Children under five years of age, from two communities of different socio-economic strata (97 from Zaiman and 55 from Las Dolores) were examined epidemiologically during 2 years, by means of quarterly visits of the working team, who carried out the collection of faecal samples. During the study, one or more enteropathogens were identified in 73.9% of samples in children from Zaiman and in 58.3% of the samples from Las Dolores, being associated to diarrhoea in 70.5% and to asymptomatic infections in 65.7%. The number of diarrheic episodes was higher in Zaiman (15.45%) than in Las Dolores (12.35%), being more frequent in the spring-summer seasons. In Zaiman, the bacterial enteropathogen proportion was relevantly higher (p < 0.005) in children with diarrhoea, whereas the presence of parasites was more frequent in asymptomatic children (p < 0.01). Rotavirus had an even distribution within diarrheic and asymptomatic children. In Las Dolores, no relevant differences were found in the detection of enteroparasites between diarrheic and asymptomatic children. Mixed infections were detected; enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC)-rotavirus and ETEC-parasites being the most frequent ones. ETEC was involved in 85% of these infections. These data, together with the high enteropathogen carriage, suggest an elevated level of environmental contamination. The latter plays an important role in diarrheic diseases, and added to the most extreme poverty, it affects children's lives.
Introduction: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) emerged at the Pediatric Hospital of Misiones Province, north Argentina, in 2003 as a cause of community-acquired (CA) infections, mostly associated with skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). This study aimed to assess the microbiological, epidemiological, and clinical features of CA-MRSA SSTIs treated at the hospital. Methodology: From 2003 through 2006, a longitudinal study on CA-MRSA SSTIs was conducted. Clinical, bacteriological, and molecular data were collected and analyzed by multiple correspondences and cluster analysis (MCCA). Results: A total of 138 children were enrolled; 55.8% of the children required hospitalization. The main clinical presentation was abscesses (51%). Antibiotic therapy in the previous six months was registered in 41% of the patients, and 72% of the patients had relatives with similar symptoms. Resistance to non--lactam antibiotics was found in less than 12% of patients. All 44 isolates carried staphylococcal cassette chromosomemec (SCCmec) type IV, and 30/44 had Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL) coding genes. Six pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns were detected from 17 isolates. MCCA hierarchic classification resulted in four distinctive patient classes (new variable). No relationship could be observed regarding the PVL detection, as PVL (+) isolates were detected in all classes; the same lack of significance was observed concerning the distribution of resistance to non-β-lactam antibiotics. Conclusions: This study increases the understanding and knowledge about CA-MRSA skin and soft tissue infections in pediatric patients. Continuous efforts should be made to control this significant public health problem.
The role of Streptococcus pneumoniae as a causative agent of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) is unusual and its clinical interpretation is difficult. We describe here three cases of SSTI due to S. pneumoniae in patients admitted to the Provincial Pediatric Hospital of Misiones, Argentina that were detected during 10 years of invasive disease (ID) surveillance documented in 2010, 2011 and 2015. These cases involved two girls aged 8 and 7 months old, and a two-year-old male child with diagnoses of gluteal abscess, preseptal cellulites and pyoderma respectively. All the patients were eutrophic and in good general condition on admission; one of them was seropositive for HIV. Antimicrobial susceptibility and serotypes were framed within the local epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal disease. Despite its low frequency, S. pneumoniae as an etiological agent of SSTI must be considered. Our findings revalue the role of the diagnostic laboratory and contribute to document the behavior of this pathogen.
We report the results of pneumococcal meningitis surveillance conducted at the Provincial Pediatric Hospital of Posadas, Misiones (Argentina), before the conjugate vaccine was introduced into the national vaccination schedule. Between January 1994 and December 2009, 167 cases of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis were diagnosed in children aged 1 month to 15 years. The attack rate/100,000 children ranged from 19.2 (1997) to 4.3 (2009), with a mean of 10.6 and a tendency to decrease (y=-0.689x+16.52). The number of cases per 100,000 children decreased from 146.6 to 34.8 and particularly involved the group of children aged 1 to 11 months (94/167, 56%). Thirty point seven percent (30.7%) (46/150) of the isolates were resistant to penicillin whereas 16.7% (25/150) were non-susceptible to cefotaxime. β-lactam resistance increased as from 1997 and began to decline in 2005. Nineteen serotypes were detected; type 14 was predominant and accounted for 32% (40/125). Eighty four point eight percent (84.8%) of the isolates were circumscribed to nine serotypes: 14, 5, 1, 7F, 18C, 6B, 9N, 9V and 4. Theoretical coverage for patients aged <2 years and >2 years was 84.1% (74/88) and 83.8% (31/37) for the 10-valent vaccine and 89.8 % (79/88) and 83.8% (31/37) for the 13-valent vaccine respectively. Penicillin resistance was restricted to 8 serotypes (14, 6B, 6A, 9V, 4, 23B, 19A1) and nonsusceptibility to cefotaxime was circumscribed to 3 serotypes (14, 9V and 1). This study will allow to evaluate the impact of the implementation of conjugate vaccines on our area.
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