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IntroductionThe purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of using potential drugs: remdesivir and glucocorticoid in treating children and adolescents with COVID-19 and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in treating MIS-C. MethodsWe searched seven databases, three preprint platform, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google from December 1, 2019, to August 5, 2021, to collect evidence of remdesivir, glucocorticoid, and IVIG which were used in children and adolescents with COVID-19 or MIS-C. ResultsA total of six cohort studies and one case series study were included in this systematic review. In terms of remdesivir, the meta-analysis of single-arm cohort studies have shown that, after the treatment, 37.1% (95%CI, 0.0% to 74.5%) experienced adverse events, 5.9% (95%CI, 1.5% to 10.2%) died, 37.2% (95%CI, 0% to 76.0%) needed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or invasive mechanical ventilation. As for glucocorticoids, the results of the meta-analysis showed that the fixed-effect summary odds ratio for the association with mortality was 2.79 (95%CI, 0.13 to 60.87), and the mechanical ventilation rate was 3.12 (95%CI, 0.80 to 12.08) for glucocorticoids compared with the control group. In terms of IVIG, the two included cohort studies showed that for MIS-C patients with more severe clinical symptoms, IVIG combined with methylprednisolone could achieve better clinical efficacy than IVIG alone. ConclusionsOverall, the current evidence in the included studies is insignificant and of low quality. It is recommended to conduct high-quality randomized controlled trials of remdesivir, glucocorticoids, and IVIG in children and adolescents with COVID-19 or MIS-C to provide substantial evidence for the development of guidelines.
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Objective To explore the value of ultrasound elastography in the non-invasive monitoring of liver elasticity of stable recipients at different stages after liver transplantation. Methods Clinical data of 73 stable recipients after liver transplantation were collected. According to the time after liver transplantation, all patients were divided into the early group (n=25) and medium-to-long group (n=48). In addition, 38 healthy subjects were assigned into the control group. The ultrasound indexes and liver function indexes were statistically compared among each group. The ultrasound elastography indexes of liver and spleen were analyzed, and their correlation with liver function indexes was analyzed. Results Compared with the control group, the ultrasound indexes, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels were significantly increased in the early group (all P < 0.05), and the ultrasound indexes in the medium-to-long group were significantly increased, whereas the GGT level was significantly decreased (all P < 0.05). Compared with the early group, the right oblique diameter of liver, ALT, GGT and ALP levels were significantly decreased in the medium-to-long group (all P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the sound touch elastography (STE) and sound touch quantify (STQ) values of liver and STE value of spleen in the early group and medium-to-long group were significantly increased (all P < 0.05). Compared with the early group, the ultrasound elastography indexes of liver and spleen in the medium-to-long group were remarkably decreased (all P < 0.05). The ultrasound elastography indexes of liver were weakly correlated with the ALT, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and GGT levels, significantly correlated with ALP level. The STE value of spleen was weakly correlated with the ALP level. The STE value of liver was significantly correlated with the STQ value of liver. The STE and STQ values of liver were weakly correlated with the STE value of spleen. Conclusions The characteristics of liver elasticity in stable recipients after liver transplantation are various among different stages. Persistent monitoring of liver elasticity may provide a novelnon-invasive monitoring method during follow-up after liver transplantation.
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BackgroundIt is well-known that public health education plays a crucial role in the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases, but how health providers should advise families and parents to obtain health education information is a challenging question. With COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) spreading around the world, this rapid review aims to answer that question and thus to promote evidence-based decision making in health education policy and practice. MethodsWe systematically searched the literature on health education during COVID-19, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (middle east respiratory syndrome) epidemics in Medline (via PubMed), Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, CBM (China Biology Medicine disc), CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), and Wanfang Data from their inception until March 31, 2020. The potential bias of the studies was assessed by Joanna Briggs Institute Prevalence Critical Appraisal Tool. ResultsOf 1067 papers found, 24 cross-sectional studies with a total of 35,967 participants were included in this review. The general public lacked good knowledge of SARS and MERS at the early stage of epidemics. Some peoples knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of COVID-19 had been improved, but the health behaviors of some special groups including children and their parents need to be strengthened. Negative emotions including fear and stigmatization occurred during the outbreaks. Reliable health information was needed to improve public awareness and mental health for infectious diseases. Health information from nonprofit, government and academic websites was more accurate than privately owned commercial websites and media websites. ConclusionsFor educating and cultivating children, parents should obtain information from the official websites of authorities such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and national Centers for Disease Control, or from other sources endorsed by these authorities, rather than from a general search of the internet or social media.
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Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of children with invasive pneumococcal di-sease (IPD) and the sensitivity of Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) isolates to antibacterial drugs, so as to provide the reference for diagnosis and treatment of IPD. Methods:The clinical data of IPD patients in the Children′s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2014 to December 2018 as well as the drug sensitivity results of SP isolates were retrospectively analyzed.Results:The male to female ratio of 139 patients enrolled was 1.5∶1.0.One hundred and sixteen (83.5%) patients were under 5 years old.Of the 31 patients (22.3%) with underlying diseases, 7 patients (5.1%) had hematological malignancy, 6 patients (4.3%) had congenital heart diseases, and 18 patients (12.9%) were immunosuppressed.The common sources of infection were the respiratory system (59.0%, 82/139 cases) and the central nervous system (28.8%, 40/139 cases). The in-hospital mortality rate among them was 15.8% (22/139 cases). More than 90.0% of the SP isolates were insusceptible to Erythromycin, Tetracycline and Clindamycin, and 74.8% (104/139 cases) of the isolates were insusceptible to Meropenem.The susceptibility rate of SP isolates to Amoxicillin was 69.1% (96/139 cases). The SP isolates were completely susceptible to Vancomycin, Linezolid, Moxifloxacin and Ofloxacin.Meningitis isolates had lower susceptibility rates to Penicillin (10.0% vs. 54.5%, P<0.001) and Cefotaxime (32.5% vs. 74.7%, P<0.001) than those in nonmeningitis isolates. Conclusions:Children under 5 years old with underlying diseases are susceptible to IPD and have a high mortality rate.The SP isolates in children with IPD are highly insusceptible to Erythromycin, Tetracycline, Clindamycin and Meropenem, and completely susceptible to Vancomycin, Linezolid, Moxifloxacin and Ofloxacin.Meningitis isolates are less susceptible to Penicillin and Cefotaxime than non-meningitis isolates.
