Assessment of U.S. Pediatrician Knowledge of Toxocariasis.

Toxocariasis, one of a group of parasitic diseases known as neglected parasitic infections, is a disease caused by the larvae of two species of Toxocara roundworms, Toxocara canis, from dogs, and less commonly Toxocara cati, from cats. Although most infected individuals are asymptomatic, clinical manifestations may include fever, fatigue, coughing, wheezing, or abdominal pain (visceral toxocariasis) or vision loss, retina damage, or eye inflammation (ocular toxocariasis). To assess U.S. pediatrician knowledge of toxocariasis, we conducted an electronic survey of American Academy of Pediatrics members. Of the 2,684 respondents, 1,120 (47%) pediatricians correctly selected toxocariasis as the diagnosis in an unknown case presentation with findings typical for toxocariasis; overall 1,695 (85%) stated they were not confident that their knowledge of toxocariasis was current. This knowledge gap suggests a need for improved toxocariasis awareness and education for U.S. pediatricians, especially those caring for children at risk for infection.

The Use of Daptomycin and Linezolid to Treat Vancomycin-Intermediate Staphylococcus haemolyticus Infection in a Premature Infant.

Infections with staphylococcal species, especially coagulase-negative staphylococci are common after neurosurgical procedures. We report a case of a coagulase-negative staphylococci infection of a ventricular shunt site in a 105-day-old, premature infant born at 25 weeks gestation with multiple medical problems. The patient was successfully treated with a combination of daptomycin and linezolid for the persistent infection, which was increasingly resistant to vancomycin. The patient was initially treated with a combination of vancomycin and rifampin; however, the course of therapy had to be changed when the bacteria was identified as having intermediate resistance to vancomycin. Therapy was initially changed to linezolid monotherapy, but culture results continued to be positive for the bacteria, necessitating removal of an external ventricular drain and combination therapy of daptomycin and linezolid for 2 weeks before insertion of a new ventricular shunt. The patient received 4 weeks of therapy with no further positive results of the culture analysis. To our knowledge, this is the first published case report of the use of daptomycin to successfully treat a central nervous system infection in a premature infant.