Objective: to identify clinical, laboratory, and radiological manifestations of mycoplasma pneumonia in children during the period of increased incidence of acute respiratory infections. Materials and methods. The study involved 63 children aged 1—16 years with community-acquired mycoplasma pneumonia who were treated in the Kirov Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital from September 2024 to January 2025. Results. The average age of the patients was 9.3 ± 3.5 years. Among the affected children, 73% were schoolchildren. Children were admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia, mostly (73%) in the 2nd week of the disease (9.4 ± 4.6 days). In most cases (94%), the severity of pneumonia was moderate, with a febrile fever, mild symptoms of intoxication, and a productive cough. Wet and/or dry wheezing was heard in 76% of children. Radiologically, focal (38%), polysegmental (24%) and segmental (14%) lung lesions were mainly observed. Mycoplasma infection in younger and preschool children manifested itself in the form of pharyngitis (100%), bronchitis and rhinitis (29%), gastroenteritis (12%), moderate leukocytosis (59%), bilateral (53%) and unilateral (47%) lung damage. Most school-age patients had pharyngitis (93%), normocytosis (85%), left shift of the leukocyte formula to segmented neutrophils (61%), and unilateral lung damage (78%).
Myocarditis in children is a diagnostically challenging disease with a variable course ranging from subclinical forms to severe heart failure and sudden cardiac death. Of particular interest are myocardial lesions in adolescents after COVID-19 infection, the mechanisms of which are not fully understood. The aim of this clinical observation is to demonstrate the current possibilities of comprehensive diagnostics of subacute myocarditis in an adolescent with post-COVID syndrome. We present a case of a 15-year-old patient who, 10 months after contact with his mother ill with COVID-19, developed severe asthenia, weight loss, bradycardia, and ECG changes. The key diagnostic method for myocarditis was cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with gadolinium contrast, which revealed myocardial edema, areas of necrosis and fibrosis. This case illustrates that in post-infectious myocarditis with bradycardia and sick sinus syndrome, normal troponin levels do not rule out the diagnosis. Cardiac MRI is the method of choice for verifying inflammatory and fibrotic changes. TREC/KREC analysis is promising for assessing immune deficiency, which predisposes to the development and/or chronification of myocarditis in the post-COVID period.
The relevance of the study lies in the field of curing childish toxoplasmosis which is a serious problem due to the risk of severe complications in children, especially in the congenital form. The relevance of this study is due to the high toxicity of the standard treatment regimen, necessitating the search for safer alternatives. Materials and methods. A literature review of toxoplasmosis therapy was conducted. The mechanisms of action, efficacy, and safety of both standard and experimental treatment approaches were examined. Results. The combination of pyrimethamine and azithromycin demonstrated high efficacy with a lower toxicity profile. Conclusions. Promising approaches include the use of nanotechnology and drugs that target the parasite's tissue cysts.
Study Objective: To evaluate serum cytokine levels in children diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2-associated MIS-C during the initial phase of the disease process, depending on serum lymphocyte levels. Materials and Methods. A total of 101 children aged 5 to 15 years were examined. Seventy-seven children had a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2-associated MIS-C upon hospital admission. Two groups were formed: Group 1 with lymphopenia, Group 2 without lymphopenia, and Group 3 a comparison group. The groups were matched for age. All children underwent determination of the concentrations of cytokines IL-4, IL-6, IL-17A, MCP-1, VEGF in the blood serum. Results. A thorough analysis of the content of the following cytokines: IL-4, IL-6, IL-17A, MCP-1, VEGF in the blood serum showed that despite the fact that the average values of the studied parameters significantly exceeded those in the comparison group, statistically significant differences were not found between the main groups. In addition, a wide range of individual values was revealed in the main groups, regardless of the initial level of lymphocytes. This suggests that the lymphocyte count in peripheral blood at the initial stage of the pathological process is not a significant factor determining the development of the pathogenetic process of MIS-C associated with SARS-CoV-2.
Despite the widespread prevalence of fungi of the genus Candida , congenital invasive candidiasis in full-term newborns remains a rare but potentially life-threatening infectious condition. Significant diagnostic difficulties arise from the variability of clinical manifestations, the lack of highly specific laboratory markers, and the similarity of the disease to bacterial and viral infections. The aim of this study is to present a clinical case report of congenital invasive candidiasis in a full-term newborn, including an analysis of risk factors, clinical manifestations, test results and the efficacy of the treatment administered, as well as a comparison of the data obtained with the current international scientific literature. Materials and methods: clinical observation and analysis of the results of investigations were carried out on a child who was hospitalised in a multi-specialist children’s hospital due to laboratory-confirmed generalised congenital candidiasis; the international medical literature on neonatal candidiasis was reviewed using search engines and databases such as elibrary, PubMed, ResearchGate, Google Scholar and Scopus. Conclusion. The clinical manifestations in newborns often include respiratory disorders, skin manifestations, and neurological symptoms. The two cases described in this article highlight the importance of timely diagnosis of candidal infection in newborns with risk factors and characteristic clinical presentations. The presented observations dictate the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and treatment of candidal infection in newborns.
