This study retrospectively analyzed the characteristics of infective endocarditis (IE) in children in light of recent advances in pediatric cardiology. We evaluated 25 consecutive patients with IE from 1980 to 1991 at a tertiary Children's Medical Center in Israel. The incidence of IE increased significantly over the second half of the study period, owing mainly to an increase in the number of patients less than 2 years old. Concomitantly, the causative microorganisms changed considerably, with a decrease in viridans streptococci, an increase in staphylococci and other uncommon causes of IE, and increased antibiotic resistance. Children under the age of 2 years, previously considered uncommon IE patients, accounted for 47% of the IE cases during the second half of the study period. The infection often (78%) appeared in children with complex congenital heart diseases, commonly after early palliative or definitive cardiac surgery. Infants who underwent systemic-to-pulmonary shunting, especially with implantation of foreign materials, were at highest risks. IE was more often hospital-acquired (56% versus 6%) and acute (56% versus 44%) in the younger children than in the older ones and often lacked the typical clinical presentation of the disease. In addition, uncommon causative organisms were noted more frequently (67% versus 13%; p = 0.009) in the younger group. The study shows a significant increase in IE in infants and young children with distinctive underlying conditions, clinical presentation, and microbiologic findings, all of which should be considered currently for the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric IE.

We investigated risks for cancer and the case for a cause-effect relationship in five successive cohorts of naval commando divers (n = 682) with prolonged underwater exposures (skin, gastrointestinal tract, and airways) to many toxic compounds in the Kishon River, Israel's most polluted waterway, from 1948 to 1995. Releases of industrial, ship, and agricultural effluents in the river increased substantially, fish yields decreased, and toxic damage to marine organisms increased. Among the divers (16,343 person-years follow-up from 18 years of age to year 2000), the observed/expected ratio for all tumors was 2.29 (p<0.01). Risks increased in cohorts first diving after 1960 compared to risks in earlier cohorts, notably for hematolymphopoietic, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, and skin cancer; induction periods were often brief. The findings suggest that the increases in risk for cancer and short induction periods resulted from direct contact with and absorption of multiple toxic compounds. Early toxic effects in marine life predicted later risks for cancer in divers.

The authors have reported on 5 young patients who had brain tumors that appeared within 10 yr of initial occupational exposures to radar. Four of the patients were less than 30 yr of age when the diagnoses were initially made. Brief induction periods that follow high exposures in individual sentinel patients are a recognized indicator of impending group risk, and these periods call attention to the need for precautionary measures. Similarly, reports of short induction periods for brain cancer on the side of the head in which there has been prior use of cell phones may also indicate increased risk.

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