Novel marker fever in children

Enhanced level of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) level has been associated with activation of the immune system. It may be a novel biomarker for pneumonia severity, yet data on this subject are limited. In the present study we seek to determine the suPAR level in hospitalized children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), its correlation with pneumonia severity, and to compare the suPAR level between pneumonia and healthy conditions. The study encompassed a total of 596 children: 447 with pneumonia and 119 healthy...

OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to investigate the clinical features and characteristics of genetic mutation in patients with aspartylglucosaminuria. METHOD: Clinical data of two pediatric siblings in a family were analyzed retrospectively and relative literature was reviewed in order to study the clinical features, imaging and enzymatic characteristics and genetic mutations. RESULT: Case 1, the proband, male, he was hospitalized at 20 months of age because of fever and hepatosplenomegaly for nine days...

Abstract Although Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is quite rare among children, subclinical conditions without any sicca symptoms have been reported. This condition is characterized by nonspecific rheumatic symptoms and histopathological findings in salivary glands which are equivalent to SS. Many children with subclinical SS are positive for anti-Ro/SSA. On the other hand, autoimmune fatigue syndrome (AIFS) is characterized by chronic nonspecific complaints and positive antinuclear antibodies, with or without fulfilling the criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome...

BACKGROUND: In a recent study designed to determine the anatomic location of infection in children presenting with acute hip pain, fever, and elevated inflammatory markers, we demonstrated the incidence of infection of the musculature surrounding the hip to be greater than twice that of septic arthritis. Importantly, the obturator musculature was infected in >60% of cases. Situated deep in the pelvis, surrounding the obturator foramen, debridement of these muscles and placement of a drain traditionally requires an extensive ilioinguinal or Pfannenstiel approach, placing significant risk to the surrounding neurovascular structures...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the epidemiological features, genetic drift in the epitopes of hemagglutinin (HA) of the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus and oseltamivir-resistant variants characterized by H275Y and N295S mutations in children in Shanghai since the outbreak. METHOD: Between June 2009 and May 2012, a prospective surveillance study was carried out in Shanghainese children who attended the outpatient clinic of Children's Hospital of Fudan University for influenza-like illness...

INTRODUCTION: Ischaemia-modified albumin, a novel biochemical marker for tissue ischaemia, was found to be associated with oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of ischaemia-modified albumin in the diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever and also to evaluate the ischaemia-modified albumin levels in children with heart valve disease. METHODS: The study groups, aged 5-18 years, consisted of 128 individuals - 40 with acute rheumatic fever, 35 with congenital heart valve disease, 33 with chronic rheumatic heart disease, and 20 healthy control subjects...

INTRODUCTION: Differentiating between sterile inflammation and bacterial infection in critically ill patients with fever and other signs of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) remains a clinical challenge. The objective of our study was to mine an existing genome-wide expression database for the discovery of candidate diagnostic biomarkers to predict the presence of bacterial infection in critically ill children. METHODS: Genome-wide expression data were compared between patients with SIRS having negative bacterial cultures (n = 21) and patients with sepsis having positive bacterial cultures (n = 60)...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Invasive fungal infections are an escalating problem in paediatrics. The purpose of this review is to update the recent evidence on antifungal treatment options as well as to provide an outline of best practices in treating children. RECENT FINDINGS: Candida and Aspergillus species are the leading causes of invasive fungal infections in paediatric patients. Invasive fungal infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality and preemptive antifungal therapy has been found to improve survival...

OBJECTIVE: Muckle-Wells syndrome (MWS) is an inherited autoinflammatory disease caused by mutations in the NLRP3 gene that result in excessive interleukin-1 (IL-1) release. It is characterized by severe fevers, rashes, arthralgia, and conjunctivitis, leading to sensorineural deafness and amyloidosis. The recombinant IL-1 receptor antagonist anakinra blocks the biologic activity of IL-1. The aim of this study was to determine the short- and long-term efficacy and safety of anakinra therapy in children and adults with severe MWS...

OBJECTIVE: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is characterised by recurrent periodic febrile attacks and persistent subclinical inflammation. The damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) protein S100A12 has proven to be a sensitive marker for disease activity and inflammation in numerous inflammatory disorders. The aim of this study was to analyse the role of S100A12 in the detection of inflammation in patients with FMF. METHODS: 52 children and adolescents with a clinical and/or genetic diagnosis of FMF were prospectively followed-up over 18 months (in total 196 visits)...

H-ficolin (Hakata antigen, ficolin-3) activates the lectin pathway of complement similar to mannose-binding lectin. However, its impact on susceptibility to infection is currently unknown. This study investigated whether the serum concentration of H-ficolin at diagnosis is associated with fever and neutropenia (FN) in paediatric cancer patients. H-ficolin was measured by time-resolved immunofluorometric assay in serum taken at cancer diagnosis from 94 children treated with chemotherapy. The association of FN episodes with H-ficolin serum concentration was analysed by multivariate Poisson regression...

OBJECTIVE: Fever of unknown origin is a diagnostic challenge in children, especially for differentiation of systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (systemic-onset JIA) and infectious diseases. We undertook this study to analyze the relevance of myeloid-related proteins (MRPs) 8 and 14, endogenous activators of Toll-like receptor 4, in diagnosis and pathogenesis of systemic-onset JIA. METHODS: Serum concentrations of MRP-8/MRP-14 were analyzed in 60 patients with systemic-onset JIA, 85 patients with systemic infections, 40 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 5 patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia, 18 patients with neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease (NOMID), and 50 healthy controls...

OBJECTIVE: Fever of unknown origin (FUO) in children presents a diagnostic challenge. The differential diagnosis includes systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), an autoinflammatory syndrome associated with activation of phagocytic cells that, at presentation, is difficult to differentiate from severe systemic infections. The aim of this study was to investigate whether serum concentrations of the phagocytic proinflammatory protein S100A12 may help in deciding whether to treat patients with FUO with antibiotics or immunosuppressive agents...

OBJECTIVE: Although general definitions of the sepsis continuum have been published for adults, no such work has been done for the pediatric population. Physiologic and laboratory variables used to define the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and organ dysfunction require modification for the developmental stages of children. An international panel of 20 experts in sepsis and clinical research from five countries (Canada, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and United States) was convened to modify the published adult consensus definitions of infection, sepsis, severe sepsis, septic shock, and organ dysfunction for children...

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence of coagulation abnormalities in children with systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) using a sensitive marker of fibrin degradation, and to determine whether serial levels of this variable parallel disease activity or predict response to medications in this disease. METHODS: Levels of d-dimer were determined in 24 consecutive patients with systemic JRA in conjunction with complete blood counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, maximum fever, duration of morning stiffness, and swollen joint count...