Our findings suggest that serum PCT at presentation has very good diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.87) for the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. However, in view of the marked observed statistical heterogeneity, along with the lack of a uniform definition for neonatal sepsis, the interpretation of these findings should be done with appropriate caution.

In this cohort, most children with confirmed H1N1 infection experience an uncomplicated viral illness. Nevertheless, underlying asthma and obesity may aggravate their clinical course.

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Summary Background:  We aimed to evaluate the potential inaccuracies in administering the desired dose of drugs with teaspoons and tablespoons. Methods:  We collected all the different teaspoons/tablespoons that were available in 25 households in the area of Attica, Greece and measured their volume capacity (ml). Results:  A total of 71 teaspoons and 49 tablespoons were provided by the 25 women (mean age 48.0 years) study participants. When these utensils were filled with water, the volume capacity of the 71 teaspoons and 49 tablespoons ranged from 2.5 to 7.3 ml (the mean and the median volume was 4.4 ml). When the standardised teaspoon was used, the volume ranged from 3.9 to 4.9 ml among the total of the 25 study participants. When a subset of five study participants filled this teaspoon with paracetamol syrup, mean volume was 4.8 ml. Conclusions:  Teaspoons and tablespoons are unreliable dosing devices, and thus their use should no longer be recommended.

Daptomycin is effective and safe for the treatment of SSTIs. Studies evaluating the optimal duration of daptomycin therapy for cSSTIs, comparing daptomycin with new agents, and focusing on proven MRSA SSTIs will be helpful for the further evaluation of the drug.