COVID 19 vaccine in the pediatric age: the recommendation of the Italian Pediatric Society

Vaccine is an important and effective tool to protect from preventable infectious diseases. Neverthless, in the COVID-19 pandemic era, scientific and accurate information are required to responde to false and misleading information on efficacy and safety of immunization in the pediatric age

Providing pediatric well-care and sick visits in the COVID-19 pandemic era: the recommendations of the Italian pediatric society

Pediatricians have observed a significant decrease in in-person child health visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the post lockdown period, the coronavirus trend remains positive in Italy but fears of a second wave have recently grown in Italy due to active hotbeds of contagion. The pandemic may negatively affect the care of pediatric patients and overall children welfare as it may present with severe signs and symptoms or it may complicate. The Italian Pediatric Society recommend to separate well visits from sick ones, to educate families and to promote hygienic strategies to provide an adequate pediatric assistance in case of a second pandemic wave

Facial masks in children: the position statement of the Italian pediatric society

Facial masks may be one of the most cost-effective strategies to prevent the diffusion of COVID 19 infection. Nevertheless, fake news are spreading, alerting parents on dangerous side effects in children, such as hypercapnia, hypoxia, gut dysbiosis and immune system weakness. Aim of the Italian Pediatric Society statement is to face misconception towards the use of face masks and to spread scientific trustable information

Multicentre Italian study of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents, preliminary data as at 10 April 2020

Data on features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in children and adolescents are scarce. We report preliminary results of an Italian multicentre study comprising 168 laboratory-confirmed paediatric cases (median: 2.3 years, range: 1 day-17.7 years, 55.9% males), of which 67.9% were hospitalised and 19.6% had comorbidities. Fever was the most common symptom, gastrointestinal manifestations were frequent; two children required intensive care, five had seizures, 49 received experimental treatments and all recovered

Births in Italy: a neonatologist’s view

The complexity of care needs that characterize economically advanced societies requires a systemic approach to the organization of health services so as to enable them to meet the diverse health needs of the population, in line with their economic sustainability. The proper functioning of the service network is related to the ability to change our way of thinking and to the development of health services by adapting them to the rapid and profound changes characterizing the social fabric. The current organization of the maternity facilities network in Italy shows strong regional differences and raises many concerns when we analyze the data in the tenth Report on Births in Italy, prepared by the Statistics Office with 2011 data from the information flow of the Certificate of Attendance at Childbirth (CeDAP). This survey is the richest national source of health, epidemiological, and socio-demographic information on births, and therefore represents a very important tool for health planning, at both a national and, especially, a regional level   Proceedings of the 11th International Workshop on Neonatology and Satellite Meetings · Cagliari (Italy) · October 26th-31st, 2015 · From the womb to the adult Guest Editors: Vassilios Fanos (Cagliari, Italy), Michele Mussap (Genoa, Italy), Antonio Del Vecchio (Bari, Italy), Bo Sun (Shanghai, China), Dorret I. Boomsma (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Gavino Faa (Cagliari, Italy), Antonio Giordano (Philadelphia, USA)

Reorganisation of the paediatric care network in Italy

In this paper we advocate for an urgent restructuring of the paediatric care network, emphasizing timely and comprehensive treatment for children. Key points include harmonising the upper age limit to 18, integrating hospital and territorial paediatric care, and utilising telemedicine. The importance of community-based prevention, proximity services, and the establishment of Community Houses with multi-professional teams is stressed. Additionally, there's a call for political will and resources to upgrade paediatric hospital networks and create integrated care pathways, ensuring consistent and improved care for children nationwide

Children with medical complexity: the change in the pediatric epidemiology

In the last years, epidemiological landscape of pediatric illness is changed; we are facing a progressive raising of the number of children affected by chronic illness (children with special health care needs [CSHCN]), mainly due to the amelioration in surviving and in care. These patients have become the majority of the inpatients in some specialist hospitals, like the Meyer Children’s Hospital (Florence, Italy), in 2012. One important group of CSHCN is represented by the children who are most medically fragile and have the most intensive health care needs (children with medical complexity [CMC]). In these patients, the complexity of the pathological framework frequently results in a plenty of visits and tests, with high risk of redundant and expensive cares. They also need outside support networks such as advocacy and accommodations at school, at home, in social life. The CMC needs specific skill and new strategies that could involve pediatricians in hospital as in home care. The professional competencies are ready but a clear and shared strategy is lacking.   Proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on Neonatology · Cagliari (Italy) · October 22nd-25th, 2014 · The last ten years, the next ten years in Neonatology Guest Editors: Vassilios Fanos, Michele Mussap, Gavino Faa, Apostolos Papageorgio