Comparative Analysis of Pediatric Brucellosis Cases With and Without Bacteremia.

Introduction: Brucellosis, which is among the endemic regions of Turkey, is a common zoonotic disease. The gold standard in diagnosing brucellosis is culture. We aimed to compare demographic characteristics, risk factors, and clinical and laboratory variables between cases with culture positivity and undetected in culture. Materials and Methods: This single-center study was conducted between January 2007 and April 2022. Clinical and laboratory data of patients with brucella growth in blood culture and patients without growth were compared. Results: A total of 150 patients were included in the study. The median age was 10 (1-18 years). Of the patients, 66 (44%) were female and 84 (56%) were male. Forty (26.7%) of the patients were bacteremic and 110 (73.3%) were nonbacteremic. In the bacteremic group, white blood cell count, platelet, and hemoglobin counts were lower, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values were higher. In clinical evaluation, fever, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, and abdominal pain were more common in the bacteremic group. Conclusion: The distinction between bacteremic and nonbacteremic brucellosis can be predicted using laboratory values such as white blood cells, hemoglobin counts, platelet, ALT, and AST, and clinical findings such as fever, abdominal pain, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly.

The impact of the BIOFIRE® Blood Culture Identification 2 Panel on antimicrobial treatment of children with suspected systemic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsis.

This study aimed to assess the therapeutic effects of implementing the BioFire® Blood Culture Identification 2 (BCID2) Panel (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) in the clinical practice of children with sepsis. This retrospective cross-sectional study included children from 15 days of age to 18 years old with sepsis and of whom the BCID2 Panel was studied from the positive blood culture. If the antimicrobial treatment was changed according to the results of BCID2 Panel, it was recorded and re-grouped as targeted antimicrobial therapy, de-escalation of the antimicrobial treatment and shifting to another antimicrobial drug if any antimicrobial resistance was detected. Seven-days and thirty-days mortality rate was recorded. Thirty-two patients with 36 septic episodes with positive BCID2 Panel results were included. The median age was 10 months 15 days (ranging from 15 days to 16.5 years). The mean difference between having positive results by the BCID2 Panel and conventional culture methods was 82.2 ± 45.4 h (ranging from 12.3 to 207 h). Effect of the BCID2 Panel on the antimicrobial treatment was detected in 69.4% of the episodes (n = 25). Glycopeptides were ceased at 6 patients, piperacillin/tazobactam was ceased at 6 patients, and cefotaxime was ceased at one patient and de-escalation was achieved in 13 episodes which formed the 36.1% of the initial antimicrobial treatment.   Conclusion: The BCID2 Panel had an important impact on the patients care and optimization according to the principles of antimicrobial stewardship. The BCID2 Panel may be one of the key items for rapid and accurate diagnosis in children with sepsis. Blood culture is still the mainstay for especially detection of antimicrobial drug resistance, while BCID2 tests had several advantages such as speed and diagnostic accuracy as good as blood culture. What is Known: • The BioFire® Blood Culture Identification 2 (BCID2) Panel (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) is a well-validated assay that allows for the simultaneous identification of 43 nucleic acid targets associated with bloodstream infections within about 1 h. What is New: • BCID2 Panel had a direct impact on the patient's treatment decision at the 69.4% of the sepsis episodes. • The clinicians received the microbiological results 82.2 h earlier with BCID2 panel compared to blood culture methods with antimicrobial resistance and de-escalation of the antimicrobial drugs was achieved at 13 episodes which formed the 36.1% of the initial treatment.

Rehospitalization indications of children hospitalized for COVID-19 infections after discharge: Should we suspect long COVID?

BACKGROUND: Complications that may develop in children after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections are unknown. The `Long COVID` syndrome is a new process that can also be identified in children. Therefore, in this study, the conditions that may develop in children after COVID-19 infection were discussed, and the indications for rehospitalizations were reviewed. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in a tertiary children`s hospital in Izmir, Türkiye. All children who were rehospitalized in the study center after discharge, and the indications for readmissions were screened. RESULTS: Since the beginning of the pandemic, 777 children with COVID-19 infection were hospitalized, including 98 (12.6%) cases rehospitalized for any indication. Fifty-five (56.1%) patients were male, and 43 (43.9%) were female. The mean age of the study population was 79.3±63.5 months (1 month to 17 years). Among these 98 patients, 76 (77.6%) were rehospitalized because of the presence of their primary underlying disease, nonspecific infectious diseases unrelated to COVID-19, and the need to perform certain surgical procedures. The remaining 22 (22.4%) patients presented with symptoms such as fatigue, fever, abdominal pain, and myalgia after the COVID-19 infection. No other underlying cause was detected in approximately one-third of the patients, whose manifestations were found to be consistent with long COVID syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of acute COVID-19 infection are well characterized, but there is still limited data on its long-term outcomes. The majority of the study population that had no underlying disease were thought to have complications from the COVID-19 infection. Therefore, although the incidence rate of long COVID syndrome in childhood has not been revealed so far, it should be kept in mind among relevant differential diagnoses.

Readmission reasons of pediatric patients diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome after discharge.

Objectives: There is no clear information in the literature about causes of reactivation of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) or indications for readmissions for MIS-C after discharge; as a result, the conditions that may develop after infection in children with MIS-C were discussed, and the reasons for hospitalization were screened. Patients and methods: This single-center retrospective study was conducted with 95 patients (65 males, 30 females; mean age: 92.8±55.5 months; range, 5 to 17 months) between November 11, 2020, and December 30, 2021. Children who were rehospitalized in the study center after their discharge with the diagnosis of MIS-C were included in the study, and the indications for readmissions were evaluated. Results: During the study period, six (6.3%) patients (4 males, 2 females; median age: 114.5 months [interquartile range: 122 months]) had to be rehospitalized. Four of these patients had an underlying disease, while the other two were previously healthy children. Fever was the most common reason for readmissions in half of the patients, while the remaining patients were readmitted with the indications of myocarditis, pneumonia, and posttraumatic pain syndrome. Conclusion: Although no evidence for the reactivation of MIS-C was detected in patients in the literature, it should also be emphasized that close follow-up of these patients is a must, considering possible cardiac complications.

Which Findings Make multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Different from the Pre-Pandemic Kawasaki Disease?

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children associated with COVID-19 infection attracted attention because some features overlapped with Kawasaki disease. And due to these overlapping features with Kawasaki disease, it has become difficult to diagnose both disorders. Therefore, this study focused on the differences between the patients diagnosed with MIS-C after COVID-19 and Kawasaki patients analyzed, particularly during the pre-pandemic period. In this way, it is aimed to reduce the dilemmas experienced in Diagnosis. In this descriptive study, 98 patients diagnosed with MIS-C throughout the pandemic were compared to 37 patients diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease during the pre-pandemic period.The patients in the MIS-C group were older children and clinically suffered from more headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and chest pain than Kawasaki patients. Signs of shock such as hypotension and tachycardia were more remarkable. Also, myocarditis and mitral regurgitation were detected at a higher rate in the MIS-C group. Besides, in the laboratory, lymphopenia, hypoalbuminemia, and creatinine elevation were more apparent.In conclusion, our present study findings support that although the MIS-C and Kawasaki share common features, they present with different clinical and laboratory features. And these differences are thought to be supportive in treatment and patient management.

The Evaluation of Troponin I Levels and Myocarditis in Children with COVID-19: A Pediatric Single-Center Experience.

Children with COVID-19 usually show milder symptoms than adults; however, a minority of them may have cardiac involvement. We aimed to identify the role of troponin I levels that may predict early cardiac involvement in children with COVID-19. A single-center retrospective study was conducted to evaluate hospitalized children diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 11, 2020, and December 31, 2021. Patients with available troponin I levels and with no known cardiac disease were included. During the study period, 412 children with COVID-19 who had troponin I levels on admission were identified. Troponin levels were elevated in 7 (1.7%) patients and were normal in 395 (98.3%) patients. The median age of patients with elevated troponin levels was 4 (min. 2-max. 144) months, which was statistically lower than the age of patients with normal troponin levels (P = 0.035). All the patients with elevated troponin levels had tachycardia. Out of 7 patients with high troponin levels, 3 (42.9%) of them were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), 2 (28.6%) required oxygen support, and 1 (14.3%) required a mechanical ventilator. Patients with elevated troponin levels had a statistically longer hospital stay (P < 0.001). Neutropenia, tachycardia, PICU admission, oxygen support, and mechanical ventilation were statistically more common in patients with elevated troponin levels (P values were 0.033, 0.020, < 0.001, 0.050, and < 0.001, respectively). Electrocardiography (ECG) and echocardiography (ECHO) were performed on all patients with elevated troponin levels, and 6 (85.8%) patients were diagnosed with myocarditis. The ECG and ECHO have been performed in 58 (14.3%) out of 405 patients with normal troponin levels. Two (3.5%) patients had negative T waves on ECG, and all ECHOs were normal. Our results suggest that elevated troponin I levels in children with COVID-19 can be used to evaluate cardiac involvement and decide the need for further pediatric cardiologist evaluation.