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We describe the first documented case of Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) in North Carolina, which occurred in a liver transplant patient who presented acutely with headache, aphasia, and confusion. This is also the first report of recovery from JCV encephalitis following treatment with intravenous immune globulin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Pedicure-associated nontuberculous mycobacterial furunculosis has been reported in the setting of either outbreaks or sporadic case reports. The epidemiology of these infections is not well understood. Methods. Systematic surveillance for pedicure-associated nontuberculous mycobacterial furunculosis was conducted in 2 North Carolina counties from 1 January 2005 through 31 December 2008. A subset of implicated nail salons and control salons was inspected and sampled for nontuberculous mycobacteria. Results. Forty cases of suspected or confirmed pedicure-associated nontuberculous mycobacterial furunculosis were reported during the 4-year study period. Furunculosis incidence in the surveillance region was 1.00, 0.96, 0.83, and 0.89 cases per 100 000 population in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, respectively. The responsible organisms primarily belonged to the Mycobacterium chelonae/abscessus group (30 [91%] of 33 isolates). Thirteen implicated salons and 11 control salons were visited and environmentally sampled. An assortment of nontuberculous mycobacteria was cultured from footbaths, but there was no association between the species distribution of the environmental isolates and implication of the salon in human infection. Evidence of suboptimal cleaning (visible debris or surface biofilms) was observed in at least 1 footbath for 11 of 13 implicated salons and 4 of 11 control salons (P = .032). Conclusions. Pedicure-associated mycobacterial furunculosis was endemic in these 2 North Carolina counties during 2005-2008. Suboptimal footbath cleaning may have contributed to these infections, which suggests straightforward means of potential prevention. The relative rarity of this type of infection in the setting of nearly ubiquitous exposure to these pathogens suggests that as yet undefined host-specific or procedure-related factors may be involved in susceptibility to these infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Many Children with ADHD in the United States have vitamin D insufficiency even at end of summer, more in the winter. • Geographic regions north and south of the 37th parallel reach the lowest level of 25(OH)D at different times in fall/winter. • Increase of 25(OH)D levels from supplementation correlated with improvement in ADHD inattention symptoms in this study. We examined seasonal and geographic effects on vitamin D [25(OH)D] levels, association with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom severity, and effects of supplementation in 222 children age 7–10 with rigorously diagnosed ADHD. 25(OH)D insufficiency rates were 47.2 % in Ohio and 28.5 % 400 miles south in North Carolina. Nadir of 25(OH)D levels was reached by November in Ohio, not until January in NC. Thirty-eight children with insufficiency/deficiency took vitamin D (1000–2000 IU/day for a month); levels rose 52 %. Although inattention did not correlate with 25(OH)D at screen nor improve significantly with supplementation, inattention improvement after supplementation correlated with 25(OH)D increase (rho = 0.41, p = 0.012). A clinically significant proportion of children with ADHD have insufficient 25(OH)D even at summer's end, more so in the winter and north of the 37th parallel. The significant correlation of inattention improvement with 25(OH)D increase suggests further research on 25(OH)D as ADHD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Despite the relatively high mortality and the difficulty in diagnosis, nearly one-third of patients hospitalized with a documented diagnosis of encephalitis did not undergo a lumbar puncture (LP). When an LP was performed, pathogen-specific testing was greatly underutilized. Infectious etiologies were most common, but over 40% of cases were idiopathic at discharge. These findings suggest that there is a substantial opportunity to improve the quality of care through more accurate and timely diagnosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Children attending child care centers (CCCs) are at increased risk for infections, including those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Nasal colonization often precedes infection, and MRSA colonization has been associated with increased infection risk. Community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) has caused increased MRSA infections in the general population, including children. Little is known about the frequency of MRSA nasal colonization in young children, particularly in those attending CCCs where disease transmission is common. We sampled the nares of 1,163 children in 200 classrooms from 24 CCCs in North Carolina and Virginia to assess S. aureus colonization. MRSA strains were molecularly analyzed for staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type, Panton-Valentine leukocidin status, and multilocus sequence type. A case-control study was performed to identify risk factors for MRSA colonization. We found that 18.1% children were colonized with S. aureus and 1.3% with MRSA. Molecular analysis of the MRSA strains identified 47% as CA-MRSA and 53% as health care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA). Although two centers had multiple children colonized with MRSA, genotyping indicated that no transmission had occurred within classrooms. The case-control study did not detect statistically significant risk factors for MRSA colonization. However, MRSA-colonized children were more likely to be nonwhite and to have increased exposure to antibiotics and skin infections in the home. Both CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA strains were found colonizing the nares of children attending CCCs. The low frequency of colonization observed highlights the need for a large multicenter study to determine risk factors for MRSA colonization and subsequent infection in this highly susceptible population.