compared with data from HCs at baseline and 12 months postvaccination. Serum bactericidal antibody (SBA) titers were determined in a subset of patients at 12 months postvaccination. RESULTS: We included 226 JIA and IBD patients (66 % and 34 % respectively). GMCs were lower for MenA and MenW (GMC ratio 0·24 [0·17-0·34] and 0·16 [0·10-0·26] respectively, p < 0·01) in patients compared to HCs at 12 months postvaccination. Anti-TNF users had lower MenACWY GMCs postvaccination compared with those without anti-TNF (p < 0·01). The proportion protected (SBA ≥ 8) for MenW was reduced in anti-TNF users (76 % versus 92 % in non-anti-TNF and 100 % in HCs, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The MenACWY conjugate vaccine was immunogenic in the vast majority of JIA and IBD patients at adolescent age, but seroprotection was lower in patients using anti-TNF agents. Therefore, an extra booster MenACWY vaccination should be considered.

Infliximab Level Between Venous and Capillary Blood Using Novel Device Strongly Correlate in Paediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients.

OBJECTIVES: Blood to measure infliximab (IFX) levels is typically obtained with venipuncture. Dried blood sampling (DBS), using capillary blood obtained from a finger prick, would be an alternative to measure IFX blood levels while being more patient friendly. The aim of this study is to compare IFX blood level measured by venipuncture versus DBS in patients with paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) to assure accuracy. METHODS: A prospective clinical pilot study was performed in patients with PIBD. Before IFX infusion, blood was collected simultaneously through venipuncture and DBS from a finger prick, using Mitratips (Neoteryx). All IFX concentrations were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The Bland-Altman analysis was used to measure limits of agreement. The interrater reliability was measured with the interclass correlation coefficient and Cohen kappa. To calculate Cohen kappa, IFX levels were categorized into 3 groups; low <5 µg/mL, adequate 5 to 10 µg/mL, and high >10 µg/mL. RESULTS: Twenty patients were included. Median age was 12.1 year (interquartile range 8-16 year). The mean difference between the 2 methods was -0.14 as calculated with Bland-Altman plot. The limits of agreement were between -1.39 and 1.12. The interclass correlation coefficient was with 0.998 excellent. The Cohen kappa between 3 IFX level categories was strong K = 0.911 (P = 0.0001). There was a strong correlation between venous IFX serum levels and DBS (r = 0.991, P = 0.0001) in the included patients. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in patients with PIBD to show that bloodspot technology is a patient friendly alternative method to measure IFX blood levels in PIBD.

Self-efficacy did not predict the outcome of the transition to adult care in adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease.

AIM: It can be difficult for adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to make the transition from paediatric to adult care. We studied the outcomes of this process and defined what constituted a successful transition. METHODS: In 2008, 50 adolescents who attended our IBD transition clinic completed IBD-yourself, a self-efficacy questionnaire that we had previously developed and validated. We approached the subjects in 2014, two to six years after they transferred to adult care, and 35 agreed to take part in the current study. The outcome of transition was assessed by our newly developed Transition Yourself Score. In addition, the relationship between self-efficacy and the outcome of the transition was measured. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 21.8 years, and 69% suffered from Crohn's disease. The transition process was successful in 63% of cases, moderately successful in 31% and failed in 6%. A successful transition was associated with effective use of medication and clinical remission at the time of transfer, but could not be predicted by self-efficacy. The Transition Yourself Score will be validated in future studies. CONCLUSION: Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the adolescents who attended the IBD transition clinic had a successful transition to adult care.

Neutrophil CD64 expression is not a useful biomarker for detecting serious bacterial infections in febrile children at the emergency department.

BACKGROUND: CD64 is expressed on the surface membrane of neutrophils (nCD64) in the presence of bacterial infection. Although initial studies in intensive care settings have been promising, only two small, methodologically flawed studies have been performed in feverish children presenting to the emergency department (ED), both of which were showing a moderate diagnostic value of nCD64 to detect a serious bacterial infection (SBI). This study aimed to determine the diagnostic value of nCD64 in children presenting with fever to the ED for detecting SBI. METHODS: In this prospective observational multi-centre study previously healthy children aged 1 month-16 years with fever, presenting to the ED of two hospitals in the Netherlands in 2011-2012 were included. Standardised information on clinical features were collected and nCD64 and CRP were measured routinely. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the discriminative ability to detect SBI (ROC-area) of nCD64 compared with CRP. Diagnostic performance measures including sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios were calculated. RESULTS: In 392 children (45%) with both CRP and nCD64 determined, 52 children (13%) had an SBI. The AUC of the ROC curve for CD64 was 0.62 (95% CI = 0.54-0.70) and 0.75 (95% CI = 0.67-0.83) for CRP. Neither duration of fever nor deviated vital signs influenced the diagnostic performance of nCD64. CONCLUSION: NCD64 expression has poor discriminative value to detect children with an SBI in a general population of febrile children at the ED. It has no superior value compared to CRP in this setting, neither in total nor in sub-populations.

[A boy with an eschar and a rash]. / Een jongen met een eschar en huiduitslag.

An 8-year-old boy presented with a fever, headache, maculopapular rash and painful joints after a vacation in Morocco. He had an eschar on his arm. Under the presumed diagnosis of rickettsiosis he was treated with doxycycline after which his fever subsided. Serology became positive for Rickettsia conorii 2 weeks later.

Self-efficacy in adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease: a pilot study of the "IBD-yourself", a disease-specific questionnaire.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Successful transfer of adolescent IBD patients to an adult gastroenterologist requires anticipation of a changing role for patients and their parents. Self-efficacy has been demonstrated to be important for transfer readiness. We therefore developed an IBD-specific questionnaire (the "IBD-yourself") to assess self-efficacy in adolescent IBD patients visiting a transition clinic. Our aim was to evaluate the reliability of this questionnaire, and to describe the self-efficacy level of adolescent IBD patients, and the perceived self-efficacy level according to their parents. METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, 50 IBD patients (aged 14-18 years) and 40 parents completed the "IBD-yourself" questionnaire. Internal reliability was assessed by standardised Cronbach's α. Median self-efficacy scores per domain were calculated. RESULTS: The domains of the questionnaire for adolescents showed good to excellent internal consistency, with Cronbach's α ranging from 0.64 to 0.93. The domains of the parental questionnaire had Cronbach's α ranging from 0.47 to 0.93. Median self-efficacy scores of adolescents varied from 70 to 100%. In comparison with patient's self-assessment, parents thought that their child was more self-efficacious in knowledge of IBD and diagnostic tests, self-management of medication use, and transfer readiness. Length of time since first visit to the transition clinic was positively correlated with several domains of the questionnaire, such as independent behaviour at the outpatient clinic, and transfer readiness. CONCLUSION: The "IBD-yourself" questionnaire is a first step toward evaluating quality and efficacy of IBD transition programmes. Paediatric gastroenterologists should be aware that parents do not always accurately assess the self-efficacy of their child.