Telemedicine in Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

Telemedicine is the remote practice of medicine through the use of information and communication technologies for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of diseases. In this narrative review, we illustrate how telemedicine technologies are increasingly integrated into pediatric infectious disease programs with the aim of facilitating access to specialist care and reducing costs. There is widespread use of telemedicine for the management of acute and chronic infectious diseases, particularly in countries in which the majority of the population lives in rural areas, far from third-level hospital centers located in large urban centers. Obviously, telemedicine is also used in developed countries, and its importance has been further increased recently given the COVID-19 pandemic. It has many advantages for patients, such as saving time, money and working hours, and reducing cancelled appointments and delays, while there are also many advantages for doctors, allowing collaborations with specialists and continuous updating. Among the disadvantages are the limitation in carrying out an objective examination, which is particularly important for children under 2 years of age, and the need for cutting-edge technology and reliable connectivity. Telemedicine increasingly represents the future and the beginning of a new healthcare system that also will redefine medical care for the treatment of infectious diseases, both acute and chronic. However, the majority of the experience has involved adults, and its validation in pediatric care, as well as its application in real-life practices, are urgently needed.

Improving the Quality of Hospital Antibiotic Use: Impact on Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infections in Children.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered a rapidly growing global public health emergency. Neonates and children are among patients for whom antibiotics are largely prescribed and for whom the risk of AMR development is high. The phenomenon of increasing AMR has led to the need to develop measures aimed at the rational and effective use of the available drugs also in children and antimicrobial stewardship (AS), which is one of the measures that in adults has showed the highest efficacy in reducing antibiotic abuse and misuse, appears as an attractive approach. The aim of this manuscript is to analyze the basic principles and strategies of pediatric AS. To this end, we searched in PubMed articles published in years 2000 to 2019 containing "antimicrobial resistance," "antibiotic use," "antimicrobial stewardship," and "children" or "pediatric" as keywords. Our review showed that the balance between multi-resistant organisms and new antimicrobials is extremely precarious. The AS tools are the most important weapon at our disposal to stem the phenomenon. Careful monitoring of prescriptions, continuous training of prescribing physicians and collaboration with highly qualified multidisciplinary staff, creation of local and national guidelines, use of rapid diagnostic tests, technological means of support, and research activities by testing new broad-spectrum antibiotics are mandatory. However, all of these measures must be supported by adequate investment by national and international health organizations. Only by making AS daily practice, through the use of financial resources and dedicated staff, we can fight AMR to ensure safe and effective care for our young patients.

Role of Artificial Intelligence in Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance in Pediatrics.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field of science and engineering concerned with the computational understanding of what is commonly called intelligent behavior. AI is extremely useful in many human activities including medicine. The aim of our narrative review is to show the potential role of AI in fighting antimicrobial resistance in pediatric patients. We searched for PubMed articles published from April 2010 to April 2020 containing the keywords "artificial intelligence", "machine learning", "antimicrobial resistance", "antimicrobial stewardship", "pediatric", and "children", and we described the different strategies for the application of AI in these fields. Literature analysis showed that the applications of AI in health care are potentially endless, contributing to a reduction in the development time of new antimicrobial agents, greater diagnostic and therapeutic appropriateness, and, simultaneously, a reduction in costs. Most of the proposed AI solutions for medicine are not intended to replace the doctor's opinion or expertise, but to provide a useful tool for easing their work. Considering pediatric infectious diseases, AI could play a primary role in fighting antibiotic resistance. In the pediatric field, a greater willingness to invest in this field could help antimicrobial stewardship reach levels of effectiveness that were unthinkable a few years ago.