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Kawasaki disease (KD) is a common acute systemic vasculitis of childhood. To conclude, hepatitis leading to life-threatening fulminant liver failure can occur with KD, and a high degree of clinical suspicion of KD is needed in children with prolonged fever and jaundice. Chen et al reported the case of a 10-year-old boy with persistent fever and hepatitis with signs of KD, who developed multiple coronary artery aneurysms despite standard therapy for KD ([4]). [Extracted from the article]

Vertical transmission as a route of infection has been well reported in many viral infections. Scrub typhus is a zoonotic disease transmitted by ticks which has had a resurgence in recent times in several tropical countries. It affects all age groups including neonates. Reports of neonates affected with scrub typhus are few, and vertical transmission is rare. We report a case, where a newborn was symptomatic with signs of infection within the first 72 hours of life and Orientia tsutsugamushi, the causative organism was confirmed by PCR in both mother and baby., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2023. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objective: To study whether addition of pidotimod to inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy enhances control in children with persistent asthma, as compared to ICS therapy alone., Design: Triple-blinded, randomized controlled trial., Setting: Allergy and Asthma Clinic, Department of Pediatrics, at a tertiary care hospital between May, 2018 and June, 2019., Patients: 79 children (5-12 years) with newly diagnosed persistent asthma as per Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines., Interventions: Children received 7 mL twice-a-day for 15 day, followed by 7 mL once-a-day for 45 days of either pidotimod (n=39) or placebo (n=40). In addition, both groups received inhaled budesonide via metered dose inhaler and spacer, throughout the study. Children were followed up every 4 weeks for a total of 12 weeks. At each follow-up visit, peak expiratory flow (PEF) and asthma symptom score and medicine adverse effects were recorded., Main Outcome Measures: Change in PEF at 12 weeks compared to baseline. Secondary outcomes were PEF at each follow-up visit, asthma symptom score at each visit, change in asthma symptom score at 12 weeks, and adverse event profile., Results: The median (IQR) change in PEF (from baseline to 12 weeks) was 13.0% (0.8%, 28.3%) in pidotimod group (n=35) vs 17.7% (4.3%, 35.2%) in placebo group (n=35) (P=0.69). All the secondary outcomes were also comparable between the two groups. There were no significant adverse effects observed., Conclusions: Addition of pidotimod for 8 weeks to standard ICS therapy did not enhance asthma control compared to placebo.