This study provides evidence that a CRP level greater than 25 mg/L can more accurately predict IBIs in febrile infants. Furthermore, lower hemoglobin levels were also found in IBIs. Nevertheless, additional laboratory tests are needed to identify young febrile infants with IBIs.

Introduction Patients with hemoglobinopathies have been reported to have higher rates of pulmonary complications. Few studies have investigated the association between thalassemia and asthma in children. Methods We used the data of one million individuals randomly selected from the Registry for Beneficiaries of the National Health Insurance Research Database. One thalassemic child was matched with four control children without thalassemia according to sex, birth year, birth season, prematurity, and previous enteroviral infection. Results A total of 800 hundred thalassemic children and 3200 controls were included. Children with thalassemia had higher rates of developing asthma (41.81 vs 25.70 per 1000 person-years, P < 0.001) than the non-thalassemia controls with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.37 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19–1.58). Boys in the thalassemia cohort had a significantly higher adjusted incidence hazard ratio (IRR) of asthma than those in the non-thalassemia cohort (adjusted IRR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.02–1.73). The risk of atopic and nonatopic asthma was higher in the thalassemia cohort than in the non-thalassemia cohort (IRR = 1.3, 1.61, respectively). Conclusions Children with thalassemia were more likely to develop asthma. More attention should be paid to the early diagnosis of asthma and prevention of asthma attacks.

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) is a rare condition. The main characteristic is respiratory insufficiency during sleep. Patients who have CCHS need varying degrees of ventilation support during sleep, or even all day long, according to its severity. We report a term baby with repeated extubation failure, CCHS and Hirschsprung's disease diagnosed at 1 month of age. This patient was discharged at 5 months old with a home ventilator and reached normal developmental milestones.