Acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) leads to a significant number of complications and high mortality. The aim - to analyze the etiological structure, epidemiological, socio-demographic features and complications in ABM in children of Khmelnitskyi region during 2004-2018. Materials and methods. The analysis of 346 cases of ABM, of which 217 boys and 129 girls was conducted. The etiology of meningitis was determined by bacterioscopy, bacteriological sowing, latex agglutination and polymerase chain reaction. Complications were revealed based on the clinical picture and computed tomography and мagnetic resonance imaging. The processing of the results was carried out using analytical method, t-criterion and constructing 95% confidence interval. Results. The disease started with fever 346 (100%), neck stiffness 289 (83.5%) and vomiting 273 (78.9%), less common, alteration of consciousness 28 (8.1%) and seizures 9 (2.6%). The high level of the cytosis were observed in meningococcal (5801.3±4856.7 cells/mm3) and Hib meningitis (5152.6±4153.1 cells/mm3), the lowest level was in pneumococcal meningitis (2601.0±1839.6 cells/mm3). The highest level of liquor protein was in pneumococcal meningitis (179.0±51.0 mg/dl), and the lowest level was in meningococcal meningitis (102.0±49.0 mg/dl) and Hib meningitis (112.0±56.0 mg/dl). The etiological factor was established in 121 (35.0%) of patients. 52 (15.4%) of patients had neurological complications. Conclusions. The majority (58.1%) of ABM are in children under the age of 3. The main causative agent remains N. meningitidis - 57.9%, the second place is S. pneumoniae - 21.5%, the third Hib - 9.9% of cases. Frequent complications were brain edema 32 (61.5%), seizures 19 (36.5%) and hydrocephalus 8 (15.4%). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The research protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the institution mentioned in the work. Informed consent of the children’s parents was obtained for the research. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.

Purpose - to analyze the literature data on possible variants of the course of pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome (PIMS-TS) in children; to describe our own experience in the diagnosis and treatment of some cases of PIMS-TS in children of different age groups; to present possible variants of clinical manifestations of the above disease; to draw attention to the need for early diagnosis and team care and treatment of such children. This novel clinical syndrome later identified as PIMS-TS temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2. In contrast with KD, PIMS-TS appears to occur in children at an older age with a predominance of gastrointestinal symptoms, hemodynamic instability, and myocardial dysfunction. However, the exact pathomechanism remains to be understood. Nevertheless, the post-viral immunological reaction is postulated to be the underlying mechanistic underpinnings. The paper describes the clinical course of the disease in a 5-year-old boy who complained of abdominal pain and hyperthermia, and the disease was masked by surgical pathology. The phenomena of intoxication syndrome, polyserositis, skin manifestations in the form of a polymorphic rash, hyperemia of the conjunctiva, swelling of the feet and hands increased in dynamics. The course of the disease in a 10-year-old girl who had symptoms of a viral infection is also described. However, upon going to the hospital, both children were diagnosed with a serious condition, they were hospitalized and given appropriate treatment. Therefore, the multifaceted nature of the PIMS-TS’ course underlines the need for early recognition and multispecialty care and management. The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The informed consent of the patient was obtained for conducting the studies. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.

Chronic respiratory diseases affect the personality and emotional state of the people who experience them. Purpose - to determine the incidence of hyperventilation syndrome (HVS) and depressive disorder in patients with organic and functional pathologies of the lungs at the pulmonary department and to assess their impact on the life quality of patients. Materials and methods. We have examined 131 patients aged 6-17, among them there were 54.9% (n=72) boys and 45.1% (n=59) girls. The patients were divided into three groups: the children with somatoform disorder (SD) from the respiratory system 33.6% (n=44), those with bronchial asthma (BA) - 34.3% (n=45) and those with pneumonia - 32.1% (n=42). For the diagnosis of depression we used a questionnaire for children’s depression by M. Kovacs (1992), for the diagnosis of HVS we used Nijmegen questionnaire. To determine the patient’s quality of life we used Pediatric Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (PQ-LES-Q). Results. The main structure of HVS 25 (19.1%) was composed of 17 (68%) children with SD, 5 (20%) children with BA and 3 (12%) children with pneumonia. Mild depression was determined in 56 (81.1%) sick children, an average one was found in 13 (19.9%) sick children. The severity of depression was significantly higher in the patients with SD in comparison to the patients with BA (95% CI: 6.5-15.5; p<0.0001) and in comparison to the patients with pneumonia (95% CI: 3.2-12.0; p<0.0009). The children with SD had the lowest rate of quality of life according to the PQ-LES-Q scale in comparison to the children with BA (95% CI: 5.4-14.6; p<0.0001) and the ones with pneumonia (95% CI: 6.2-12.6; p<0.0001). Conclusions. Hyperventilation syndrome occurs in 25 (19.1%) of the patients with pulmonary pathologies in childhood. In general, 69 (52.6%) of the children had depressive symptoms. Most likely, the basis of low satisfaction with the quality of life in patients with pulmonary pathology might be depressive disorders, as evidenced by the inverse and strong correlation between the data scales for depression and quality of life, whereby r=-0.773 (p<0.0001). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee for all participants. Informed consent of the child’s parents was obtained for the research. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors. Key words: depression, bronchial asthma, pneumonia, somatoform disorder, quality of life, children.

Annotation. The article presents a description of the observation of a patient with Behcet’s disease, a rare systemic disease. The description traces the stages of disease development, difficulties in its diagnosis, polymorphism. The publication also presents modern views on the etiology, mechanisms of occurrence, diagnosis and consequences of Behcet's disease.