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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Croup is a clinical diagnosis, and the available evidence suggests that, except in rare cases, ancillary testing, such as radiologic imaging, is not helpful. Given the paucity of inpatient-specific evidence for croup care, we hypothesized that there would be marked variability in the use of not routinely indicated resources (NRIRs). Our primary study objective was to describe the variation and predictors of variation in the use of NRIRs. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study that used the Pediatric Health Information System database of generally healthy inpatients with croup aged 6 months to 15 years who were admitted between January 1, 2012 and September 30, 2014. We measured variability in the use of NRIRs: chest and lateral neck radiographs, viral testing, parenteral steroids, and antibiotics. Risk-adjusted analysis was used to compare resource utilization adjusted for hospital-specific effects and average case mix. RESULTS: The cohort included 26 hospitals and 6236 patients with a median age of 18 months. Nine percent of patients required intensive care services, and 3% had a 30-day readmission for croup. We found marked variability in adjusted and unadjusted utilization across hospitals for all resources. In the risk-adjusted analysis, hospital-specific effects rather than patient characteristics were the main predictor of variability in the use of NRIRs. CONCLUSIONS: We observed an up to fivefold difference in NRIR utilization attributable to hospital-level practice variability in inpatient croup care. This study highlights a need for inpatient-specific evidence and quality-improvement interventions to reduce unnecessary utilization and to improve patient outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic strategies based on empirical testing and treatment to identify herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection in neonates may not be appropriate for older children in whom the most common presentation of severe infection is encephalitis, a rare and clinically recognizable condition. METHODS: Use of acyclovir in infants and children in 6 common non-HSV infection–related diagnosis-related groups was characterized between 1999 and 2012 at 15 US pediatric hospitals by using the Pediatric Health Information System database. Characteristics of non-neonatal patients at 1 institution tested for HSV encephalitis over a 6.5-year period were then analyzed to identify factors associated with potentially unnecessary testing and treatment. RESULTS: Acyclovir use increased from 7.6% to 15.6% (P < .001) from 1999 to 2012. Much of this increase came in infants 30 to 60 days of age (82.7% increase, P < .001) and in patients with milder disease severity (44.8% increase, P < .001). Length of stay was increased by 2 days for children treated with acyclovir (P < .001). At our institution, 1394 HSV cerebrospinal fluid polymerase chain reactions were performed in children >30 days old, with only 3 positive results (0.22%). Comparison of the 3 subjects with positive testing and 55 with negative testing revealed that all cases, but only 4% (95% confidence interval 1.2%–14.0%) of noncases had clinical characteristics typical of HSV encephalitis. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies for diagnosis and empirical treatment of suspected HSV encephalitis beyond the neonatal period have trended toward the approach common for neonates without evidence of an increase in disease incidence. This may result in increased medical costs and risk to patients.

OBJECTIVES: Orbital infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus may be increasing. Because Staphylococcus aureus infections have important treatment implications, our objective was to review the microbiology and antibiotic management of children hospitalized with orbital cellulitis and abscesses. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was a retrospective chart review of all patients admitted to a tertiary care children's hospital between 2004 and 2009 with orbital infections confirmed by a computed tomography scan. Patients with preceding surgery or trauma, anatomic eye abnormalities, malignancy, immunodeficiency, or preseptal infections were excluded. RESULTS: There were 94 children with orbital infections. A true pathogen was recovered in 31% of patients. The most commonly identified bacteria was the Streptococcus anginosus group (14 of 94 patients [15%]). Staphylococcus aureus (1 patient with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) was identified in 9% of patients. Combination antimicrobial agents were frequently used (62%), and vancomycin use increased from 14% to 57% during the study period. Patients treated with a single antibiotic during hospitalization (n = 32), in contrast to combination therapy (n = 58), were more likely to be discharged on a single antibiotic (P < .001). Twenty-five (27%) patients were discharged on combination antibiotics. Thirteen (14%) patients were discharged on intravenous therapy. CONCLUSIONS: The Streptococcus anginosus group is an emerging pathogen in pediatric orbital infections. Although methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was uncommon, patients frequently received vancomycin and combination antibiotics. A simplified antibiotic regimen may help limit the development of resistant organisms and facilitate transition to an oral agent.

Background. Beginning in 1997 the Colorado Medicaid program de-emphasized managed care and shifted children from enrollment in a health maintenance organization (HMO), which required an enrollee to have an assigned primary care physician, to either the unassigned fee-for-service (UFFS) program in which the enrollee was not required to have a primary care physician (PCP) or to the primary care physician program (PCPP) in which the enrollee was required to select a participating PCP if one was available. The proportion of Medicaid enrollee-months in HMOs dropped from 75.4% in 1997 to 29% in 2003, whereas the proportion of enrollee-months in UFFS programs during this time period increased from 18.6% to 45.6%, and the proportion in the PCPP increased from 5.5% to 25.3%. This shift of children from HMO managed care to the UFFS program provided a natural experiment to assess the impact of not having an assigned PCP on pediatric primary care services. Objective. We sought to assess whether an elective shift of children from Medicaid HMO managed care plans with an assigned PCP to the UFFS program without an assigned PCP restricted access to a primary care medical home, recommended health supervision visits, and age-appropriate immunizations. Methods. Published Colorado Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) data for 1999–2003 were reviewed to determine if Colorado children enrolled in Medicaid managed care programs with an assigned PCP (HMO and PCPP) compared with the UFFS program were more likely to have any type of visit with a PCP, to have recommended health supervision visits, and to be fully immunized. In the analysis, “HMO total” refers to the average of all children participating in HMO plans. Kaiser Permanente was considered a benchmark because it had the highest immunization rates of all HMOs. “Total Colorado” refers to the average of all children enrolled in Medicaid including the managed care and UFFS options. For 2-year-olds, the 4:3:2:1:1 combination immunization included 4 diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccines, 3 oral poliovirus vaccines or inactivated polio vaccines, 2 hepatitis B vaccines, 1 Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine, and 1 measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Results. In 1999 the percentages of children 12 to 24 months of age having any type of visit with a PCP were >80% for the PCPP, Kaiser Permanente, and UFFS programs. However, although the proportion with any visit remained >85% in 2001 for children enrolled in the PCPP and Kaiser Permanente program, the percentage dropped 13.9% to 66.2% for children in the UFFS program. In 2001 the percentage of children with any type of PCP visit enrolled in the UFFS program (66.2%) was significantly lower than the total Colorado (73.6%) as well as the PCPP (85.7%) and Kaiser Permanente program (97.7%). Children 12 to 24 months of age enrolled in the PCPP in 2001 were 1.3 times more likely to have any type of visit with a PCP compared with those enrolled in the UFFS program. Children in the PCPP in 2001, 2002, and 2003 were 1.4, 1.9, and 2.6 times more likely, respectively, to have all 6 of the recommended health supervision visits compared with children enrolled in the UFFS program. Children 3 to 6 years old in the PCPP in 2001, 2002, and 2003 were 1.3, 1.5, and 1.4 times more likely, respectively, to have an annual health supervision visit compared with children enrolled in the UFFS program. In 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003 2-year-old children enrolled in the PCPP were 2.0, 1.4, 1.5, and 1.8 times more likely, respectively, to be up-to-date with 4:3:2:1:1 vaccines compared with children enrolled in the UFFS program. In 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003 adolescents enrolled in the PCPP were 1.8, 1.6, 1.3, and 1.6 times more likely, respectively, to be up-to-date with 2 measles-mumps-rubella vaccines compared with children enrolled in the UFFS program. Conclusions. This study documents the diminishing ability of the Colorado Medicaid program to provide children access to the benefits of a medical home, including visits with PCPs, recommended health supervision visits, and immunizations as care was shifted to the UFFS program from HMO managed care. The high up-to-date immunization rates achieved by Kaiser Permanente suggest that differences in immunization rates reflect the effectiveness of the care processes rather than the characteristics of the Medicaid population.

Objective. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all negative rapid diagnostic tests for Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis be backed up by culture, which creates a dilemma for clinicians who must make treatment decisions without complete diagnostic information at the time of visit. The use of a follow-up serial rapid antigen test instead of a follow-up culture would provide a more timely result. Methods. Two swabs were collected from children who were suspected of having S pyogenes pharyngitis. Each swab was used for a culture and an OSOM Ultra Strep A Test rapid antigen test. The gold standard of comparison was defined as the identification of S pyogenes on either of the 2 culture plates. Three diagnostic strategies were evaluated: a single rapid antigen test, a rapid antigen test with follow-up rapid antigen test (rapid-rapid), and a rapid antigen test with follow-up culture (rapid-culture). Results. A total of 210 (23.7%) of 887 throat cultures with matched data were identified with S pyogenes. A single rapid antigen test had a sensitivity of 87.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 83.2%–92.1%), the sensitivity of the rapid-rapid follow-up was 91.4% (95% CI: 87.6%–95.2%), and the sensitivity of the rapid-culture follow-up was 95.7% (95% CI: 93.0%–98.5%), which was significantly higher than the others. As shown in Fig 1, when these test strategies were evaluated on a subgroup with clinical symptoms commonly associated with S pyogenes pharyngitis, the sensitivities all increased and were no longer significantly different. None of the strategies reliably exceeded a 95% sensitivity threshold. Conclusions. The American Academy of Pediatrics strategy for S pyogenes detection in children with pharyngitis, requiring a backup culture for those with negative antigen tests, was not exceeded by any other test strategy; however, a rapid-rapid diagnostic strategy may approximate it with the use of judicious clinical selection of patients.

With the current enthusiasm to inform consumer choice and improve the quality of hospital care, there has been an explosion in the creation and proposed implementation of a host of measures by national and state organizations. Colorado, our home state, has mandated a statewide comparative hospital quality report card based on “widely endorsed, evidence-based quality measures” but limited to readily available administrative data to avoid additional data-collection requirements.1 The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has catalogued 1395 quality measures, many of which were calculated from readily available but limited hospital discharge data sets, often with some form of risk adjustment based on case-mix methodologies.2 Like Texas, Florida, and Wisconsin, Colorado is considering the AHRQ-sponsored pediatric quality indicators (PDIs) as measures of comparative hospital quality for pediatric care. We hear frequently: “If it is good enough for AHRQ, it is good enough for us,” although the AHRQ explicitly cautions that none of their measures have been validated for comparing across institutions. Several recent editorials have raised the warning … Address correspondence to Michael G. Kahn, MD, PhD, University of Colorado, Department of Pediatrics, c/o Children's Hospital, 13123 East 16th Ave, B400, Aurora, CO 80045. E-mail: michael.kahn{at}uchsc.edu or kahn.michael{at}tchden.org

BACKGROUND. There has been a gradual decrease in the proportion of children covered by private health insurance in Colorado and the United States with a commensurate increase in those with public insurance or having no insurance which may impact access to care and outcomes.OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this work was to determine whether children with public or no health insurance have differences in hospital admission rates, morbidity, mortality, and/or charges that might be improved if standards of primary care comparable to those of children with private insurance could be achieved.METHODS. We conducted a retrospective comparison of hospitalization-related outcomes for children RESULTS. Compared with those with private insurance, children in Colorado and the United States with public or no insurance have significantly higher rates of total hospital admission, as well as admission for chronic illness, asthma, diabetes, vaccine-preventable disease, psychiatric disease, and ruptured appendix. These children have higher mortality rates, higher severity of illness, are more likely to be admitted through the emergency department and have significantly higher hospital charges per insured child. Higher hospitalization rates occur in children who are nonwhite and/or Hispanic and those who are younger. If children with public or no health insurance in the United States in 2000 had the same hospitalization outcomes as children with private insurance, $5.3 billion in hospital charges could have been saved.CONCLUSIONS. There is an opportunity to achieve improved health outcomes and decreased hospitalization costs for children with public or no health insurance if private insurance standards of health care could be achieved for all US children.

OBJECTIVE. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is the foremost cause of serious lower respiratory tract infection in young children and infants. Because higher rates of hospitalization for bronchiolitis and pneumonia have been noted in high-altitude regions, we hypothesized that physiologic responses to altitude would predispose children to more severe illness from RSV infection. This study examined the effect of residential altitude on hospitalizations for RSV infection in Colorado from 1998 through 2002.METHODS. A geographic information system was used to assemble data for altitude and demographic variables by zip code–tabulation areas. Data then were linked with hospital discharge data for RSV infections. Poisson regression models were developed to explore correlations between hospitalization rates and residential altitude, after adjustment for socioeconomic differences in the underlying population.RESULTS. RSV-associated hospitalizations averaged 15.9 per 1000 infants who were younger than 1 year and 1.8 per 1000 children who were 1 to 4 years of age per season. A multivariate analysis suggested that the rate of hospitalization for RSV-specific International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes increased 25% among infants who were younger than 1 year and 53% among children who were 1 to 4 years of age for every 1000-m increase in altitude. The risk for RSV-associated hospitalization was highest at elevations above 2500 m.CONCLUSIONS. High altitude above 2500 m is a modest predictor for RSV-associated hospitalization. Practitioners in these regions should consider additional efforts to educate parents about RSV infection and its prevention and the importance of early treatment.

Objectives. Antimicrobial surgical prophylaxis comprises one third of all antibiotic use in pediatric hospitals and 80% of all antibiotic use in surgery. Previous studies reported that antimicrobial surgical prophylaxis is often inconsistent with recommended guidelines. An electronic surveillance system was developed to measure antimicrobial utilization and to identify opportunities to improve and monitor the administration of antibiotics for surgical prophylaxis. Methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on patients with selected inpatient surgical procedures performed from May 1999 to April 2000 at 4 US children’s hospitals. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision surgical procedure codes were divided into clean or unclean categories, and an electronic surveillance system was designed using antibiotic and microbiologic culture utilization data to measure appropriate antimicrobial use associated with the surgical procedure. A medical chart review was conducted to validate the electronic system. Results. Ninety percent of cases were classified properly by the electronic surveillance system as confirmed by medical chart review. Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis was not in accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines for almost half of all procedures. Prolonged antimicrobial administration in clean surgical procedures was the most frequent deviation from guidelines. Statistical differences between the index hospital and the comparison hospitals reflect both over- and underutilization of surgical prophylaxis with significant opportunity to improve prophylaxis for all hospitals. Conclusions. Antimicrobial surgical prophylaxis at the children’s hospitals studied is not always consistent with published AAP guidelines. This electronic surveillance system provides a rapid, reproducible, and validated tool to measure easily the efforts to improve adherence to AAP surgical prophylaxis guidelines.

Objective. Most pediatric providers in Colorado are familiar with Kawasaki syndrome (KS). However, in a recent outbreak, 30% of cases were diagnosed after illness day 10. We hypothesized that these children saw providers who were not familiar with KS, were given antibiotics for other diagnoses that delayed identification, had access-to-care issues, or presented atypically.Methods. A retrospective chart review of 106 consecutive KS cases seen at the Children's Hospital in Denver during 1994–2000 was conducted.Results. Twenty-five of 106 children (23.6%) were diagnosed after day 10 of illness (delayed-diagnosis group [DDG]), and these 25 cases were compared with 81 cases diagnosed on or before day 10 (early-diagnosis group [EDG]). There were no differences between patients in the DDG and EDG in age, gender, number of visits, specialty of the primary care physician, time to the first medical visit, number of antibiotics received, coronary artery abnormalities, white blood cell count, or erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Patients in the DDG had significantly more days of fever, rash, red eyes, and oral changes. A platelet count of >450000/mm3 occurred more often in the DDG (56%) than the EDG (30%). After additional analysis, patients in the EDG had close clustering of symptom onset in the first few days of illness, but patients in the DDG had onset of symptoms scattered over 9 days. Patients in the DDG were 2.8 times more likely to have coronary artery aneurysms than patients in the EDG (DDG: 24%; EDG: 8.6%).Conclusions. Diagnosis after the 10th day of illness was not linked to type of medical provider, number of antibiotics received, or number of physician visits. Patients in the DDG exhibited the typical features of KS, but the onset of their symptoms was dispersed over time as opposed to the close clustering of symptoms in the EDG. Because coronary artery aneurysms occurred significantly more often in the patients in the DDG, more education is needed to teach health care providers to have a high index of suspicion for KS in young children presenting with fever/rash illnesses.

Objectives. We designed an Internet-based surveillance network that linked community clinic diagnoses with viral isolation rates and admission patterns at a related children’s hospital. We hypothesized that community surveillance would successfully predict subsequent hospital admissions and laboratory viral isolations. Secondarily, we expected the network to monitor trends in disease and that posting this information on a Web site would be useful to physicians in daily practice. Study Design. Data were collected from December 1999 through August 2000. Information was summarized and posted weekly on a Web site. Active public piloting of the site took place during August 2000, after which the project was evaluated through an electronic mail survey. The predictive ability of the community surveillance data was evaluated by multivariate linear regression. Results. Increases in the community diagnosis of most syndromes under surveillance, including lower respiratory infections (adjusted R2 = 0.7086) and gastroenteritis (adjusted R2 = 0.6532) successfully predicted an increase in subsequent hospital admissions. Community surveillance also successfully predicted laboratory isolation of associated viral organisms. Physicians completing the evaluation (N = 11) indicated that the site provided information useful in daily practice for both physician and parent education. Conclusions. An Internet-based surveillance network linking a hospital with community physicians is beneficial to the hospital in predicting waves of severe cases requiring admission and reciprocally provides useful information to physicians in daily practice regarding the incidence and cause of seasonal disease in the community.

Eight children aged 10 years or less had toxic shock syndrome, and medical records were reviewed for seven of them. There were four boys and three girls, ranging in age from 55/12 to 108/12 years; all seven met the Centers for Disease Control case definition of toxic shock syndrome. One boy died. The illness was generally characterized by fever, followed by erythroderma, gastrointestinal complaints, and mucous membrane hyperemia. Based on the need for supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation, the girls tended to have milder courses than the boys. In four of four cultures performed prior to the institution of antibiotic therapy, Staphylococcus aureus grew from one or more sites. One boy also met the case definition of Kawasaki syndrome and has had multiple coronary artery aneurysms demonstrated in early and late follow-up. Toxic shock syndrome in these children was similar to published descriptions of toxic shock syndrome in series of adult patients, except that, as a group, the children had a greater incidence of respiratory embarrassment.

A dramatic decrease in mortality from Hesnophilus influenzae meningitis has occurred in recent years. Morbidity and long-term sequellae remain significant problems. A follow-up investigation of 73 cases of H. influenzae meningitis seen over a three-year period revealed: 2 deaths, 6 children with major sequellae (retardation, spastic quadriplegia, blindness, persistent seizure disorder), 10 with minor residua, and 55 with no detectable disability. Statistical analysis of clinical parameters demonstrated a significant risk of death or major morbidity in those patients who, at the time of admission, had seizures, coma, hypothermia, shock, age less than 12 months, hemoglobin less than 11 gm/100 ml, pretreatment symptoms for longer than three days, a spinal fluid white blood cell count less than 1,000/cu mm, or a spinal fluid glucose value less than 20 mg/100 ml. Using these parameters, those patients at highest risk of having lasting major morbidity with H. influenzae meningitis can be predicted, allowing more vigorous intensive care which may reduce the mortality and morbidity further.

Human breast milk samples were collected from lactating mothers, and aliquots were maintained at room temperature, frozen, and pasteurized. Samples were inoculated with 10 to 5O colony-forming units per milliliter (cfu/ml) of Escherichia coli or group B streptococcus, and incubated at 37 C. Quantitative growth was measured at eight and 24 hours. No inhibitory activity was demonstrated by control broth, commercial formula, and pasteurized breast milk, which had a rapid logarithmic growth to a maximum of 108 to 109 cfu/ml at 24 hours. Compared with these controls, fresh breast milk, fresh frozen breast milk, and breast milk frozen for 21 days demonstrated a significant inhibition of bacteria growth. A trend toward gradual loss of inhibiting activity was noted with prolonged freezing of breast milk. Although freezing may quantitatively decrease the amount of some breast milk host-defense factors, it cannot be assumed that cotuparable functional reductions will necessarily result.

Inflammation of periorbital tissues is common in pediatric patients, but little information regarding guidelines for treatment is available. The patient with periorbital cellulitis has erythema and swelling of the soft tissues of the eye. The condition is distinguished from more severe orbital involvement by the absence of ophthalmoplegia, proptosis, or impaired vision (Table I).1 This review was initiated to develop bacteriologic data for the treatment of periorbital cellulitis. PATIENT POPULATION Patients hospitalized at the Children's Hospital of Denver between December 1972 and June 1976 with the diagnosis of orbital or periorbital cellulitis were reviewed. Patients with periorbital cellulitis (lid swelling and erythema without ophthalmoplegia, proptosis, or impaired vision) were analyzed; clinical, bacteriologic, and roentgenographic data were obtained. A positive blood or cellulitis aspirate culture was required to prove a bacteriologic cause. Roentgenograms were interpreted by two pediatric radiologists. FINDINGS Seventy-one cases of periorbital cellulitis without orbital involvement were identified during the study period. Children ranged in age from 10 days to 18 years; 41 (58%) were 4 years of age or younger. The right periorbital tissues were involved in 39 patients (55%) and the left in 28 (39%); bilateral involvement was noted in four. A temperature greater than 37.8 C (100 F) was documented on the day of admission in 52 (73%) children; 34 (48%) had temperatures greater than 38.3 C (101 F). Although not a presenting complaint, 19 (27%) exhibited mild conjunctival hyperemia without purulent discharge. Clinical sinusitis manifested by a history of drainage, pain, or local tenderness was noted in ten (14%) patients.

After languishing in relative obscurity since its description in 1978,1 toxic shock syndrome has recently been thrust into the public domain by its reported association with tampon use.2,3 The myths, partial truths, and gross misconceptions promulgated in the media, presumably with the intent of informing the public, must now be brought into the perspective of existing data, necessitating a reconsideration of the balance between the public's "right to know" and the evolutionary process of scientific knowledge. Toxic shock syndrome is an acute febrile ifiness with mucocutaneous manifestations and multisystem involvement, the most severe manifestations being hypotension, renal failure, myocardial failure, and "shock lung syndrome."

Although McCarthy and co-workers put a great deal of clinical effort into their study of children less than 24 months of age who had a temperature of 40°C more (Pediatrics 59:663, May 1977), their insufficient statistical analysis brings us no closer to an appropriate outpatient approach to such children. Their comparison of the sensitivity and predictive value of each test in an independent fashion is similar to trying to predict the winner of a long-distance race without knowing who has the fewest laps to go.