BackgroundApproximately 12% of all ureteral stents placed are retained or “forgotten.” Forgotten stents are associated with significant safety concerns as well as increased costs and legal issues. Retained ureteral stents (RUS) often occur due to lack of clinical follow-up, communication or language barriers, and economic concerns.MethodsWe describe a multiplatform application that facilitates data collection to prevent RUS. The “Stent Tracker” application can be installed on mobile devices and computers. The encrypted and password-protected information is accessible from any device and provides information about each procedure, stent placement and removal dates, as well as product description. This multicenter retrospective study included 194 patients who underwent stent placement between July and October 2015. Nominal data was tallied and ordinal data was divided into quartiles of 25, 50, and 75%.ResultsA total of 194 patients from three institutions underwent ureteral stent placement. Reasons for stent placement include 122 cases post ureteroscopy (63%), 8 cases post percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) (4%), 14 cases post extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) (7%), 18 cases of cancer-related ureteral obstruction (9%), 21 cases of hydronephrosis (11%), and 11 for other reasons (6%). Of these patients, only one patient was lost to follow-up (0.5%). On average, ureteral stents were removed within 14 days of placement (IQR: 8-26 days).ConclusionsThe “Stent Tracker” is a patient safety application that provides a secure and simplified interface, which can significantly reduce the incidence of RUS. Further developments could include automated notifications to patients and staff, color-coding, and integrated information with electronic patient charts.

BackgroundInfluenza is one of the most common causes of acute respiratory tract infections around the world. Influenza viruses can cause seasonal epidemics. There remains limited information on the impact of both seasonal influenza A and influenza B related hospitalisations from neurological complications in paediatric populations in Asia.ObjectivesTo examine both the clinical spectrum and healthcare burden of influenza-associated neurological complications (IANCs) within the paediatric population of Hong Kong.MethodsWe conducted a population-based retrospective study to identify all paediatric patients (<18 years) admitted to a public hospital in Hong Kong with a confirmed influenza A or B infection between 2014 and 2018 using the Clinical Data Analysis and Reporting System of the Hospital Authority. The clinical spectrum of the paediatric patients with IANCs was studied. The clinical burden of paediatric influenza patients with IANCs were compared to paediatric influenza patients without neurological complications.ResultsA total of 28,016 children admitted to the paediatric wards diagnosed to have influenza A or B infection were identified, accounting for 5.7% (28,016/489,955) of total paediatric admissions. 67.3% had influenza A and 32.7% had influenza B, and 8.9% had IANCs. The mean annual incidence of IANCs in children was 57 per 100,000 population. The spectrum of IANCs in our paediatric patients included febrile seizures (80.6%), myositis (11.4%), seizures with fever (5.4%), influenza-associated encephalitis/encephalopathy (IAE) (2.6%) and rarely Guillain–Barré syndrome (0.04%). Most paediatric patients with IANCs (85.5%) presented at a young age of <6 years. Paediatric patients with IANCs had significant longer hospital stays (p < 0.001), higher percentages of mechanical ventilation use (p < 0.05) and PICU admissions (p < 0.001), and higher mortality rates (p < 0.001) compared to those without neurological complications. Amongst those with IANCs, IAE was the sole cause of all seven reported mortalities.ConclusionsSeasonal influenza A & B is a common cause of hospitalisation for paediatric patients in Hong Kong. We found neurological complications from influenza A and B caused a significantly higher clinical burden compared to those without neurological complications. Children in younger age groups (<6 years old) are at highest risk and thus increasing vaccination coverage to this age group is recommended.

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The mRNA-based BNT162b2 and inactivated whole-virus CoronaVac are two widely used COVID-19 vaccines that confer immune protection to healthy individuals. However, hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccination appeared to be common for patients with neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) due to the paucity of data on the safety and efficacy in this high-risk patient population. Therefore, we examined the underlying factors associated with vaccine hesitancy across time for NMDs and assessed the reactogenicity and immunogenicity of these two vaccines. Patients aged 8–18 years with no cognitive delay were invited to complete surveys in January and April 2022. Patients aged 2–21 years were enrolled for COVID-19 vaccination between June 2021 and April 2022, and they recorded adverse reactions (ARs) for 7 days after vaccination. Peripheral blood was obtained before and within 49 days after vaccination to measure serological antibody responses compared to healthy children and adolescents. Forty-one patients completed vaccine hesitancy surveys for both timepoints, while 22 joined the reactogenicity and immunogenicity arm of the study. Two or more family members vaccinated against COVID-19 was positively associated with intention of vaccination (odds ratio 11.7, 95% CI 1.81–75.1, p = .010). Pain at the injection site, fatigue, and myalgia were the commonest ARs. Most ARs were mild (75.5%, n = 71/94). All 19 patients seroconverted against the wildtype SARS-CoV-2 after two doses of either vaccine, similar to 280 healthy counterparts. There was lower neutralization against the Omicron BA.1 variant. BNT162b2 and CoronaVac were safe and immunogenic for patients with NMDs, even in those on low-dose corticosteroids.