Revaccination of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia following completion of chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Intensive chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may affect the immune system and potentially the immune memory causing antibodies provided by vaccination to disappear. There are disagreements regarding the guidelines for posttreatment immunization strategy. METHODS: Ninety-six children (aged 1-18 years at diagnosis) who completed chemotherapy for ALL were recruited. Antibody levels in the patient's serum against measles, varicella, polio, pertussis, hepatitis A, and hepatitis B were tested after completion of chemotherapy in patients who were fully vaccinated against these agents. Children who did not have positive serology to specific agents were revaccinated with a single dose accordingly. Antibody concentrations were measured again at least 4 weeks after revaccination. RESULTS: Positive antibody levels varied between the different agents. The highest percentage of positive serology was against polio (87%) and the lowest against pertussis (4%) (p < .001). There were significant differences between patients with high risk (HR) and non-HR ALL regarding serology status for some vaccines. After revaccination, the levels of response to each booster dose were significantly different: 100% after booster dose for varicella and polio, and only 34% after pertussis booster. CONCLUSIONS: Loss of humoral protection for vaccine preventable diseases is a common finding among patients with ALL. Revaccination with one dose of vaccine after completion of chemotherapy achieved seroconversion in 34-100% of the patients depending on the type of vaccine. We recommend this revaccination schedule to all children who completed ALL therapy and were previously fully vaccinated.

Non-polio enterovirus aseptic meningitis in infants up to three months of age, the bacterial mask of viral disease: A retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Non-polio enterovirus aseptic meningitis (NPE-AM) is a self-limiting illness that can mimic serious bacterial infection (SBI) in infants during their first months of life. OBJECTIVES: To compare the clinical features of febrile infants diagnosed with NPE-AM with those of infants who had SBI or non-bacterial infection (NBI). STUDY DESIGN: A systematic series of febrile infants < 3-months-old hospitalized between 2010 and 2019 with febrile illness in a tertiary hospital. Clinical and laboratory data were compared between the three groups. RESULTS: Overall 1278 infants were included; 207 (16.2%) had NPE-AM, 210 (16.4%) SBI and 861 (67.4%) NBI. The median age was 34 (IQR: 21.5-51.7) days. NPE-AM was documented in 25% of infants < 29 days and 9.9% of infants aged 29-90 days. Infants with NPE-AM or SBI had fever >39°C more frequently, 24.2% and 17.1% compared with 10% in infants with NBI (p < 0.001). Fever duration ≥ 2 days was reported in 3.4% of infants with NPE-AM vs 18.6% in SBI and 26.3% in NBI (p < 0001); rash occurred in 37.7% in NPE-AM compared to 4.6% in NBI and 5.7% in SBI (p < 0.001). The mean white blood count, C-reactive protein and absolute neutrophil count were significantly lower in infants with NPE-AM compared to infants with the SBI (p < 0.001) and similar to the means in infants with NBI (p = 0.848, 0.098 and 0.764 respectively). A high proportion of bloody tap 346/784 (53.1%) was detected. Infants with NPE-AM were more likely to be treated with antibiotics than infants with NBIs (88.9% vs 50.7%, p < 0.001), similarly to infants with SBIs (p = 0.571). CONCLUSIONS: The clinical presentation of infants with NPE-AM that could mimic bacterial infection and the high rate of bloody taps may lead to more hospital admissions and antibiotic prescriptions. Rapid molecular testing for detection of NPE may be of additional value in the evaluation of febrile infants.

Predictors of unfavorable outcome in children hospitalized with influenza and differences in clinical presentation among serotypes.

BACKGROUND: Apart from age and underlying disease, predictors of adverse outcome in children hospitalized with influenza are poorly understood. OBJECTIVES: Our goal is to determine clinical and laboratory predictors that help identify children at increased risk for an unfavorable course and identify differences in clinical presentation between serotypes. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective, observational cohort study conducted at the Rambam Healthcare Campus in Haifa. We analyzed data from electronic records of children < 18 years with influenza A or B infection hospitalized between 2009 and 2020. Multivariate regression analyses were used to identify predictors of unfavorable outcome, defined as mortality, ICU admission, intubation, prolonged length of stay, or bacterial coinfection. RESULTS: A total of 1077 children were included, of whom 54% were male. The median age was 2.5 years. Influenza A was detected in 797 (74%) and influenza B in 286 (26%) of the cases. Children with influenza A were younger (OR 2.51, 95%CI 1.90-3.33), more likely to have oxygen desaturation <90% (OR 2.44, 95%CI 1.23-4.83) and an elevated CRP>5 mg/dL on admission (OR 2.67, 95% CI 1.63-4.37). In multivariate analyses, oxygen desaturation <90% and CRP > 5 mg/dL at admission had an 11.1 and 4-fold increased risk of unfavorable outcome, respectively, in addition to a 3.1 and 1.6-fold increased risk in the presence of underlying condition or influenza A serotype infection, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Data available on admission can help identify children hospitalized with influenza who are at increased risk for complications and unfavorable outcome, encouraging aggressive treatment and care.

JC Viruria Is Associated With Reduced Risk of Diabetic Kidney Disease.

PURPOSE: African Americans who shed JC polyomavirus (JCV) in their urine have reduced rates of nondiabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD). We assessed the associations between urinary JCV and urine BK polyomavirus (BKV) with CKD in African Americans with diabetes mellitus. METHODS: African Americans with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) and controls lacking nephropathy from the Family Investigation of Nephropathy and Diabetes Consortium (FIND) and African American-Diabetes Heart Study (AA-DHS) had urine tested for JCV and BKV using quantitative PCR. Of the 335 individuals tested, 148 had DKD and 187 were controls. RESULTS: JCV viruria was detected more often in the controls than in the patients with DKD (FIND: 46.6% vs 32.2%; OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.93; P = 0.03; AA-DHS: 30.4% vs 26.2%; OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.27 to 1.48; P = 0.29). A joint analysis adjusted for age, sex, and study revealed that JC viruria was inversely associated with DKD (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.35 to 0.91; P = 0.02). Statistically significant relationships between BKV and DKD were not observed. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: The results from the present study extend the inverse association between urine JCV and nondiabetic nephropathy in African Americans to DKD. These results imply that common pathways likely involving the innate immune system mediate coincident chronic kidney injury and restriction of JCV replication. Future studies are needed to explore causative pathways and characterize whether the absence of JC viruria can serve as a biomarker for DKD in the African American population.