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The prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus in children presenting to US emergency departments with lower respiratory tract infection or apnea (N = 4172) was evaluated outside the traditional respiratory syncytial virus season (September to October and April to May) relative to January to February. The Mid-Atlantic and Southeast demonstrated positivity rates in September to October comparable with rates observed during January to February.

Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) is an effective therapy for spasticity and dystonia in pediatric populations; however, there are associated infectious complications.

Limited data are available in Honduras that describe the etiology and seasonality of respiratory infections, especially in rural outpatient settings. Better data may lead to improved therapeutic and preventive strategies. The goal of our study was to determine the viral etiology and seasonality of acute respiratory infections in a rural Honduran population of children.

Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) have been detected in children with upper and lower respiratory symptoms, but little is known about their relationship with severe respiratory illness.

Rotavirus surveillance is needed to provide estimates of disease burden and to evaluate the effect of vaccination programs. Our objective was to use capture-recapture methods to estimate rotavirus hospitalization rates and to examine trends over time.

To determine the burden of rotavirus disease before the introduction of rotavirus vaccines.

Since 2006, we have conducted population-based surveillance for rotavirus disease in children seen in hospitals and emergency departments (EDs) in Monroe County, NY (Rochester), Hamilton County, OH (Cincinnati), and Davidson County, TN (Nashville).

A 31/2-year-old child presented with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis and evidence of central nervous system disease. Evaluation revealed findings consistent with meningoencephalitis and rotavirus detected in the cerebrospinal fluid by polymerase chain reaction. A review of the literature describes 23 cases of central nervous system disease attributed to rotavirus.

The rhesus rotavirus tetravalent vaccine (RotaShield) had an efficacy of 75%–100% in preventing severe rotavirus disease in prelicensure clinical trials. Before RotaShield's withdrawal because of reports of intussusception, there was an opportunity to evaluate the postlicensure effectiveness of the vaccine. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the RotaShield vaccine against rotavirus gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization and to evaluate factors associated with vaccine receipt.

The New Vaccine Surveillance Network, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was established to provide longitudinal data to help measure the impact of vaccines that decrease the burden of acute respiratory illness in children younger than 5 years of age. Currently 140,000 children younger than 5 years of age, nearly 1% of the U.S. population, are under surveillance in 3 urban counties, which include Nashville, TN, Rochester, NY, and Cincinnati, OH. Prospective, active, population-based surveillance of children hospitalized with respiratory symptoms or fever began in 2000, and outpatient surveillance began in 2002 in selected winter months.

Diarrhea is a common illness among children in day-care centers (DCC). We hypothesized that the incidence of diarrhea was greater among children in their first 1 or 2 months after enrollment in a DCC than in any subsequent period in day care. We followed 442 children younger than 2 years of age enrolled in 13 randomly selected DCCs for the occurrence of diarrhea during a 14-month period. Parents completed standardized baseline questionnaires and research nurses visited the DCC twice weekly to record the occurrence of diarrhea and to collect stool specimens. Incidence rates, rate ratios, chi square statistics and 95 confidence intervals were calculated for crude and stratified analyses. The diarrheal incidence rate of 4.4 cases/child-year in the first 4 weeks in the centers was significantly (rate ratio, 1.6; confidence interval, 1.3 to 2.1; P< 0.01) higher than the 2.7 cases/child-year incidence rate of diarrhea in subsequent weeks. The effects of gender, ethnicity, age, DCC size, previous DCC attendance and season were examined and did not account for the association observed between recent enrollment and risk of diarrheal illness. Rotavirus was identified in 18 of cases of diarrhea, but no association was seen with recent enrollment in DCC. A significantly higher incidence of diarrhea occurred in males compared with females (P< 0.002) and in younger children (P< 0.001) compared with older children. Diarrhea is common in children in DCCs and occurs significantly more frequently in children during their first 4 weeks in a DCC.

Among infants with prematurity andor chronic lung disease for whom respiratory syncytial virus immunoprophylaxis is recommended, we examined adherence in infants enrolled during healthcare visits for acute respiratory illness in 3 US counties from 2001 to 2007. Immunoprophylaxis among infants who met national criteria for prophylaxis increased from 33 to 83 over the 6-year period; 17 (1165) of infants who received immunoprophylaxis did not meet eligibility criteria.