Human Parechovirus Central Nervous System Infection in a Young Infant Cohort.

In 2022, a surge in cases of pediatric human parechovirus (HPeV) central nervous system infections in young infants was seen at our institution. Despite the dramatic increase in the number of cases seen that year, the clinical features of the illness were similar to prior years. The recent pediatric HPeV surge highlights the need to evaluate treatment options and standardize follow-up to better understand the long-term prognosis of infants with HPeV infection.

Symptomatic Acute Myocarditis in 7 Adolescents After Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccination.

Trials of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination included limited numbers of children, so they may not have detected rare but important adverse events in this population. We report 7 cases of acute myocarditis or myopericarditis in healthy male adolescents who presented with chest pain all within 4 days after the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination. Five patients had fever around the time of presentation. Acute COVID-19 was ruled out in all 7 cases on the basis of negative severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test results of specimens obtained by using nasopharyngeal swabs. None of the patients met criteria for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Six of the 7 patients had negative severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 nucleocapsid antibody assay results, suggesting no previous infection. All patients had an elevated troponin. Cardiac MRI revealed late gadolinium enhancement characteristic of myocarditis. All 7 patients resolved their symptoms rapidly. Three patients were treated with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs only, and 4 received intravenous immunoglobulin and corticosteroids. In this report, we provide a summary of each adolescent's clinical course and evaluation. No causal relationship between vaccine administration and myocarditis has been established. Continued monitoring and reporting to the US Food and Drug Administration Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System is strongly recommended.

Burden of non-sexually transmitted infections on adolescent growth and development in the developing world.

A vast majority of children living in developing countries face their teen years following a childhood of malnutrition and limited access to education and health care. In this environment of disadvantages, exposure to old and reemerging infections become a significant determinant of their likelihood to overcome poverty: tuberculosis and its rapid progression during adolescence may anticipate a premature death; malaria, as well as its debilitating recurrent febrile episodes and anemia, is responsible for most of their lost time at school or work. Furthermore, the burden of anemia and malnutrition is aggravated by infestation with common intestinal worms such as with hookworms, Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides. These parasites compete for iron and nutrients and produce mucosal damage and inflammation causing anorexia and worsening the intake and absorption of their marginal diets. Other infections among the many neglected tropical infectious diseases, many others common to adolescents in developed countries, and some that could be controlled by access to vaccines, add scores against the physical and intellectual fitness of millions of teens in tropical developing countries.