Vaccine timeliness and prevalence of undervaccination patterns in children ages 0–19 months,U.S., National Immunization Survey-Child 2017

ObjectivesTypically, early childhood vaccination coverage in the U.S. is measured as the proportion of children by age 24 months who completed recommended vaccine series. However, these measures do not reflect whether vaccine doses were received at the ages recommended by the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or whether children received vaccines concomitantly, per the ACIP recommended schedule. This study’s objective was to quantify vaccine timeliness and prevalence of specific patterns of undervaccination in U.S. children ages 0–19 months.MethodsUsing 2017 National Immunization Survey-Child data, we calculated days undervaccinated for the combined 7-vaccine series and distinguished undervaccination patterns indicative of parental vaccine hesitancy, such as spreading out vaccines across visits (“shot-limiting”) or starting some but not all recommended vaccine series (“selective vaccination”), from other non-hesitancy patterns, such as missing final vaccine doses or receiving all doses, with some or all late. We measured associations between demographic, socioeconomic and other characteristics with undervaccination patterns using multivariable log-linked binomial regression. Analyses accounted for the complex survey design.ResultsAmong n = 15,333 U.S. children, only 41.2% received all recommended vaccine doses on-time by age 19 months. Approximately 20.9% of children had an undervaccination pattern suggestive of parental vaccine hesitancy, and 36.2% had other undervaccination non-hesitancy patterns. Uninsured children and those with lower levels of maternal education were more likely to exhibit undervaccination patterns suggestive of parental hesitancy. Lower levels of maternal education were also associated with other non-hesitancy undervaccination patterns.ConclusionsMore than half of children in the U.S. are undervaccinated at some point by 19 months of age. Ongoing assessment of vaccine timeliness and immunization schedule adherence could facilitate timely and targeted public health interventions in populations with high levels of undervaccination.     

Interstitial lung diseases in children

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) in children (chILD) is a heterogeneous group of rare respiratory disorders that are mostly chronic and associated with high morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of the various chILD is complex and the diseases share common features of inflammatory and fibrotic changes of the lung parenchyma that impair gas exchanges. The etiologies of chILD are numerous. In this review, we chose to classify them as ILD related to exposure/environment insults, ILD related to systemic and immunological diseases, ILD related to primary lung parenchyma dysfunctions and ILD specific to infancy. A growing part of the etiologic spectrum of chILD is being attributed to molecular defects. Currently, the main genetic mutations associated with chILD are identified in the surfactant genes SFTPA1, SFTPA2, SFTPB, SFTPC, ABCA3 and NKX2-1. Other genetic contributors include mutations in MARS, CSF2RA and CSF2RB in pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, and mutations in TMEM173 and COPA in specific auto-inflammatory forms of chILD. However, only few genotype-phenotype correlations could be identified so far. Herein, information is provided about the clinical presentation and the diagnosis approach of chILD. Despite improvements in patient management, the therapeutic strategies are still relying mostly on corticosteroids although specific therapies are emerging. Larger longitudinal cohorts of patients are being gathered through ongoing international collaborations to improve disease knowledge and targeted therapies. Thus, it is expected that children with ILD will be able to reach the adulthood transition in a better condition.     

Temporal and topographical changes in theta power between middle childhood and adolescence during sentence comprehension

Time frequency analysis of the EEG is increasingly used to study the neural oscillations supporting language comprehension. Although this method holds promise for developmental research, most existing work focuses on adults. Theta power (4–8 Hz) in particular often corresponds to semantic processing of words in isolation and in ongoing text. Here we investigated how the timing and topography of theta engagement to individual words during written sentence processing changes between childhood and adolescence (8–15 years). Results show that topographically, the theta response is broadly distributed in children, occurring over left and right central-posterior and midline frontal areas, and localizes to left central-posterior areas by adolescence. There were two notable developmental shifts. First, in response to each word, early (150–300 msec) theta engagement over frontal areas significantly decreases between 8 and 9 years and 10–11 years. Second, throughout the sentence, theta engagement over the right parietal areas significantly decreases between 10 and 11 years and 12–13 years with younger children’s theta response remaining significantly elevated between words compared to adolescents’. We found no significant differences between 12 and 13 years and 14–15 years. These findings indicate that children’s engagement of the language network during sentence processing continues to change through middle childhood but stabilizes into adolescence.     

Safety and tolerability of transcranial magnetic and direct current stimulation in children: Prospective single center evidence from 3.5 million stimulations

BackgroundNon-invasive brain stimulation is being increasingly used to interrogate neurophysiology and modulate brain function. Despite the high scientific and therapeutic potential of non-invasive brain stimulation, experience in the developing brain has been limited.ObjectiveTo determine the safety and tolerability of non-invasive neurostimulation in children across diverse modalities of stimulation and pediatric populations.MethodsA non-invasive brain stimulation program was established in 2008 at our pediatric, academic institution. Multi-disciplinary neurophysiological studies included single- and paired-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) methods. Motor mapping employed robotic TMS. Interventional trials included repetitive TMS (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Standardized safety and tolerability measures were completed prospectively by all participants.ResultsOver 10 years, 384 children underwent brain stimulation (median 13 years, range 0.8–18.0). Populations included typical development (n = 118), perinatal stroke/cerebral palsy (n = 101), mild traumatic brain injury (n = 121) neuropsychiatric disorders (n = 37), and other (n = 7). No serious adverse events occurred. Drop-outs were rare (<1%). No seizures were reported despite >100 participants having brain injuries and/or epilepsy. Tolerability between single and paired-pulse TMS (542340 stimulations) and rTMS (3.0 million stimulations) was comparable and favourable. TMS-related headache was more common in perinatal stroke (40%) than healthy participants (13%) but was mild and self-limiting. Tolerability improved over time with side-effect frequency decreasing by >50%. Robotic TMS motor mapping was well-tolerated though neck pain was more common than with manual TMS (33% vs 3%). Across 612 tDCS sessions including 92 children, tolerability was favourable with mild itching/tingling reported in 37%.ConclusionsStandard non-invasive brain stimulation paradigms are safe and well-tolerated in children and should be considered minimal risk. Advancement of applications in the developing brain are warranted. A new and improved pediatric NIBS safety and tolerability form is included.     

儿童外伤性脑梗死的诊断与治疗

目的分析不同类型的外伤性脑梗死患儿的治疗方案，结合文献探讨其发病机制，以提高其治愈率，降低致残率。 方法回顾性分析解放军陆军第八十一集团军医院自2015年1月至2019年12月收治的42例外伤性脑梗死患儿的临床资料。采用头颅CT扫描和MRI诊断儿童外伤性脑梗死，根据不同病情将儿童外伤性脑梗死进行诊断分型，选择不同的治疗方案。腔隙性脑梗死患儿给予钙拮抗剂和神经营养药物治疗，并辅以高压氧、运动康复治疗；局灶型脑梗死、混合型脑梗死患儿除应用钙拮抗剂和神经营养药外，还应用小剂量脱水剂和小剂量激素，并随病情演变随时调整治疗方案；大面积脑梗死的患儿，急诊行去骨瓣减压术，术后给予降颅压、预防并发症等综合治疗。观察患儿的治疗结果及恢复情况。 结果42例外伤性脑梗死患儿中，恢复良好35例（83.3%），中残4例（9.5%），重残2例（4.8%），死亡1例（2.4%），无植物生存。腔隙性脑梗死的恢复良好率为100%，局灶型脑梗死的恢复良好率为62.5%，混合型脑梗死的恢复良好率为60%，大面积脑梗死的恢复良好率为50%。 结论针对不同类型的脑梗死患儿采用不同的治疗方案，对提高儿童外伤性脑梗死的治疗效果、改善预后意义重大。     

采用儿童仿真模体研究胸部DR不同千伏照射下的有效剂量

目的 采用1岁儿童仿真模体计算胸部数字化摄影（DR）不同千伏条件下儿童各组织、器官的吸收剂量，估算并比较不同千伏下有效剂量。方法 塑料管分装的热释光剂量计（TLD）布放入儿童模体预留的插孔，在60、 70、80和90 kV时，自动曝光控制（AEC）模式下各曝光20次，然后回收TLD，回实验室测量。计算出不同千伏下组织、器官的吸收剂量，并分别估算出受照儿童模体全身有效剂量。结果 在60、70、80和90 kV时照射野范围内各组织、器官随千伏的增高吸收剂量逐渐降低。4个实验组中有效剂量分别为0.43、0.34、0.29和0.23 μSv。结论 儿童模体胸部摄影使用较高千伏可减少组织、器官的吸收剂量和全身有效剂量。     

OSAHS患儿扁桃体和腺样体术后免疫功能的变化

目的 阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停低通气综合征(OSAHS)是耳鼻咽喉科的一种常见病，儿童发病率呈上升趋势，调查显示儿童OSAHS发生率为4%~5%，2~6岁是发病的高峰期。OSAHS不仅严重影响儿童的睡眠质量，还会引起儿童生长发育迟缓、智力缺陷等一系列不良反应，OSAHS患儿的主要病因是扁桃体和/或腺样体肥大，因此最有效的治疗方法是扁桃体切除术和腺样体切除术。而扁桃体和腺样体是儿童淋巴组织系统的重要组成部分，在机体的防御和保护功能中发挥着重要作用。手术治疗OSAHS是否影响儿童的免疫功能目前存在争议。一些学者认为扁桃体切除和腺样体切除后儿童的免疫力降低，而另一些学者认为OSAHS儿童的免疫力在手术后保持不变，甚至比手术前有所提高。本文就儿童OSAHS手术前后免疫指标的变化作一综述。