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ANALYSIS OF COVID-19–RELATED CROUP AND SARS-COV-2 VARIANT PREDOMINANCE IN THE US
This cross-sectional study included children aged 3 months to 8 years with diagnoses of COVID-19 and croup between January 1, 2021, and March 26, 2022, using data from 43 US children’s hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System. Researchers identified 5152 children with COVID-19–related croup (3329 [64.6%] boys; median [IQR] age, 17 [9-31] months). The proportion of children with COVID-19–related croup was significantly increased during Omicron (10.9%) compared with Alpha or other variant (4.1%) and Delta (3.6%) periods (P < .001).
Full Access: JAMA
ANNUAL CONGRESS 2022 OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY – DRUG ALLERGY REPORTING: ARE WE PLAYING IT SAFE IN PEDIATRICS?
According to a study presented at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Hybrid Congress, antibiotic allergies frequently were incompletely and inconsistently documented in a tertiary pediatric hospital setting. The researchers noted that inadequate allergy documentation is rare but can lead to adverse events when patients receive medications to which they are allergic, and poor understanding among hospital staff is the primary cause of these errors. Full Access: EAACI
INCREASED DEATHS FROM FUNGAL INFECTIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC—NATIONAL VITAL STATISTICS SYSTEM, UNITED STATES, JANUARY 2020–DECEMBER 2021
In this study, researchers examined numbers and age-adjusted rates (per 100,000 population) of fungal deaths by fungal pathogen, COVID-19 association, demographic characteristics, and year. Numbers and age-adjusted rates of fungal deaths increased from 2019 (rate 1.2, 95% CI) to 2021 ( rate 1.8, 95% CI); of 13,121 fungal deaths increased during 2020-2021, 2,868 were COVID-19 associated. Fungal deaths increased compared with previous years, primarily driven by COVID-19-associated fungal deaths, particularly those involving Aspergillus and Candida.
Full Access: Clinical Infectious Diseases
DOCTORS STILL OVERPRESCRIBING FLUOROQUINOLONES DESPITE RISKS
The most common side effects are tendon rupture, as well as neurological and psychiatric symptoms. But experts estimate only 1%-10% of such events are reported to the FDA. That suggests that fluoroquinolones might have harmed hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone. Yet despite the many patient reports and FDA warnings on dangerous side effects, many doctors continue to wrongly prescribe fluoroquinolones for simple urinary tract infections, sinus infections, and respiratory issues better treated with less risky antibiotics.
Full Access: Webmd