Balamuthia amoebic encephalitis has a subacute-to-chronic course and is almost invariably fatal owing to delayed diagnosis and a lack of effective therapy. Here, we report a 13-year-old girl with cutaneous lesions and multifocal granulomatous encephalitis. The patient underwent a series of tests and was suspected as having tuberculosis. She was treated with various empiric therapies without improvement. She was finally correctly diagnosed via nextgeneration sequencing of the cerebrospinal fluid. The patient deteriorated rapidly and died 2 months after being diagnosed with Balamuthia mandrillaris encephalitis. This study highlights the important clinical significance of nextgeneration sequencing, which provides better diagnostic testing for unexplained paediatric encephalitis, especially that caused by rare or emerging pathogens.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Background: To evaluate the effectiveness of training on knowledge and practice of infection prevention and control (IPC) among pediatric health care workers (HCW) in Shanghai, China, in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online training program was designed by the Shanghai Pediatric Clinical Quality Control Center (SPQCC) during the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic on disease knowledge and practice of IPC. Training took place in the 81 partner hospitals affiliated with SPQCC. A multicenter, crosssectional questionnaire survey was designed with a 25-item self-administered questionnaire to evaluate the knowledge gained from the training.Stratified-random sampling was used to select HCW according to three professionals (i.e., pediatricians, nurses and administrators) within each partner hospital. Awareness and knowledge of COVID-19 and its related infection control and practice were assessed by comparing survey results between different types of hospitals, professionals and professional ranks. A higher survey score meant that the respondent was more prepared and knowledgeable about COVID-19 and its infection control measures.Results: Completed questionnaires were returned from 1,062 subjects (385 pediatricians, 410 nurses, and 267 administrators), giving a response rate of 96.5%. Overall, awareness of clinical information related to COVID-19, importance of personal hygiene and isolation policy was high among the respondents.No statistical difference of scores on knowledge of COVID-19, IPC and relevant practice between the tertiary and peripheral hospitals. Among all respondents, middle-ranked health care personnel were most knowledgeable and achieved the highest score.Conclusions: Majority of pediatric HCW showed good recognition and practice in infection protection and control measures. The online training was able to achieve its aim to enhance knowledge and awareness and could have contributed to the zero infection rate among HCW caring for confirmed COVID-19 cases in Shanghai.