It is suggested that serotypes 1, 5, 7F, 9V, 14, 19A, and 22F have a higher disease potential for childhood pneumonia than do serotypes 6A, 6B, 23A, and 35B.

While postoperative pain management was shown to reduce unwanted physiological and emotional outcomes, pediatric postoperative pain management remains suboptimal. Medical-clowns were shown to be beneficial in many medical contexts including reduction of stress, anxiety and pain. This study was set to assess the effectiveness of medical-clowns on pediatric postoperative pain reduction. Children age 4 or above, planned for elective hernia repair surgery were recruited. Children were randomly divided to a control or medicalclown escorted groups. Demographical and clinical data were collected using questionnaires and electronic sheets. Children escorted by clowns reported lower levels of pain upon admittance, discharge and 12-hours post-surgery. Statistically significant reduction of parental distress and significantly higher serum cortisol levels were observed in the clown-therapy group. Although small, our study supports the possibility that preoperative medical-clown therapy might be a cheap, safe and yet beneficial method for postoperative pain reduction.

No abstract

Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common childhood bacterial infection for which antibiotics are prescribed worldwide. The most common pathogens causing AOM in children are Streptococcus pneumoniae, nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis and Group A streptococcus. Antibiotic resistance is increasing among the bacterial pathogens causing AOM, with percentages of penicillin- and macrolide-resistant S. pneumoniae strains estimated to be between 30 and 70%, and of beta-lactamase-producing H. influenzae ranging between 20 and 40%. The introduction of the seven-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine had a major role in decreasing the number of vaccine-related S. pneumoniae AOM episodes, recurrent AOM cases and cases requiring the insertion of ventilation tubes. In parallel, it caused a rapid shift in the microbiology of AOM, characterized by an increase in the number of non-vaccine S. pneumoniae serotypes and H. influenzae isolates. The management of AOM in childhood has evolved considerably during recent years as a result of the new insights provided by the publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians guidelines for the treatment of AOM. The new treatment guidelines establish a clear hierarchy among various antibacterials used in the treatment of AOM and also the use of an age-stratified approach to AOM by recommending an observation strategy ('watchful waiting') without the use of antibacterials for some groups of AOM patients. Adherence to such a policy in patients with uncertain/questionable AOM diagnosis and/or mild-to-moderate symptoms, in addition to its implementation in patients over 2 years of age, could substantially reduce the use of antibacterials for the treatment of AOM and play a major role in the strategy of decreasing antibacterial resistance.

CABSI rates were higher in patients with Hickman catheters compared with those with Port-A-Cath catheters; Gram-negative organisms were the dominant etiologic agents of CABSI; CABSI in patients with Hickman catheters had different etiologies compared with patients with Port-A-Cath catheters.