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Background: Accidental ingestions (AI) of food allergens in children compared with adolescents with food allergies are poorly characterized. It is suggested that AIs are higher in adolescents than children and that their reactions may be more severe, presumptively due, at least in part, to increased risk-taking behavior. We compared reported AIs in children versus adolescents., Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was distributed to parents of children with food allergies via Twitter, food allergy advocacy groups in the UK, South Africa, and Australia, and locally at Children's Hospital Colorado., Results: Of 558 respondents, 105 were parents of adolescents, and 453 had children <12 years. 73% (341) reported an AI since diagnosis, with 85% of adolescents having had an AI versus 70% of children (p = 0.0058). The annualized rate of AI was significantly lower in the adolescent population at 0.21 versus 0.53 in children (p = <0.0001). Although adolescents reported fewer severe reactions (2% vs. 16%, p = 0.0283), more adolescents required epinephrine administered by a medical professional for their most severe AI, (48% vs. 24%, p = 0.0378). Comparison of the two age groups is limited by the fact that many AIs in the adolescent group occurred prior to age 12. There was no significant difference between the groups as to where the food was consumed or the type of food. There was a significant difference in accidental ingestions in patients in all age groups with more than one reported food allergy; 78% of those with more than one food allergy reported a prior history of at least one accidental ingestion, compared with 59% in those with a single food allergy (p < 0.0001). Regional differences were also noted with respondents in the United States reporting 0.3 accidental ingestions a year, 0.4 in the UK, and 0.5 in other countries (p = 0.0455). The number of reactions was, on average, 27% lower (95% CI: 40, 11%) in the United States compared with the UK (p = 0.0019)., Conclusion: The number of severe reactions, and epinephrine need, differs in children compared with adolescents, although many of the reported reactions in both groups occurred before the age of 12. There were also regional differences with the United States reporting a lower number of AIs and less AIs per year than the other participating regions, as well as increased rates of AI in participants with more than one food allergy. Further characterization of the differences in AIs between children and adolescents, as well as between regions, is needed to assist with more patient-centered anticipatory guidance., (© 2021 EAACI and John Wiley and Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd.)

The BioFire blood culture identification (BCID) panel decreases time to pathogen identification and time to optimal antimicrobial therapy. The BioFire blood culture identification 2 (BCID2) panel is an expanded panel with 17 additional targets and resistance genes; however, there are limited data on its impact in pediatric patients. We compared the BioFire BCID2 panel and the BCID panel by assaying BCID2 simultaneously with the current standard of care on 191 consecutive blood culture specimens at Children's Hospital Colorado. The primary outcome was equivalence, measured as percent agreement between the two panels and standard culture. The theoretical reduction in time to optimal therapy was calculated overall, with subanalyses performed on Enterococcus species and Gram-negative resistance genes. The percent agreement was equivalent between the two panels, with BCID at 98% (95% confidence interval [CI], 95 to 100%) and BCID2 at 97% (95% CI, 93 to 99%); the difference was 1.2% (95% CI, -0.8, 3.1%; P  < 0.0001). There was not a significant reduction in time to theoretical optimal therapy with BCID2 compared to BCID for all cultures (reduction of 9 h, P  = 0.3). Notably, 13 Enterococcus faecalis isolates were detected on BCID2, which would have resulted in a theoretical reduction in time to optimal antimicrobial therapy of 34 h ( P  = 0.0046). Five CTX-M genes were detected for enteric bacteria. The BioFire BCID2 panel had equal rates of detection compared to the BioFire BCID panel in pediatric patients. It had the advantage of detecting more organisms at the species level, and significantly reducing time to theoretical optimal antimicrobial therapy for Enterococcus faecalis. With the additional resistance genes, it also has the potential to impact care with earlier identification of resistant enteric pathogens. IMPORTANCE The BioFire BCID2 panel is an accurate panel that is equivalent to the BioFire BCID panel compared to standard culture. The BioFire BCID2 panel offers several advantages over the BioFire BCID panel, including enterococcal species identification, Gram-negative resistance gene detection, Salmonella identification, and the added mec A/ mec C and SCCmec right extremity junction (MREJ) target for better Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) differentiation. Most importantly, it provides additional clinical impact with the potential to decrease the time to optimal antimicrobial therapy compared to the BioFire BCID panel, with likely further impact at institutions with a higher prevalence of Gram-negative resistance.