Daycare Attendance is Linked to Increased Risk of Respiratory Morbidities in Children Born Preterm with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

2022

22-28.e1

10/2022

1097-6833

OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that daycare attendance among children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is associated with increased chronic respiratory symptoms and/or greater health care use for respiratory illnesses during the first 3 years of life.

STUDY DESIGN: Daycare attendance and clinical outcomes were obtained via standardized instruments for 341 subjects recruited from 9 BPD specialty clinics in the US. All subjects were former infants born preterm (<34 weeks) with BPD (71% severe) requiring outpatient follow-up between 0 and 3 years of age. Mixed logistic regression models were used to test for associations.

RESULTS: Children with BPD attending daycare were more likely to have emergency department visits and systemic steroid usage. Children in daycare up to 3 years of age also were more likely to report trouble breathing, having activity limitations, and using rescue medications when compared with children not in daycare. More severe manifestations were found in children attending daycare between 6 and 12 months of chronological age.

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, children born preterm with BPD who attend daycare were more likely to visit the emergency department, use systemic steroids, and have chronic respiratory symptoms compared with children not in daycare, indicating that daycare may be a potential modifiable risk factor to minimize respiratory morbidities in children with BPD during the preschool years.

10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.06.037

J Pediatr

35803300

Factors associated with discontinuation of pulmonary vasodilator therapy in children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia-associated pulmonary hypertension.

2022

1246-1254

06/2022

1476-5543

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate factors associated with discontinuation of pulmonary vasodilator therapy in bronchopulmonary dysplasia-related pulmonary hypertension (BPD-PH).

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study of neonatal, echocardiographic, and cardiac catheterization data in 121 infants with BPD-PH discharged on pulmonary vasodilator therapy from 2009-2020 and followed into childhood.

RESULT: After median 4.4 years, medications were discontinued in 58%. Those in whom medications were discontinued had fewer days of invasive support, less severe BPD, lower incidence of PDA closure or cardiac catheterization, and higher incidence of fundoplication or tracheostomy decannulation (p < 0.05). On multivariable analysis, likelihood of medication discontinuation was lower with longer period of invasive respiratory support [HR 0.95 (CI:0.91-0.99), p = 0.01] and worse RV dilation on pre-discharge echocardiogram [HR 0.13 (CI:0.03-0.70), p = 0.017]. In those with tracheostomy, likelihood of medication discontinuation was higher with decannulation [HR 10.78 (CI:1.98-58.59), p < 0.001].

CONCLUSION: In BPD-PH, childhood discontinuation of pulmonary vasodilator therapy is associated with markers of disease severity.

10.1038/s41372-022-01421-6

J Perinatol

35676536

Ocular manifestations of candidemia in children.

2013

84-6

2013 Jan

1532-0987

<p>Among 254 patients with candidemia who had a dilated retinal examination, 8 patients (3.2%) were diagnosed with ocular disease resulting in retinal detachment in 2 patients and globe rupture in 1 patient. This study found that ocular candidiasis is an uncommon but serious sight-threatening complication in pediatric patients with candidemia.</p>

10.1097/INF.0b013e31826f547c

Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J.

23241990

Barriers to the Use of PPE to Prevent Pertussis Exposures in a Pediatric Primary Care Network.

2015

49-56

03/2015

2048-7207

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>The resurgence of pertussis is contributing to mounting healthcare worker (HCW) exposures, especially within pediatric outpatient settings. Infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines for ambulatory sites exist, but are not uniformly implemented. Our aim was to identify facilitators and barriers to the use of IPC practices to prevent pertussis transmission in ambulatory pediatric settings.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>HCWs at 18 of 25 (72%) clinics in a pediatric ambulatory network completed a theory-based questionnaire about pertussis and personal protective equipment (PPE). The questionnaire contained randomly distributed versions of two vignettes to create an experimental design assessing barriers to PPE use.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Three hundred forty-three of 467 (73%) HCWs completed the survey: 234 (68%) clinical and 109 (32%) nonclinical. Seventy-one percent of clinical HCWs reported wearing PPE when caring for a patient with suspected pertussis; only 27% used PPE for patients with any respiratory symptoms. Among clinical HCWs, reported PPE use when caring for patients with suspected pertussis was independently associated with attitudes toward PPE (odds ratio [OR] 5.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.8, 16.6), knowledge and skills (OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.4, 15.2), and lack of perceived barriers (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.3, 7.9). HCWs who did not perceive PPE use as a norm were less likely to report using PPE (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1, 0.6) or distributing masks to patients with cough (OR 0.02, 95% CI 0.00, 0.2). Reported PPE use was not influenced by perceived infection risk or mask accessibility.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Our results identified barriers to PPE use and targets for education to prevent pertussis transmission in ambulatory pediatric settings.</p>

10.1093/jpids/piu033

J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc

26407357

Variability in the diagnosis and treatment of group a streptococcal pharyngitis by primary care pediatricians.

2014

S79-85

2014 Oct

1559-6834

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>To compare practice patterns regarding the diagnosis and management of streptococcal pharyngitis across pediatric primary care practices.</p>

<p><strong>DESIGN: </strong>Retrospective cohort study.</p>

<p><strong>SETTING: </strong>All encounters to 25 pediatric primary care practices sharing an electronic health record.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Streptococcal pharyngitis was defined by an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code for acute pharyngitis, positive laboratory test, antibiotic prescription, and absence of an alternative bacterial infection. Logistic regression models standardizing for patient-level characteristics were used to compare diagnosis, testing, and broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment for children with pharyngitis across practices. Fixed-effects models and likelihood ratio tests were conducted to analyze within-practice variation.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Of 399,793 acute encounters in 1 calendar year, there were 52,658 diagnoses of acute pharyngitis, including 12,445 diagnoses of streptococcal pharyngitis. After excluding encounters by patients with chronic conditions and standardizing for age, sex, insurance type, and race, there was significant variability across and within practices in the diagnosis and testing for streptococcal pharyngitis. Excluding patients with antibiotic allergies or prior antibiotic use, off-guideline antibiotic prescribing for confirmed group A streptococcal pharyngitis ranged from 1% to 33% across practices (P &lt; .001). At the clinician level, 13 of 25 sites demonstrated significant within-practice variability in off-guideline antibiotic prescribing (P ≤ .05). Only 18 of the 222 clinicians in the network accounted for half of all off-guideline antibiotic prescribing.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Significant variability in the diagnosis and treatment of pharyngitis exists across and within pediatric practices, which cannot be explained by relevant clinical or demographic factors. Our data support clinician-targeted interventions to improve adherence to prescribing guidelines for this common condition.</p>

10.1086/677820

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol

25222902