The influence of birth order depended on the type of allergic disease and the childhood period. Childhood is unique in terms of physical and immunological development, and the immune response to the post-natal environment in childhood appears to be heterogeneous.
Key Clinical Message
Bordetella pertussis causes life‐threatening apnea in infants. Lymphocytosis is an important clue for diagnosis and for determining the severity of pertussis. Antibiotics do not shorten or ameliorate the disease and only decrease the risk of transmission. Antepartum maternal immunization is important for preventing pertussis in infants.
Procalcitonin (PCT) is used as a biomarker in severe infections. Here, we retrospectively investigated levels of serum PCT, C-reactive protein (CRP), and inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ) in the second phase of patients with acute encephalopathy with biphasic seizures and late reduced diffusion (AESD). Nine AESD pediatric patients (4 men, 5 women; AESD group) admitted to Okayama University Hospital from 2010 to 2016 were compared with 10 control patients with febrile seizures (FS) (3 men, 7 women; FS group). Mean PCT concentrations (ng/mL) in the AESD and FS groups were significantly different, at 9.8 ± 6.7 and 0.8 ± 0.9, respectively (p = 0.0006). CRP (mg/dL) were 0.79 ± 0.89 and 1.4 ± 1.0 (p = 0.94), respectively; IL-6 (pg/mL) were 449.7 ± 705.0 and 118.3 ± 145.4 (p = 0.20), respectively; TNF-α (pg/mL) were 18.6 ± 12.5 and 16.6 ± 6.0 (p = 0.67), respectively; and IFN-γ (pg/mL) were 79.6 ± 158.5 and 41.9 ± 63.7 (p = 0.56), respectively. Ratios of PCT to CRP were 27.5 ± 34.2 and 3.2 ± 6.8 (p < 0.0001), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of AESD using a cutoff of PCT/CRP ratio of 1.0 were 79% and 100%, respectively. These results suggest that PCT and the PCT/CRP ratio are useful in auxiliary diagnosis of the second stage of AESD, and in AESD, PCT is likely to increase through a different mechanism.
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