Viral bronchiolitis is a common clinical syndrome affecting infants and young children. Concern about its associated morbidity and cost has led to a large body of research that has been summarised in systematic reviews and integrated into clinical practice guidelines in several countries. The evidence and guideline recommendations consistently support a clinical diagnosis with the limited role for diagnostic testing for children presenting with the typical clinical syndrome of viral upper respiratory infection progressing to the lower respiratory tract. Management is largely supportive, focusing on maintaining oxygenation and hydration of the patient. Evidence suggests no benefit from bronchodilator or corticosteroid use in infants with a first episode of bronchiolitis. Evidence for other treatments such as hypertonic saline is evolving but not clearly defined yet. For infants with severe disease, the insufficient available data suggest a role for high-flow nasal cannula and continuous positive airway pressure use in a monitored setting to prevent respiratory failure.

Bartonella henselae was discovered a quarter of a century ago as the causative agent of cat scratch disease, a clinical entity described in the literature for more than half a century. As diagnostic techniques improve, our knowledge of the spectrum of clinical disease resulting from infection with Bartonella is expanding. This review summarizes current knowledge regarding the microbiology, clinical manifestations, diagnostic techniques, and treatment of B. henselae infection.

This is a prepublication version of an article that has undergone peer review and been accepted for publication but is not the final version of record. This paper may be cited using the DOI and date of access. This paper may contain information that has errors in facts, figures, and statements, and will be corrected in the final published version. The journal is providing an early version of this article to expedite access to this information. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the editors, and authors are not responsible for inaccurate information and data described in this version.

Background— The metabolic syndrome predicts future coronary artery disease and type II diabetes and often emerges in childhood. Tobacco smoke potentially contributes to insulin resistance in this syndrome. This study evaluates the association of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and active smoking with the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in US adolescents. Methods and Results— Data from 2273 subjects 12 to 19 years of age were examined from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III, 1988 to 1994). Serum cotinine levels, presence of household smokers, and self-report of smoking were used to determine ETS exposure and active smoking. The metabolic syndrome was defined as having ≥3 criteria from the National Cholesterol Education Panel definition. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were conducted. Among adolescents, 5.6% met the criteria for metabolic syndrome, and prevalence increased with tobacco exposure: 1.2% for nonexposed, 5.4% for those exposed to ETS, and 8.7% for active smokers ( P <0.001). In adolescents at risk for overweight and overweight adolescents (body mass index above the 85th percentile), a similar relationship was observed: 5.6% for nonexposed, 19.6% for those exposed to ETS, and 23.6% for active smokers ( P =0.01). In multivariable logistic regression analyses among all adolescents, ETS exposure was independently associated with the metabolic syndrome (ETS exposure: odds ratio, 4.7, 95% CI, 1.7 to 12.9; active smoking: odds ratio, 6.1; 95% CI, 2.8 to 13.4). Conclusions— Considering that tobacco and obesity are the 2 leading causes of preventable death in the United States, these findings of a dose-response, cotinine-confirmed relationship between tobacco smoke and metabolic syndrome among adolescents may have profound implications for the future health of the public.

Purpose: To determine if adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are less active (and more inactive) than the general population and to identify modifying factors.

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Although frequent utilizers of emergency departments (EDs) are targeted for quality improvement initiatives across the United States, little is known about the health services these patients receive in the ED.WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Eight percent of children account for 24% of ED visits and 31% of all costs. Frequent utilizers of pediatric EDs, especially infants without a chronic condition, are least likely to need medications, testing, and hospital admission during their ED visits. abstract BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Nationally, frequent utilizers of emergency departments (EDs) are targeted for quality improvement initiatives. The objective was to compare the characteristics and ED health services of children by their ED visit frequency. METHODS:A retrospective study in 1 896 547 children aged 0 to 18 years with 3 263 330 visits to 37 EDs in 2011. The number of ED visits per child within 365 days of their first visit was counted. Patient characteristics (age, chronic condition) and ED care (medications, testing [laboratory and radiographic], and hospital admission) were assessed. We evaluated the relationship between patient characteristics and ED health services received with multivariable regression. RESULTS:Children with $4 ED visits (8%) accounted for 24% of all visits and 31% ($1.4 billion) of all costs. As visit frequency increased from 1 to $4, the percentage of children aged ,1 year increased (12.1% to 33.2%) and the percentage of children without a chronic condition decreased (81.9% to 45.6%) (P , .001 for both). Children with $4 ED visits had a higher percentage of visits without medication administration (aside from acetaminophen or ibuprofen), testing, or hospital admission when compared with children with 1 visit (35.4% vs 29.0%; P , .001). Children with $4 ED visits who were aged ,1 year (odds ratio: 3.8; 95% confidence interval: 3.7-3.9) and who were without a chronic condition (odds ratio: 3.1; 95% confidence interval: 3.0-3.1) had the highest likelihood of experiencing this type of visit. CONCLUSIONS:With a disproportionate share of pediatric ED cost and utilization, frequent utilizers, especially infants without a chronic condition, are the least likely to need medications, testing, and hospital admission. Pediatrics 2014;134:e1025-e1031 AUTHORS:

Objective To describe variation across US pediatric hospitals in the utilization of resources not recommended for routine use by the AAP guideline for infants hospitalized with bronchiolitis and to examine the association between resource utilization and disposition outcomes. Study design We conducted a cross-sectional study of infants ≤12 months hospitalized for bronchiolitis from 2007-2012 at 42 hospitals contributing data to the Pediatric Health Information System. Patients with asthma were excluded. The primary outcome was hospital-level variation in utilization of five resources not recommended for routine use: albuterol, racemic epinephrine, corticosteroids, chest radiography and antibiotics. We also examined the association of resource utilization with length of stay (LOS) and readmission. Results 64,994 hospitalizations were analyzed. After adjustment for patient characteristics, albuterol (median, 52.4%; range, 3.5%-81%), racemic epinephrine (20.1%; 0.6%-78.8%), and chest radiography (54.9%; 24.1%-76.7%) had the greatest variation across hospitals. Utilization of albuterol, racemic epinephrine, and antibiotics did not change significantly over time compared with small decreases in corticosteroid (3.3%) and chest radiography (8.6%) use over the study period. Utilization of each resource was significantly associated with increased LOS without concomitant decreased odds of readmission. Conclusions Substantial use and variation in five resources not recommended for routine use by the AAP bronchiolitis guideline persists with increased utilization associated with increased LOS without the benefit of decreased readmission. Future work should focus on developing processes that can be widely disseminated and easily implemented to minimize unwarranted practice variation when evidence and guidelines exist.

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: There is wide variation in testing and treatment of children hospitalized with pneumonia. Limited data are available on diagnostic testing patterns and the association of test utilization with disposition outcomes for children with pneumonia evaluated in the emergency department (ED).WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Significant variation exists in testing for pediatric pneumonia. EDs that use more testing have higher hospitalization rates. However, ED revisit rates were not significantly different between high-and low-utilizing EDs, suggesting an opportunity to reduce testing without negatively affecting outcomes. abstract OBJECTIVE: To describe the variability across hospitals in diagnostic test utilization for children diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) during emergency department (ED) evaluation and to determine if test utilization is associated with hospitalization and ED revisits. METHODS:We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children aged 2 months to 18 years with ED visits resulting in CAP diagnoses from 2007 to 2010 who were seen at 36 hospitals contributing data to the Pediatric Health Information System. Children with complex chronic conditions, recent hospitalization, trauma, aspiration, or perinatal infection were excluded. Primary outcomes included diagnostic testing, hospitalization, and 3-day ED revisit rates across hospitals. We examined variation in diagnostic testing among hospitals by using multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression. RESULTS:A total of 100 615 ED visits were analyzed. Complete blood count (median: 28.7%), blood culture (27.9%), and chest radiograph (75.7%) were the most commonly ordered ED diagnostic tests. After adjustment for patient characteristics, significant variation (P , .001) was found for each test examined across hospitals. High test-utilizing hospitals had increased odds of hospitalization compared with low-utilizing hospitals (odds ratio: 1.86 [95% confidence interval: 1.17-2.94]; P = .008). However, differences in the odds of ED revisit between the low-and high-utilizing hospitals were not significant (odds ratio: 1.21 [95% confidence interval: 0.97-1.51]; P = .09).CONCLUSIONS: Emergency departments that use more testing in diagnosing CAP have higher hospitalization rates than lower-utilizing EDs. However, ED revisit rates were not significantly different between high-and low-utilizing EDs. These results suggest an opportunity to reduce diagnostic testing for CAP without negatively affecting outcomes. Pediatrics 2013;132:237-244