The clinical profile of Kawasaki disease of children from three Polish centers: a retrospective study.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is one of the most common vasculitides of childhood. The aim of this retrospective study is to determine the incidence of KD and to evaluate its presenting symptoms, clinical course, laboratory tests, and treatment in patients with complete KD and incomplete KD at three pediatric rheumatology centers in Poland from January 2011 to December 2012. A total of 27 Caucasian children (12 boys and 15 girls) with median age of 3 years (range 4 months-12 years) were included in this study. The incidence of complete versus incomplete KD was 17 (63 %) versus 10 (37 %) children, respectively. Patients with incomplete KD significantly less presented cervical lymphadenopathy (20 vs. 88.2 %; p = 0.00075), changes in extremities (30 vs. 76.5 %; p = 0.04), and bilateral nonpurulent conjunctivitis (60 vs. 100 %; p = 0.01). Cardiac assessments show that the majority of patients with KD have not got coronary artery aneurysms (CAA). The median time from the onset of symptoms to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) infusion was 7 days for complete KD and 11 days for incomplete KD. IVIG delay in the incomplete KD had no effect on the incidence of CAA. In conclusion, there were no differences in demographic features, age of onset, and laboratory tests of patients with complete and incomplete KD. Patients with incomplete KD significantly rarely presented cervical lymphadenopathy, changes in extremities, and conjunctival injection. Electrocardiography is a sensitive test to recognize cardiac involvement in the acute phase of KD. Despite the fact that incomplete forms of presentation often delay diagnosis, in most patients treatment with IVIG can avoid complication of CAA.

[Antibiotics in primary care]. / Antybiotyki w podstawowej opiece zdrowotnej.

Discovered in the forties of the twentieth century antimicrobial agents have changed the world. Currently, due to their overuse, we are threatened by the increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, and soon we may face a threat of inability to fight these pathogens. For that reason, the world, European and national organizations introduce antibiotics protection programs. In Poland since 2004, the National Program of Protection of Antibiotics is being held. The concept of rational antibiotic therapy is associated not only with the appropriate choice of therapy or antimicrobial dosage but also with a reduction in costs associated with a refund of medicines. Antibiotics are prescribed mostly by primary care physicians (GP), and about one fifth of visits to family doctor's office ends with prescribing antimicrobial drug. These trends are probably related to both the difficulty in applying the differential diagnosis of viral and bacterial infection in a primary care doctor's office, as well as patient's conviction about the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy in viral infections. However, although patients often want to influence the therapeutic decisions and ask their doctor for prescribing antimicrobial drug, the right conversation with a doctor alone is the critical component in satisfaction with medical care. Many countries have established standards to clarify the indications for use of antibiotics and thereby reduce their consumption. The next step is to monitor the prescribing and use of these drugs and to assess the rise of drug resistance in the area. In Poland, the recommendations regarding outpatient respiratory tract infections treatment were published and usage of antimicrobial agents monitoring has begun. However, lack of publications covering a broad analysis of antibiotic therapy and drug resistance on Polish territory is still a problem. Modem medicine has yet another tool in the fight against bacteria--they are bacteriophages. Phage therapy is unfortunately still an experimental therapy and its use has many limitations. To preserve antibiotics healing abilities, we must follow the rules of rational antibiotic therapy, and primary health care is a place where the physician can significantly contribute to deterioration or protection of antibiotics.