Incidence, etiology, sociodemographic and clinical characterization of acute respiratory failure in pediatric patients at a high-altitude city: A multicenter cohort study.

Background: Acute respiratory failure is a life-threatening medical condition, associated with a variety of conditions and risk factors, including acute respiratory diseases which are a frequent cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality worldwide. In Colombia, the literature related to ARF is scarce. Objective: To determine the incidence, causes, and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of ARF in three hospitals in Bogota, a high-altitude city located in Colombia, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A multicenter prospective cohort study called the FARA cohort was developed between April 2020 - December 2021. Patients older than one month and younger than 18 years with respiratory distress who developed ARF were included. Results: 685 patients with respiratory distress were recruited in 21 months. The incidence density of ARF was found to be 41.7 cases per 100 person-year CI 95%, (37.3-47.7). The median age was 4.5 years.. Most of the patients consulted during the first 72 h after the onset of symptoms. Upon admission, 67.2% were potentially unstable. The most frequent pathologies were asthma, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, and sepsis. At admission, 75.6% of the patients required different oxygen delivery systems, 29,5% a low-flow oxygen system, 36,8% a high-flow oxygen system, and 9,28% invasive mechanical ventilation. SARS-COV-2, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus/enterovirus, and adenovirus were the most frequently isolated viral agents. The coinfection cases were scarce. Conclusions: This multicenter study, the FARA cohort, developed at 2,600 meters above sea level, shows the first data on incidence, etiology, sociodemographic and clinical characterization in a pediatric population with ARF that also concurs with the COVID-19 pandemic. These results, not only have implications for public health but also contribute to the scientific and epidemiological literature on a disease developed at a high altitude.

[Sternal osteomyelitis and scrofuloderma due to BCG vaccination]. / Osteomielitis esternal y escrofuloderma por vacuna BCG.

BCG vaccine has been used for nearly 100 years in the prevention of tuberculosis. The case of a 13 month-old girl vaccinated as a newborn with BCG is described as presenting a sternal mass with associated periostic erosion. The mass was resected, and histopathological examination revealed a chronic inflammatory reaction with caseous granulomas, and extension to bone and skin. PCR amplifications using specific primers for Mycobacterium tuberculosis on paraffin-embedded tissue were negative. BCG vaccination at birth, the histological appearance and the absence of M. tuberculosis DNA in the resected tissue indicated that osteomyelitis and scrofuloderma were a consequence of BCG. Osteomyelitis is a rarely occurring adverse effect of BCG vaccination, more commonly seen in immunosuppressed patients. In the patient described above, no symptoms of immunodeficiency were seen, however.

Osteomielitis esternal y escrofuloderma por vacuna BCG / Sternal osteomyelitis and scrofuloderma due to BCG vaccination

La vacuna BCG se ha usado en todo el mundo desde principios del siglo XX para la prevención de la tuberculosis. Se describe el caso de una niña de 13 meses de edad, previamente sana, que consultó por una masa esternal. El estudio radiológico mostró erosión perióstica. La lesión fue resecada y en la histopatología se encontró una reacción inflamatoria crónica con granulomas caseificantes con compromiso óseo y cut neo. Se realizó una amplificación por PCR con iniciadores específicos de Mycobacterium tuberculosis del ADN obtenido a partir del tejido incluido en parafina, cuyo resultado fue negativo. Los antecedentes de vacunación con BCG, la aparición de este tipo de granulomas y la ausencia de ADN de M. tuberculosis en el tejido resecado apoyan el diagnóstico de osteomielitis esternal y escrofuloderma por BCG. La osteomielitis es una complicación infrecuente de la vacunación por BCG, que puede presentarse especialmente en pacientes inmunosuprimidos. La evolución clínica de la paciente no ha demostrado ninguna forma de inmunodeficiencia.