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Retrospective analysis showed that 67 children had presented in Edinburgh with needlestick injuries on 70 occasions over five years. Worryingly, 10 children sustained injuries pretending to be intravenous drug abusers. Despite risks of hepatitis B and HIV infection, protection and follow up were inadequate. Publicity about discarded needles and a treatment plan for use in accident and emergency departments are recommended. (Arch Dis Child 1994; 70: 245-246) Needlestick injuries have been studied almost exclusively in the context of adults at work. With large numbers of intravenous drug abusers in the community, however, many carrying the hepatitis B virus and infected with HIV, there is a pool of potentially dangerous needles circulating outside hospital.1 We investigated the circumstances, frequency, and treatment of children attending hospital after sustaining needlestick injuries. MethodsWe reviewed the case notes of children treated for needlestick injuries in the two accident and emergency departments in Edinburgh which treated children under 13 years

The results of a prospective study of 20 cases of newly diagnosed Hirschsprung's disease (nine of whom developed enterocolitis) and 10 normal controls showed no variations in the bacterial flora (including Clostridium difficile) in the stools of the groups studied. Viral studies showed that rotavirus was present in the stools of seven of the nine cases of enterocolitis during the episode. We suggest that Hirschsprung's enterocolitis may have a complex infective aetiology and that rotavirus plays a part.