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Background: A novel skin test–called Diaskintest (DT)—containing specific M. tuberculosis antigens is in clinical use in the Russian Federation (RF). This test may improve diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) infection. The use and performance of the DT was described and compared to the tuberculin skin test (TST). Methods: Data on children <18 years referred to a TB reference centre (Jan/2018- Dec/2019) with ≥1 DT and TST result available were analysed. An immune correlate of TB infection was defined as a positive TST (≥10 mm induration) or a positive DT (any induration). Results: Of 2710 included cases, the median age was 9.0 (IQR 5.7–13.1) years and 97.5% were BCG immunised. Overall, 1976 (79.9%) were TB uninfected, 724 (26.7%) had an immune correlate of TB infection and 10 (0.4%) TB disease. Reasons for referral were: positive or increasing skin test results in routine screening (992, 36.6%), screening before admission to a health care institution (501, 18.5%) and TB contact (457, 16.9%). DT was positive in 11.7% (308/2625) and TST in 63.1% (467/740) (Kappa 0.08, 95% CI:0.013–0.14). A positive DT was associated with older age (OR 1.16 (95% CI: 1.13–1.19) per year). Among TB contacts DT positivity was associated with contagiousness: highest proportion of positivity of 12.0% was observed when the index case was smear positive. Conclusion: In a setting with universal BCG vaccination and regular screening with TST, DT was used to rule out TB infection as TST was commonly positive. We found an association of DT positivity and contagiousness of the index case in children contacts. These observations may suggest improved specificity and sensitivity of DT compared to TST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In high-resource settings, the survival of children with immunocompromise (IC) has increased and immunosuppressive therapies are increasingly being used. This study aimed to determine the clinical characteristics, performance of diagnostic tools, and outcome of IC children with tuberculosis (TB) in Europe. Methods Multicenter, matched case-control study within the Pediatric Tuberculosis Network European Trials Group, capturing TB cases <18 years diagnosed 2000–2020. Results A total of 417 TB cases were included, comprising 139 children who are IC (human immunodeficiency virus, inborn errors of immunity, drug-induced immunosuppression, and other immunocompromising conditions) and 278 non-IC children as controls. Nonrespiratory TB was more frequent among cases than controls (32.4% vs 21.2%; P =.013). Patients with IC had an increased likelihood of presenting with severe disease (57.6% vs 38.5%; P <.001; odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 2.073 [1.37–3.13]). Children with IC had higher rates of false-negative tuberculin skin test (31.9% vs 6.0%; P <.001) and QuantiFERON-TB Gold assay (30.0% vs 7.3%; P <.001) results at diagnosis. Overall, the microbiological confirmation rate was similar in IC and non-IC cases (58.3% vs 49.3%; P =.083). Although the mortality in children with IC was <1%, the rate of long-term sequelae was significantly higher than in non-IC cases (14.8% vs 6.1%; P =.004). Conclusions Children with IC and TB in Europe have increased rates of nonrespiratory TB, severe disease, and long-term sequelae. Immune-based TB tests have poor sensitivity in those children. Future research should focus on developing improved immunological TB tests that perform better in patients with IC, and determining the reasons for the increased risk of long-term sequelae, with the aim to design preventive management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the evolution of clinical symptoms of COVID‐19 in children throughout the pandemic. Methods: In this national prospective surveillance study, symptoms in children hospitalised with COVID‐19 were collected from all paediatric hospitals in Switzerland between March 2020 and March 2023. Data was analysed across four time periods, according to the predominantly circulating SARS‐CoV‐2 variant: T1 (wild‐type), T2 (Alpha), T3 (Delta) and T4 (Omicron), as well as by age group. Results: The study included 1323 children. The proportion of children admitted to an intensive care unit remained stable throughout the pandemic. However, the pattern and frequency of clinical manifestations changed over time. Respiratory symptoms were less prevalent during T1 (wild‐type), fever during T2 (Alpha) and rash during T4 (Omicron). In contrast, fever and neurological symptoms were more prevalent during T4 (Omicron). Newly described symptoms during T4 (Omicron) included conjunctivitis, laryngotracheitis and seizures. Fever was more prevalent among neonates and infants whereas respiratory symptoms were more common among infants. Gastrointestinal symptoms were more frequent among toddlers, while both toddlers and school‐aged children presented with neurological symptoms more often than other age groups. Conclusion: Continuous surveillance is required to detect changes in manifestations and there by be prepared for the optimal management of complications in children with COVID‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the risk of relapse in pediatric acute focal bacterial nephritis (AFBN) when shorter antibiotic treatment durations are used. It presents a case study of a 12-year-old girl who experienced multiple episodes of pyelonephritis and relapsed after a 10-day treatment with oral cephalosporins. The article includes a systematic review of literature on AFBN in children, which found that shorter treatment durations were associated with higher rates of treatment failure and relapse. The use of CT and MRI as diagnostic tools for AFBN is discussed, with MRI being suggested as a potentially safer alternative to CT due to its lack of radiation. The article also mentions the need for further investigation into the association between underlying uropathology and AFBN, and suggests additional diagnostic measures to detect and treat underlying urological conditions. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Evaluation of serological assays for the diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis disease: a study protocol" published in BMC Infectious Diseases. The notice states that there were errors in the original article, which were not corrected due to a system error. The corrections include changes to author names, a correction in a table, the inclusion of a missing abbreviation, and updates to certain references. The original article has been corrected. The publisher, Springer Nature, remains neutral and unbiased. [Extracted from the article]