Parental Perception and Barriers Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination in Technology Dependent Children.

INTRODUCTION: Children who use chronic home mechanical ventilation are at high risk for respiratory infections and mortality. They are also at increased risk for developing severe COVID-19 infection. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the parental perception of the COVID-19 vaccine in pediatric patients with technology dependence. METHOD: We conducted a cross-sectional survey at a children's hospital between September 2021 and February 2022. A telephone or in-person interview was conducted to assesss parental attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccine for their technology-dependent child. Technology-dependent groups included patients requiring (1) invasive mechanical ventilation via tracheostomy and (2) noninvasive mechanical ventilation via a facial interface. RESULTS: Fourteen of 44 participants (32%) of technology-dependent children were vaccinated for COVID-19 despite high parental vaccination and influenza vaccination rates. Twenty-eight patients (63% of total participants) were tracheostomy dependent. In the tracheostomy group, the COVID-19 vaccine rate was 28% versus 54% in the nontracheostomy group.  Concern for vaccine side effects was the major reason for vaccine hesitancy (53%). More parents of vaccinated children than unvaccinated children were counseled by their primary care provider (85.7% vs. 46.7%; p = .02) or subspecialist (93% vs. 47%; p = .003). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest counseling by primary care providers and subspecialists is important in overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Social media was identified as a major source of information, particularly among parents of unvaccinated patients.

Diagnosis of EVALI in Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Series.

OBJECTIVE: Electronic-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury (EVALI) is an illness that requires further awareness for appropriate diagnosis and management. This series is a retrospective chart review of EVALI cases admitted from June to December 2020 at a large academic children's hospital in New York. METHODS: Notably during this time, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic rendered the world under strict quarantine mandates. We discuss 7 patients, all of whom were seen in a clinic, urgent care, or emergency department before presentation to our hospital. RESULTS: Patients presented with respiratory, gastroenterology, and constitutional complaints typically seen with EVALI and COVID-19. However, given their complex presentations in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, EVALI was not considered as pertinent history was not elicited. CONCLUSIONS: With the COVID-19 pandemic as a setting for these cases, we emphasize the importance of eliciting a complete psychosocial history for all adolescents because without vaping disclosure, EVALI will go undiagnosed. It is also imperative to ensure consistent outpatient follow-up, although difficult because of limited access or hesitation and fear of acquiring COVID-19 in health care settings during the pandemic, and to stress vaping cessation, both of which are crucial in preventing further complications.

Asthma and COVID-19: An early inpatient and outpatient experience at a US children's hospital.

BACKGROUND: Initially, persistent asthma was deemed a risk factor for severe COVID-19 disease. However, data suggests that asthmatics do not have an increased risk of COVID-19 infection or disease. There is a paucity of data describing pediatric asthmatics with COVID-19. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of asthma among hospitalized children with acute symptomatic COVID-19, compare demographic and clinical outcomes between asthmatics and nonasthmatics, and characterize behaviors of our outpatient pediatric population. METHODS: We conducted a single-center retrospective study of pediatric patients admitted to the Cohen Children's Medical Center at Northwell Health with symptomatic COVID-19 within 4 months of the surge beginning in March 2020 and a retrospective analysis of pediatric asthma outpatients seen in the previous 6 months. Baseline demographic variables and clinical outcomes for inpatients, and medication compliance, health behaviors, and asthma control for outpatients were collected. RESULTS: Thirty-eight inpatients and 95 outpatients were included. The inpatient prevalence of asthma was 34.2%. Asthmatics were less likely to have abnormal chest x-rays (CXRs), require oxygen support, and be treated with remdesivir. Among outpatients, 41% reported improved asthma control and decreased rescue medication use, with no COVID-19 hospitalizations, despite six suspected infections. CONCLUSIONS: Among children hospitalized for acute symptomatic COVID-19 at our institution, 34.2% had a diagnosis of asthma. Asthmatics did not have a more severe course and required a lower level of care. Outpatients had improved medication compliance and control and a low risk of hospitalization. Biological and behavioral factors may have mitigated against severe disease.

American Thoracic Society 2019 Pediatric Core Curriculum.

The American Thoracic Society Pediatric Core Curriculum updates clinicians annually in pediatric pulmonary disease in a 3 to 4 year recurring cycle of topics. The 2019 course was presented in May during the Annual International Conference. An American Board of Pediatrics Maintenance of Certification module and a continuing medical education exercise covering the contents of the Core Curriculum can be accessed online at www.thoracic.org.

On the nature of pleural involvement in necrotizing pneumonia: a report of two cases of life threatening late complications.

Suppurative complications of pneumonia such as empyema, lung abscess, pyopneumothorax, and necrotizing pneumonia (NP) are uncommon in children. Over the last decade an increasing incidence of NP has been reported. Streptococcus pneumoniae continues to be the predominant causative organism of NP, and while sporadic cases were reported prior to routine administration of heptavalent pneumococcal vaccine, a marked increase in NP appears to relate to replacement pneumococcal strains. Pleural involvement is almost universal in NP, and the course of pleural disease often determines its duration and outcome, particularly as it relates to complication of bronchopleural fistula. Cavities are formed in NP within the lung parenchyma and in the pleural space as the fibrosing pleural process organizes. The similarity of the radiologic appearance of parenchymal and pleural space cavities often makes the differentiation of pneumatocele versus residua of loculated pneumothorax challenging. The prevailing perception from most reports on childhood NP is of a favorable outcome with conservative approach. We report two pediatric cases with pneumonia who presented with prolonged fever despite antibiotic treatment, eventually diagnosed with NP. After stabilization on prolonged IV antibiotics, and weeks after discharge, they presented with unexpected acute respiratory failure due to a life-threatening tension air collection. In this article we discuss the nature of NP, its typical presentation, benign course and outcome, albeit its potential to cause serious late complications in the light of our recent experiences. Increasing awareness of such complications will result in more careful follow-up and in providing appropriate recommendations to parents of patients recovering from NP.

Obliterative lower airway lesions in childhood: bronchoscopic diagnosis and clinical spectrum.

Previous reports have described structural airway abnormalities in children with non-cystic fibrosis chronic supportive lung disease as well as obliterative membranes in the major bronchi of cystic fibrosis patients. The putative paradigm proposed in the evolution of these membranes invokes intense inflammation resulting in granulation tissue and neovascularization with the formation of pyogenic granuloma and eventually fibrosis. Our series of four cases widens the spectrum of conditions that may be conducive to large airway obliteration to include non-suppurative chronic infections and possibly immunosuppression. Obliteration of lumina in proximal and distal airways was visualized on bronchoscopy, the latter by the use of the ultrathin bronchoscopes. An attempt at invasive intervention by transbronchial breaching of the obstruction was unsuccessful in three cases, and in one case, the obliterative process resolved spontaneously and without any radiologic trace, presumably by resorption or rupture or through development of collateral ventilation. This series highlights the use of bronchoscopy for diagnosis and occasionally for therapeutic intervention in hitherto little recognized obliterative airway lesions. These acquired obliterative lesions should be considered in the evaluation of patients with isolated non-resolving pulmonary infiltrates or other conditions in which bronchial and bronchiolar patency may be impaired.

Probiotic administration in early life, atopy, and asthma: a meta-analysis of clinical trials.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Probiotics may reduce the risk of atopy and asthma in children. However, results from clinical trials have been conflicting, and several of them may have been underpowered. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials to assess the effects of probiotic supplementation on atopic sensitization and asthma/wheeze prevention in children. METHODS: Random-effects models were used to calculate pooled risk estimates. Meta-regression was conducted to examine the effect of potential factors on probiotics efficacy. RESULTS: Probiotics were effective in reducing total immunoglobulin E (IgE) (mean reduction: -7.59 U/mL [95% confidence interval (CI): -14.96 to -0.22]; P = .044). Meta-regression showed that the reduction in IgE was more pronounced with longer follow-up. Probiotics significantly reduced the risk of atopic sensitization when administered prenatally (relative risk: 0.88 [95% CI: 0.78 to 0.99]; P = .035 for positive result on the skin prick test and/or elevated specific IgE to common allergens) and postnatally (relative risk: 0.86 [95% CI: 0.75 to 0.98]; P = .027 for positive result on skin prick test). Administration of Lactobacillus acidophilus, compared with other strains, was associated with an increased risk of atopic sensitization (P = .002). Probiotics did not significantly reduce asthma/wheeze (relative risk: 0.96 [95% CI: 0.85 to 1.07]). CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal and/or early-life probiotic administration reduces the risk of atopic sensitization and decreases the total IgE level in children but may not reduce the risk of asthma/wheeze. Follow-up duration and strain significantly modified these effects. Future trials for asthma prevention should carefully select probiotic strain and consider longer follow-up.

Treatment of disorders characterized by reversible airway obstruction in childhood: are anti-cholinergic agents the answer?

Release of acetylcholine from parasympathetic nerves in the airways activates postjunctional muscarinic receptors present on smooth muscle, submucosal glands and blood vessels. This triggers bronchoconstriction, muscle hypertrophy, mucus secretion, and vasodilatation, respectively. The release of acetylcholine from parasympathetic nerves in lungs is induced by a variety of stimuli and downregulated by the inhibitory activity of neuronal M2 muscarinic receptors via a feedback mechanism. Increased parasympathetic nerve activity occurs in a variety of airway diseases in childhood, including viral-induced wheeze and asthma. Common to these conditions are reversible airway obstruction, mucus hypersecretion, vasodilation and enhanced vascular permeability. In animal models of airway hyperreactivity similar findings of increased acetylcholine release resulting in enhanced supply of this neurotransmitter to the postjunctional smooth muscles, submucosal glands and airway vessels, were demonstrated. While the number and function of postjunctional muscarinic receptors in the airways are unchanged in such airway disorders, inhibitory activity on the parasympathetic nerves appears to be impaired. Specifically, M2 muscarinic receptor dysfunction has been demonstrated in models of bronchial hyperreactivity induced by a variety of triggers, including viruses, atmospheric pollutants and allergens. The mechanisms leading to impairment of neuronal M2 muscarinic receptor function and their putative relevance to the pathogenesis and the treatment of airway disease in childhood are described. Finally, the available data on the activity of ipratropium bromide, a short-acting anticholinergic drug, in the most common pediatric airway disease are reported and the possible therapeutic efficacy of tiotropium bromide, a more recently introduced long-acting, selective anticholinergic compound, is discussed.

Special considerations in pediatric asthma.

Asthma is the most common chronic illness in childhood with challenges that revolve around interventions that can potentially alter the course of the disease and concerns regarding the safety of regular use of controller medications. Recent studies suggest that the use of inhaled corticosteroids in very young children with frequent wheezing episodes and at high risk for asthma, while effective, does not alter the eventual progression to asthma. As a controller medication, the safety of inhaled corticosteroids as regards efficacy and risk are reviewed. The use of as-needed ICS as a strategy to reduce risk of adverse events can be explored in children with mild persistent asthma. The key to risk reduction is to titrate the dose of steroids to the lowest dose needed to achieve asthma control. Aside from inhaled corticosteroids, other controller medications are described within the framework of the updated asthma guidelines released by the NIH-National Asthma Education and Prevention Program in 2007. Other interventions that may attenuate asthma risk and severity include environmental measures towards allergen avoidance and attention to the increasing prevalence of obesity. The use of age-appropriate delivery systems for inhaled medications is also important for asthma control.