No abstract

Blood cultures are sometimes obtained from intravascular catheters for convenience. However, there is controversy regarding this practice. The authors compared the diagnostic test characteristics of blood cultures obtained from intravascular catheters and peripheral veins. Relevant studies for inclusion in this review were identified through PubMed (January 1970-October 2005 and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Studies that reported clear definitions of true bacteraemia were included in the analysis. Two reviewers independently extracted the data. Six studies were included in the analysis, providing data for 2677 pairs of blood cultures obtained from an intravascular catheter and a peripheral venipuncture. A culture obtained from an intravascular catheter was found to be a diagnostic test for bacteraemia with better sensitivity (OR 1.85, 95 % CI 1.14-2.99, fixed effects model) and better negative predictive value (almost with statistical significance) (OR 1.55, 95 % CI 0.999"2.39, fixed effects model) but with less specificity (OR 0.33, 95 % CI 0.18-0.59, random effects model) and lower positive predictive value (OR 0.41, 95 % CI 0.23-0.76, random effects model) compared to a culture taken by peripheral venipuncture. In a group of 1000 patients, eight additional patients with true bacteraemia would be identified and 59 falsely diagnosed as having bacteraemia by a blood culture obtained from an intravascular catheter compared to results of the peripheral blood culture. Given the consequences of undertreating patients with bacteraemia, the authors believe that, based on the available evidence, at least one blood culture should be obtained from the intravascular catheter.

Staphylococcus aureus is an infrequent cause of community-associated (CA-SA) pneumonia in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical, epidemiological, microbiological, and molecular characteristics of CA-SA pneumonia among children hospitalized in two large tertiary care referral centers during an 8-year period. Cases of CA-SA pneumonia admitted between 2007 and 2014 were retrospectively examined through medical record review. Molecular investigation was performed for available strains; mecA, Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) (lukS-lukF-PV), and fibronectin binding protein A (fnbA) genes were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Clones were assigned by agr groups, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), SCCmec, and multilocus sequencing typing (MLST). In total, 41 cases were recorded (boys, 61 %), with a median age of 4.3 months (range, 1-175). Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) accounted for 31 cases (75.6 %). Complications included empyema (25/41, 61 %), pneumatoceles (7/41, 17 %), and lung abscess (1/41, 2.5 %). Intensive care unit (ICU) admission was required in 58.5 %. Two deaths occurred (4.9 %). Definitive therapy was based on vancomycin with or without other antibiotics (55.9 %), followed by clindamycin and linezolid (26.5 % each). All isolates were susceptible to vancomycin (MIC90 2 mg/L, range 1-2), teicoplanin, and linezolid, whereas 26.8 % were resistant to clindamycin. Among the 25 studied strains, 20 were mecA-positive (MRSA), carrying also the fnbA gene. Of these, 90 % belonged to the ST80-IV/agr3/PVL-positive clone. Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains showed polyclonality, 3/5 were PVL-positive, and 3/5 were fnbA-positive. MRSA and particularly the ST80-IV clone predominated among staphylococcal pneumonia cases in children. Treatment provided was effective in all but two patients, despite the relatively high minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of vancomycin and a high resistance to clindamycin.

Antibiotic treatment is associated with a more favourable clinical course in children with AOM, compared with placebo, and also compared with watchful waiting. However, safety issues and the rather small treatment effect difference render the consideration of additional factors necessary in relevant clinical decision making.

Young infants are at risk of severe pertussis, resulting in serious complications or death. Elevated WBC and low serum sodium are associated with higher mortality. Despite advances in life support and treatment of organ failure in childhood critical illness, pertussis still has substantial mortality.