Managing the sick child in the era of declining malaria transmission : development of ALMANACH, an electronic algorithm for appropriate use of antimicrobials

To review the available knowledge on epidemiology and diagnoses of acute infections in children aged 2 to 59 months in primary care setting and develop an electronic algorithm for the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness to reach optimal clinical outcome and rational use of medicines.; A structured literature review in Medline, Embase and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Review (CDRS) looked for available estimations of diseases prevalence in outpatients aged 2-59 months, and for available evidence on i) accuracy of clinical predictors, and ii) performance of point-of-care tests for targeted diseases. A new algorithm for the management of childhood illness (ALMANACH) was designed based on evidence retrieved and results of a study on etiologies of fever in Tanzanian children outpatients.; The major changes in ALMANACH compared to IMCI (2008 version) are the following: i) assessment of 10 danger signs, ii) classification of non-severe children into febrile and non-febrile illness, the latter receiving no antibiotics, iii) classification of pneumonia based on a respiratory rate threshold of 50 assessed twice for febrile children 12-59 months; iv) malaria rapid diagnostic test performed for all febrile children. In the absence of identified source of fever at the end of the assessment, v) urine dipstick performed for febrile children >2years to consider urinary tract infection, vi) classification of 'possible typhoid' for febrile children 5 year children and lead to more rational use of antimicrobials

Infecção urinária em menores de 15 anos: etiologia e perfil de sensibilidade antimicrobiana em hospital geral de pediatria Urinary tract infection in children under 15 years: etiology and antimicrobial susceptibility in a children's hospital

OBJETIVO: Descrever a prevalência dos principais agentes etiológicos de infecção urinária comunitária em crianças menores de 15 anos e analisar o perfil de sensibilidade antimicrobiana do principal agente, Escherichia coli. MÉTODOS: Estudo retrospectivo conduzido a partir de uroculturas com crescimento de agente único, com unidades formadoras de colônia maior ou igual a 10(5)/mL. A população selecionada foi atendida no Pronto Atendimento de Pediatria do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo entre janeiro de 2006 e dezembro de 2007. Para analisar o perfil de sensibilidade de E. coli, foram excluídos casos com infecção urinária de repetição e/ou portadores de uropatias. RESULTADOS: Dos 176 casos de infecção urinária, 133 (76%) ocorreram no sexo feminino e 43 (24%) no masculino. A faixa etária de maior prevalência das infecções urinárias foi a de menores de dois anos, com 84 casos (48%). Escherichia coli foi o principal agente isolado (122 culturas - 69% do total). Foram encontrados altos índices de sensibilidade antimicrobiana de E. coli às cefalosporinas de segunda e terceira geração (cefuroxima e ceftriaxona, 100%), aos aminoglicosídeos (amicacina, 100%; gentamicina, 96,4%), ao ácido nalidíxico (97,3%), à nitrofurantoina (98,2%) e às quinolonas (ciprofloxacina e norfloxacina, 98,2%); sensibilidade moderada à cefalosporina de primeira geração (cefalotina, 78,4%); baixa sensibilidade à ampicilina (38,7%) e ao sufametoxazol-trimetoprim (55%). CONCLUSÕES: E. coli continua sendo a bactéria mais prevalente das infecções urinárias comunitárias. Conhecendo a baixa sensibilidade in vitro dessa bactéria à sulfametoxazol-trimetoprim e à ampicilina, recomenda-se que tais drogas não sejam eleitas para a terapêutica inicial.<br>OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of the most frequent etiological agents of community acquired urinary tract infection in children under the age of 15 years, as well as to analyse the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the most prevalent pathogen, Escherichia coli. METHODS: Retrospective study conducted from urine cultures of a single bacterial species, at a concentration > 10(5) colonies forming units/mL. The children included in the study were treated in the Pediatric Emergency Care Unit of the University Hospital of the University of Sao Paulo from January, 2006 to December, 2007. In order to analyze Escherichia coli antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, cases with recurrent urinary tract infection and/or carriers of uropathy were excluded. RESULTS: Among 176 urinary tract infection patients, 133 (76%) were females. Children less than two years old presented the highest prevalence of urinary tract infection (84 cases; 48%). E. coli was the main agent (122 cultures - 69% of the total). There were high rates of E. coli antimicrobial susceptibility to second and third-generation cephalosporins (cefuroxime and ceftriaxone, 100%), aminoglycosides (amikacin, 100%, gentamicin, 96.4%), nalidixic acid (97.3%), nitrofurantoin (98.2%) and quinolones (ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin, 98.2%); moderate susceptibility to first-generation cephalosporin (cephalothin, 78.4%); low susceptibility to ampicillin (38.7%) and sufamethoxazole-trimethoprim (55%). CONCLUSIONS: E. coli remains the most prevalent bacterial pathogen of community acquired urinary tract infection. Given the low in vitro susceptibility of these bacteria to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim and ampicillin, these drugs should not be elected as the initial choice for treatment