Toxic shock syndrome and streptococcal myositis: three case reports

Group A streptococcal (GAS) infection is the most common cause of bacterial pharyngitis and has an important role in the pathogenesis of post-infective phenomena including rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis. Mortality from GAS is uncommon, particularly in the paediatric population. Toxic shock syndrome reflects the most severe form of GAS-related disease and is often associated with fasciitis or myositis. CONCLUSION: We present three cases of toxic shock syndrome secondary to (GAS) myositis demonstrating the importance of early recognition and provision of intensive care management.     

Salmonella enteritidis infection presenting with septic shock, renal failure and cutaneous manifestations

Infections by Salmonella enteritidis commonly present with diarrhoea, vomiting and fever and complications such as septicaemia, pleural effusion and acute renal failure are usually rare. There are only few reports of cutaneous manifestations and especially septic shock in patients with Salmonella enteritidis infection. We report on a previously healthy seven-year-old boy suffering from Salmonella enteritidis septicaemia presenting with septic shock, pleural effusion, renal failure and an unusual maculopapular skin eruption on both wrists and ankles. The boy had no underlying immunodeficiency.     

Acute surgical abdomen as presenting manifestation of Kawasaki disease

Ten children (4.6%) among a cohort of 219 with Kawasaki disease (KD) had their onset with severe abdominal complaints. Incomplete KD presentation at the time of acute abdomen was present in nine of 10 patients. Acute abdominal pain and distension, vomiting, hepatomegaly, and jaundice were the most common symptoms at onset. Hematemesis was present in one; toxic shock syndrome requiring care in the intensive care unit occurred in four. Five patients had laparotomy, three had percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage, and one had a gastrointestinal endoscopy. Postoperative diagnosis was gallbladder hydrops with cholestasis in five, paralytic ileus in three, appendicular vasculitis in one, and hemorrhagic duodenitis in one. All patients completely recovered, but 50% developed coronary aneurysms despite early intravenous gammaglobulin treatment. Acute surgical abdomen can be the presenting manifestation of KD. In older children with fever, rash, and acute abdominal pain or hematemesis, KD should be considered in the differential diagnosis.     

Toxic shock syndrome in a 6-year-old male

Toxic shock syndrome, caused by an exotoxin of staphylococcus aureus is very rare in children. On admission, beside the shock, abdominal problems as vomiting, diarrhoea and a developing adynamic ileus were outstanding in our patient. Not before additional symptoms as staphylococcal pneumonia with bacteriemia occurred and later desquamation of palms and feet, diagnosis of toxic shock syndrome could be confirmed.     

儿童胆道系统感染的诊断与治疗

儿童胆道系统感染包括急、慢性胆囊炎和胆管炎.急性胆囊炎主要表现为右上腹疼痛,呈持续性胀痛,Murphy征阳性,伴恶心、呕吐,部分患儿有高热、寒战、黄疸,重症者发生昏迷.急性胆管炎发病急骤,以腹痛、寒战、高热和黄疸三联征为临床特征,少数患儿以感染性休克为主要表现,病死率高.本文介绍儿童胆道系统感染的诊断与治疗.     

Paravertebral streptococcal myositis complicated by an epidural abscess in a 5-year-old girl]

CASE REPORT: A 5-year-old girl was hospitalised for fever, abdominal and lumbar pain, associated with general impairment state and a whitlow. One of the blood cultures and CSF grew A beta haemolytic Streptococcus, muscular echography and MRI showed paravertebral myositis, which was complicated by an epidural abscess. The outcome was good with medical treatment alone. DISCUSSION: Streptococcal myositis is a rare and severe skeletal muscle infection caused by A beta haemolytic Streptococcus. It is characterized by a muscle necrosis, without abscess formation. It has to be distinguished from pyomyositis, usually caused by Staphylococcus aureus, where a muscle abscess occurs, which must be treated by surgical drainage and antibiotics. Prognosis of this infection is poorer than other muscle infections such as pyomyositis, with a high mortality rate. The diagnosis is difficult and often delayed. Practitioners should keep in mind this diagnosis, even if symptoms are non specific, in front of an undetermined infectious syndrome associated with pain, and make an echography or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging to confirm the diagnosis.     

Bullous impetigo: a rare presentation in fulminant streptococcal toxic shock syndrome

Since the mid-1980s, an increase in incidence of invasive disease caused by group A streptococci has been noted among adults and children. The characteristic clinical and laboratory features of the streptococcal toxic shock syndrome include deep-seated infection associated with shock, skin manifestation, and multiorgan failure. However, bullous impetigo is invariably considered to be a staphylococcal disease. Staphylococcus aureus produces an epidermolytic toxin, assumed to be the cause of bullous formation in the skin. Here, we present a case of bullous impetigo in an infant with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. This is a rare presentation of bullous impetigo caused by group A streptococcus.     

Fulminant liver failure in a child with invasive group A streptococcal infection

Liver involvement is mentioned in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, but never as fulminant liver failure (FLF). We report the case of a 2-year-old child who developed isolated FLF secondary to invasive group A streptococcal infection without shock due to a M1T1-type strain expressing speA, speB and speC toxin genes. On antibiotics, he recovered rapidly without liver transplantation. CONCLUSION: A streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin likely constituted the initial insult leading to FLF. This etiology can be included in the differential diagnosis of FLF and would support early introduction of antibiotics.     

Toxic Shock Syndrome in a neonate?

Toxic Shock Syndrome is an acute multisystemic disease, characterized by high fever, hypotension and involvment of the skin and mucous membrane, associated with multisystem dysfunction. It is a rare condition in the paediatric population. We describe a newborn child with asphyxia and meconium aspiration, who developed a temperature of ≥38.9°C, severe hypotension and rash with desquamation, associated with evidence of coagulopathy and renal and muscular dysfunction. Strict CDC criteria of toxic shock syndrome were fulfilled in our patient, with all major criteria verified. These criteria have never been validated in neonates, but in this case some symptoms favour a diagnosis of toxic shock syndrome since they are not associated with birth asphyxia, viral intrauterine infection or other disease. We believe a probable intrapartum transmission occurred through ingestion or aspiration of contaminated amniotic fluid. The patient described in this report is, to our knowledge, one of the youngest described to fulfil all of the strict CDC criteria for Toxic Shock Syndrome.     

Rare presentation of shock and acute mesenteric ischaemia secondary to acute adrenal insufficiency in an 11‐year‐old male

An 11‐year‐old Caucasian male with history of abdominal pain, diarrhoea, fatigue, emesis and fever on the previous days presented with dehydratation, shock and acute mesenteric ischaemia. Final diagnosis of Addison's disease was made.     

Brunner's gland adenoma: a rare cause of vomiting

Upper gastrointestinal system adenoma is generally seen amongst elderly patients and quite rarely seen during the childhood. A 14-y-old female patient was referred to our hospital with complaints of vomiting and abdominal pain. She had been followed up for 6 y with the diagnosis of familial intermittent fever and chronic renal failure due to amyloidosis. Endoscopic examination of the upper gastrointestinal system revealed mild hyperaemia in the corpus and antrum, and a polyp of 0.5x0.5 cm with an ulcerated and pedunculated top in the bulbus. Brunner's gland adenoma was diagnosed by the histopathological examination of the lesion following polypectomy. CONCLUSION: Brunner's gland adenoma is usually asymptomatic; however, it may reveal clinical findings such as obstruction, bleeding or intussusception, especially in uraemic patients. Thus, we would like to emphasize that, in patients with chronic renal failure and acute onset vomiting and abdominal pain, Brunner's gland adenoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis.     

Acute epidermal necrolysis of Lyell syndrome

Acute epidermal necrolysis may be caused by staphylococcal toxins (staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome and toxic shock syndrome) or may be related to usually drug-induced hyper-sensitivity mechanisms (toxic epidermal necrolysis). Diagnostic certainty can only be obtained by histologic localisation of a cleavage plane which is intraepidermal in staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome but situated at the dermo-epidermal junction in toxic epidermal necrolysis. Steroid therapy is indicated in toxic epidermal syndrome. This report of two cases of acute epidermal necrolysis emphasizes the importance of an early skin biopsy for accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.     

儿童周期性呕吐综合征临床特征及预后随访

目的 分析儿童周期性呕吐综合征(CVS)临床表现、辅助检查、治疗及预后,以期提高对儿童周期性呕吐综合征的认识和诊治水平.方法 回顾性分析重庆医科大学附属儿童医院消化科2008年1月至2019年12月住院且符合儿童功能性胃肠病ROMEⅣ诊断标准的141例CVS患儿临床资料及随访结果.结果 141例患儿中男65例、女76例...     

Sepsis mit Multiorganversagen nach Bagatelltrauma

Even with prompt surgical exploration and initiation of antibiotic therapy the prognosis of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) and associated myositis is poor. Due to often non-specific symptoms a rapid diagnosis is difficult. Emergency magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is recommended in patients with sepsis and muscle pain. Rapid progression of the disease may occur and the outcome is mainly determined by the extent of multiple organ failure.     

Failure of viridans group streptococci causing bacteremia in pediatric oncology patients to express superantigens

Group A Streptococcus pyogenes causes a distinctive clinical disorder, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, mediated by superantigenic bacterial exotoxins. Oncology patients with viridans group streptococcal sepsis frequently present with a streptococcal toxic shocklike syndrome of unclear pathogenesis. Viridans group streptococci isolated from pediatric oncology patients with streptococcal toxic shocklike illnesses do not possess homologs of known superantigen genes. Supernatants from cultures of these bacteria also fail to stimulate T-cell proliferation, suggesting these bacteria do not commonly elaborate superantigens. Adjunctive treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, which is advantageous in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, may not benefit these patients.     

Pediatric streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.

Two children who presented with fever, rash, and hypotension were found to have group A beta hemolytic streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. These cases are reported to remind physicians who care for acutely ill children that exotoxin-producing streptococci can produce clinical features and multisystem failure similar to staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome.     

Neonatal streptococcal toxic shock syndrome caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis

We report a neonatal infection with Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis occurring through maternal transmission and presenting as streptococcal toxic shock syndrome 12 hours after birth. Pediatricians and obstetricians should be aware of the possibility of this infectious disease when examining newborns with fever. These observations suggest that antenatal maternal screening for S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis should be considered.     

A family of selective immunodeficiency with normal immunoglobulins: possible autosomal dominant inheritance

We report here our findings in two Japanese siblings who experienced recurrent bacterial and viral infections since early infancy. Recent symptoms included diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, rashes, headache, sore throat, joint pain, vomiting and vertigo, all similar to those seen in toxic shock syndrome, except for shock. These symptoms improved following gammaglobulin treatment.Staphylococcus aureus with coagulase type IV was continuously isolated from nasal smears producing toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1). Serum antibodies did not or only poorly responded to TSST-1, diphtheria toxoid, varicella virus and rubella virus, whereas total and subclass levels of serum immunoglobulin and in vitro DNA synthesis of lymphocytes stimulated by TSST-1,Staph. aureus, varicella vaccine and mitogens were normal. In the family, ten other members in three generations (five males: five females) including the mother had similar clinical symptoms. Thus, the disease may be inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion.     

Hyperimmunoglobulinemia D and periodic fever syndrome in children. Review on therapy with biological drugs and case report

Hyperimmunoglobulinemia D syndrome (HIDS) is a rare, autosomal recessively inherited autoinflammatory disease caused by mutations in the mevalonate kinase gene. HIDS usually starts in infancy with recurrent fever episodes lasting 3–7 days and recurring every 4–6 weeks, with only partial symptom decrease in adulthood. Fever is typically accompanied by abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and cervical lymphadenopathy, and sometimes by skin and joint symptoms. Blood leukocytes and serum C‐reactive protein are elevated during the episode, and in addition, high levels of interleukine‐1 (IL‐1), IL‐6 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and respective soluble receptors have been measured. Instead, serum immunoglobulin D (IgD) is usually normal until 3 years of age. Currently, there is no established treatment for HIDS. Thus far, four children have been successfully treated with etanercep, TNF‐alpha inhibitor, and three children with anakinra, IL‐1 receptor antagonist. Conclusion: This review summarizes currently available data on the use biological medicines for HIDS in children. A Finnish 1.5‐year‐old patient with disease onset at 6 months of age, treated successfully with anakinra, is presented.