First publication of endemic channels as part of a pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Program: when to turn on the alarms? Recommendations of a pediatric ASP program (preprint)

Background Pediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASP) consider DOT a fundamental measure to quantify the impact of ASP. Novel strategies have been described, but no endemic channels (EC) have been reported to compare antibiotic use within historical patterns. This report describes the process of constructing an EC and analyzing its interpretation.Methods This was a descriptive study of the construction, implementation, and analysis of EC. The median and quartile method, as well as the geometric mean (GM) and confidence interval (CI) methods using DOT for the last 4 years were used. ECs have also been elaborated on in critical services (PICU).Results GM and CI method was more sensitive in identifying changes in antimicrobial use. Ceftriaxone increased its use starting in December 2021, reaching the warning zone in March 2022 in relation to increased cases of bacterial and complicated pneumonia. Piperacillin–tazobactam showed an important increase in PICU during the first 8 months of 2021, reaching the alert zone until August 2021; thereafter, its use decreased, and this variation was related to a modification in the presentation of complicated appendicitis during the COVID 19 pandemic restrictions. The use of ampicillin-sulbactam has increased since January 2022 because of a change in local guidelines regarding its use in appendicitis and peritonitis. The changes identified in each EC allowed ASP to take different conducts.Conclusion EC allowed us to construct a new tool to measure ASP impact, internal comparison of antibiotic use facilitated taking timely interventions. EC could be useful for all pediatric and adult ASP.

Sars-CoV-2 Vaccines: Time to Consider a Child-Focused Strategy (preprint)

With the arrival of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, a new stage of the pandemic commenced, with new challenges ahead. During the coming months, countries will be implementing their COVID-19 vaccination programs depending on their implementation of vaccine availability and its prescription on risk stratification. Although children will not benefit from active immunization programs, now, with the beginning of the era of the anti-COVID19 vaccines, the suffering of children can no longer be ethically tolerated or neglected. The time has come to provide specific lasting strategies for children living in the COVID-19 era. Here we propose a child-focused indirect COVID-19 vaccination strategy.For better or worse, children depend on their natural caregivers (adults) and the rest of society for their well-being and achieving their full potential. We believe that including in the priority categories also those adults in close contact with children could ensure a safety net of child protection.A child-focused vaccination strategy would allow the faster return to "normality" for children and their families. Such an approach would not only enable the reopening and continuity of essential services for children but also would allow adults to return to their routine economic/productive activities.