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In the present study the objective was to evaluate whether therapeutic doses of paracetamol in children has an impact on the concentrations of erythrocyte reduced glutathione (GSH) and urinary thioethers (UT), used as indicators of internal exposure to electrophiles, as well as to establish the association between the two parameters. The population sample consisted of 40 children. From each patient, two blood and two urine samples were taken. Sample A was obtained one week after completing treatment and sample B was taken two hours after taking the last dose of paracetamol. The total group was divided into three subgroups according to age: subgroup I from 9 to 8 months, subgroup II from 19 to 72 months and subgroup III from 73 to 132 months. The concentrations of GSH and UT have been determined in blood and urine, respectively. The results demonstrate that after treatment with paracetamol for a period of days (3.57 +/- 0.86) an elevation in GSH was produced in the total group (Z = -2.40, p < 0.05). A significant and positive association (r = 0.52) existed between the GSH and UT values. No correlation was observed either between plasma levels, or the duration of treatment and the effects observed on GSH and UT.

Diarrheic processes from an infectious origin constitute a frequent pathology during childhood. We have analyzed, from a epidemiological point of view, a series of 117 children diagnosed as having diarrhea and having stool cultures bacteriologically positive for Salmonella. Special reference has been made to the epidemiological chain of this infection. Of the patients studied, 68 (58.2%) were boys and 49 (41.8%) were girls. Their ages ranged between 1 month and 14 years. An epidemiological environment was recognized in 34.1% of the cases. The most frequent serotype was Salmonella Enteritidis (72.6%).

Infectious diarrhoea are common causes of morbility in children. Although viral agents are responsible for the majority of cases of acute diarrhoea during infancy, bacterial infections are also well recognized as causes of them. 256 patients with diarrhoea due to a bacterial pathogen were studied to determine the importance of different epidemiologic factors. The study group comprised 151 boys (59%) and 105 girls (41%) aged between first month and 14 years. Family history of acute diarrhoea was found in 15% of children. 63,7% of them were hospitalized by the severity of clinical features. 32% of cases were detected in summer. Salmonella entérica was isolated in 45% of stool samples and Campylobacter spp in 33,2%. Clinical evolution of diarrhoea differentiated the patients into three groups: acute diarrhoea (95,7%), prolonged diarrhoea (3,1%) and chronic diarrhoea (1,1%).

Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEP) were recorded from scalp electrodes in 47 patients, who survived to bacterial meningitis in their childhood. CAEP were obtained from 1 month to 8 years after recovering from acute disease. Neisseria meningitidis was the microorganism more frequently isolated from CSF (43.5%). Exclusively abnormal values in amplitude of CAEP were registered in 15 cases (32%), mainly at the lower tones explored; 14 of them were subjected to conventional audiometric test, which demonstrated unilateral hearing loss only in 2. No alterations in the latency of P2 wave were seen. We recommend to include CAEP in search of hearing disorders in younger children after recovering from meningitis, since they can detect lesions in cortical-subcortical auditory tracts, which otherwise could go unnoticed.