A case of incomplete Kawasaki disease with extremely high serum ferritin and interleukin-18 levels

Abstract Background The clinical features and laboratory parameters of patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) occasionally overlap. Therefore, serum levels of cytokine and ferritin are used as markers to distinguish between KD and sJIA. KD patients have a high level of interleukin (IL)-6, low level of IL-18, and no elevation of the level of serum ferritin. Conversely, sJIA patients have a low level of IL-6 and high levels of IL-18 and ferritin in the serum. However, to the best of our knowledge, no case report of KD with a low serum level of IL-6 and extremely high levels of IL-18 and ferritin is found. Case presentation A 6-year-old boy presented with a history of fever for 9 days and a rash that appeared 7 days from the onset. He was diagnosed with incomplete KD because of fever, skin rash, oral cavity erythematous changes, and erythema and edema of the hands with laboratory findings of serum albumin level < 3.0 g/dL, elevated alanine aminotransferase level and leukocyturia. Intravenous immunoglobulin and prednisolone and oral aspirin were introduced on the 10th day. Fever subsided 1 day after initiating the treatment, but arthritis of both knees appeared in addition to hepatosplenomegaly. We suspected sJIA, as the serum level of ferritin was 19,740 ng/mL, IL-6 was < 3 pg/mL, and IL-18 was 132,000 pg/mL. Skin desquamation of the fingertips was observed 18 days from the onset; thus, he was finally diagnosed with incomplete KD with arthritis. At 32 days from the onset, we stopped the prednisolone therapy and no symptoms of relapse were observed afterwards. In the follow-up at 16 months from the onset, he had neither signs of active joint or skin involvement, nor cardiac involvement. Conclusions Although patients with sJIA generally have high serum levels of IL-18 and ferritin, this was a case of incomplete KD with extremely high serum levels of IL-18 and ferritin. Serum cytokine and ferritin are often used for the differential diagnosis of KD and sJIA. We need to recognize the existence of KD with high serum levels of IL-18 and ferritin

Comparison of Two Hepatitis B Vaccination Strategies Targeting Vertical Transmission: A 10-Year Japanese Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

In 1985, a hepatitis B (HB) vaccination strategy against vertical HB virus transmission was introduced in Japan that recommended vaccination of infants at two, three, and five months of age (delayed strategy). This schedule was revised in 2013, recommending to vaccinate at birth and at 1 and 6 months of age (non-delayed strategy). We aimed to compare the vertical HB virus transmission rates and immunogenic responses between these two vaccination strategies. This Japanese multicenter prospective cohort study included 222 infants born between 2008 and 2017 to serum hepatitis B surface (HBs) antigen (HBsAg)-positive mothers. During the study period, 136 and 86 infants received delayed and non-delayed strategies, respectively. A positive vertical HB virus transmission was defined as a positive serum HBsAg status. Seropositive immunogenic response was defined as a serum anti-HBs titer of &ge;10 mIU/mL. Post-vaccination serum HBsAg positivity rates did not differ significantly between the delayed (0/136 [0.0%, 95% confidence interval, 0.0&ndash;2.7%]) and non-delayed (2/86 [2.3%, 95% confidence interval, 0.3&ndash;8.1%]) strategy groups. Seropositive immunogenic response rates were 100.0% (136/136) and 97.7% (84/86), respectively. Although this study was under-powered to detect a statistically significant result, no vertical HB virus transmission was observed in the delayed strategy

Comparison of Two Hepatitis B Vaccination Strategies Targeting Vertical Transmission: A 10-Year Japanese Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study

In 1985, a hepatitis B (HB) vaccination strategy against vertical HB virus transmission was introduced in Japan that recommended vaccination of infants at two, three, and five months of age (delayed strategy). This schedule was revised in 2013, recommending to vaccinate at birth and at 1 and 6 months of age (non-delayed strategy). We aimed to compare the vertical HB virus transmission rates and immunogenic responses between these two vaccination strategies. This Japanese multicenter prospective cohort study included 222 infants born between 2008 and 2017 to serum hepatitis B surface (HBs) antigen (HBsAg)-positive mothers. During the study period, 136 and 86 infants received delayed and non-delayed strategies, respectively. A positive vertical HB virus transmission was defined as a positive serum HBsAg status. Seropositive immunogenic response was defined as a serum anti-HBs titer of ≥10 mIU/mL. Post-vaccination serum HBsAg positivity rates did not differ significantly between the delayed (0/136 [0.0%, 95% confidence interval, 0.0–2.7%]) and non-delayed (2/86 [2.3%, 95% confidence interval, 0.3–8.1%]) strategy groups. Seropositive immunogenic response rates were 100.0% (136/136) and 97.7% (84/86), respectively. Although this study was under-powered to detect a statistically significant result, no vertical HB virus transmission was observed in the delayed strategy