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Background: Since the introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines, invasive disease due to Haemophilus influenzae serotype a (Hia) has been reported with increasing frequency., Methods: This study is based on hospital-based surveillance for Hia meningitis over a 5-year period., Results: Thirty-five patients with H. influenzae meningitis were hospitalized and 12 were serotype a. Hia was detected in blood and cerebrospinal fluid by culture or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Patients' median age was 10 months, 7 (58%) boys and 5 (41%) girls. Ten (83%) children had received at least 1 vaccine dose against Haemophilus influenzae type b. All patients were treated with ceftriaxone for a median period of 11 days. The main complications described were empyema in 5 (41%) and seizures in 3 (25%) patients. Two (16.6%) patients died due to cerebral damage and shock., Conclusions: Invasive disease due to Hia affecting young children accounts for considerable morbidity and mortality., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The high prevalence and severity of congenital toxoplasmosis in Brazil, with several affected individuals progressing to low vision, emphasize the importance of evaluating their quality of life. In this study, the Children's Visual Function Questionnaire (CVFQ) was adapted to the sociocultural context of Brazilian children, and its psychometric properties were investigated for evaluating the vision-related quality of life of these individuals., Methods: This was a nested cross-sectional epidemiological study that prospectively monitored a cohort of 142 preschool children at a single referral university hospital in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. All children underwent complete ophthalmological examination, including visual acuity testing and binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy. Questionnaires were applied to their parents and caregivers to evaluate quality of life perception, as well as socioeconomic status of their families. Psychometric properties of the quality of life scale were evalua-ted by multivariate statistical analyses., Results: Adaptation to the Brazilian version of CVFQ-7 resulted in CVFQ-BR-toxo, a questionnaire for evaluating the perception of parents/caregivers about the vision-related quality of life of preschool children with congenital toxoplasmosis. The following six subscales were identified based on description, variability structure, and interpretation/grouping of items: general health, visual acuity, visual performance/functional vision, personal and social behavior, impact on family, and treatment. Children with low vision related to congenital toxoplasmosis had significantly lower scores for the following subscales: visual acuity (p=0.004), visual performance/functional vision (p=0.008), impact on family (p=0.001), and overall health (p=0.001)., Conclusion: Psychometric properties were appropriate concerning the validity of the quality of life construct. CVFQ-BR-toxo could demonstrate the impact of vision impairment on families of children with congenital toxoplasmosis.

Objective: To describe the case of an infant - diagnosed with incomplete Kawasaki disease - who developed BCG scar reactivation., Case Description: A 6-month-old patient was admitted to hospital with fever associated with ocular hyperemia, cervical lymphadenopathy, and hyperemic lips, and remained hospitalized for 12 days. The physical examination revealed an inflammatory reaction at the site of the BCG scar, leading to the diagnosis of incomplete Kawasaki disease. The patient was treated with venous immunoglobulin, but presented recurrence of Kawasaki disease, with subsequent onset of coronary artery disease., Comments: BCG scar reactivation is an important finding in countries where the vaccine is routinely given and may be a useful marker for early diagnosis of Kawasaki disease, especially in its incomplete form.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the concordance between two versions of the scoring system (2011 and 2019), recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in children and adolescents. A retrospective descriptive study was performed to assess the medical records of children and adolescents with PTB, in TB units from Brazilian cities located in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Parana States, from January 1 st , 2004, to December 1 st , 2018. Patients aged 0 to 18 years old with a diagnosis of PTB were included. The comparison between the two scoring systems showed a moderate concordance according to the κ coefficient value = 0.625. Fourteen patients showed a reduction in the TB score, going from 30 points in the 2011, to 25 points or less in the 2019 one. Seventy one percent of these 14 patients had radiological changes suggestive of PTB and 86% had tuberculin skin tests greater than 10 mm. The study concluded that a moderate agreement was observed between the 2011 and 2019 scoring systems, with an increase in the number of patients scoring 25 points or less in 2019, which can eventually hinder the diagnosis of PTB.

Background - Yellow fever (YF) is a viral hemorrhagic fever that is transmitted by arthropods. It can occur with little symptomatic manifestations to the most fulminant forms. The most effective way to avoid YF is through vaccination. There is a lack of information about the immune response of the vaccine in childhood. Methods - We described children and adolescents with YF who had been previously immunized in Minas Gerais State from July 2017 to June 2018. Results - 527 cases of YF were observed representing an incidence of 7.6/100,000 inhabitants. Only 26 patients (4.9%) were ≤ 20 years and 501 (95.1%) were > 20 years. Only 9 vaccinated patients were ≤ 20 years and 15 were > 20 years. 34.6% (9/26) of YF patients ≤ 20 years were previously vaccinated and 3% (15/501) of those > 20 years (p < 0.001). The median age at vaccination was 1 year between those ≤ 20 years and 31 years between those > 20 years (p = 0.002). Among 9 vaccinated children and adolescents ≤ 20 years, age ranged from 7 to 18 years, the most described symptoms were fever (88%), headache (77%), myalgia (77%), and abdominal pain (66%). All patients recovered from the disease and none died. Conclusion - Prior YF vaccination may be associated with mild forms of the disease in children and adolescents. YF vaccination in the first years of life may be associated with poor vaccine response and high infection rates in this group as it fail to seroconvert a significant proportion of infants., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

An outbreak of yellow fever in Brazil made it possible to assess different presentations of disease such as perinatal transmission. A pregnant woman was admitted to hospital with yellow fever symptoms. She was submitted to cesarean section and died due to fulminant hepatitis. On the sixth day, the newborn developed liver failure and died 13 days later. Yellow fever polymerase chain reaction was positive for both.

Objectives: Varicella is a disease with potentially severe complications. We aimed to investigate characteristics of hospitalized children with varicella in Brazil in the prevaccine period and to identify predictors for requiring intensive care treatment., Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted from May 2011 to April 2014. Patients up to 13 years of age with varicella diagnosis were included. Information was collected through interview and review of medical records. Logistic regression analysis was performed., Results: A total of 669 patients were admitted. The median age of subjects was 2.7 years (range 0-14 years) with a predominance of boys (56.6%). The main causes of hospitalization were bacterial complications (77.7%), viral complications (11.4%), and at-risk patients (10.9%). Main bacterial complications were skin infection and pneumonia. Main viral complications were herpes zoster, cerebellitis, and encephalitis. Most at-risk patients used corticosteroids or had a diagnosis of leukemia. At-risk patients were hospitalized earlier ( P < .01) and remained hospitalized for longer periods ( P = .03). A total of 44 patients (6.6%) were admitted to the ICU, and 5 (0.8%) died of septic shock. Thrombocytopenia was associated with more severe illness in patients with bacterial infections ( P = .001). The long-time interval between onset of infection and admission was associated with the need for intensive care in all groups ( P = .007)., Conclusions: Secondary bacterial infection is the main cause of hospitalization, and thrombocytopenia in these patients leads to worse outcomes. Difficulties of access to the health system and delay in medical care are determining factors of greater severity in this population., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)