Background: A crucial balance exists between oxidant and antioxidant mechanisms in the functional immune system. We aimed to evaluate the contributions of balance between these systems to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), a devastating pandemic caused by viral infection.Method: We analyzed serum oxidant and antioxidant stress parameters according to the clinical and demographic characteristics of children and adults with COVID‐19 and compared them against the values of healthy controls. Serum native thiol (NT), total thiol (TT), disulfide, total antioxidant status, total oxidant status, and ischemia‐modified albumin levels were evaluated and compared between groups.Results: A total of 79 children and 74 adults were evaluated in the present study, including 46 children and 40 adults with COVID‐19, 33 healthy children, and 34 healthy adults. TT, NT, and disulfide levels were significantly lower in the adult COVID‐19 group than in all other groups (p = .001, p = .001, and p = .005, respectively). Additionally, TT and NT levels were significantly lower in both pediatric and adult COVID‐19 cases with severe disease course than mild/moderate course. TT and NT levels were identified as predictors for the diagnosis of the adult COVID‐19 cases and as independent predictors for disease severity in both children and adults with COVID‐19.Conclusion: Parameters that reveal the oxidant and antioxidant capacity, including TT and NT, appear to be good candidates for the accurate prediction of the clinical course among patients with COVID‐19.

Bacteremia remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality during febrile neutropenia (FN) episodes. We aimed to define the risk factors for bacteremia in febrile neutropenic children with hemato-oncological malignancies. The records of 150 patients aged ≤18 years who developed FN in hematology and oncology clinics were retrospectively evaluated. Patients with bacteremia were compared to patients with negative blood cultures. The mean age of the patients was 7.5 ± 4.8 years. Leukemia was more prevalent than solid tumors (61.3% vs. 38.7%). Bacteremia was present in 23.3% of the patients. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most frequently isolated microorganism. Leukopenia, severe neutropenia, positive peripheral blood and central line cultures during the previous 3 months, presence of a central line, previous FN episode(s), hypotension, tachycardia, and tachypnea were found to be risk factors for bacteremia. Positive central line cultures during the previous 3 months and presence of previous FN episode(s) were shown to increase bacteremia risk by 2.4-fold and 2.5-fold, respectively. Presence of a bacterial growth in central line cultures during the previous 3 months and presence of any previous FN episode(s) were shown to increase bacteremia risk by 2.4-fold and 2.5-fold, respectively. These factors can predict bacteremia in children with FN.

Introduction: Antibody response developed within 2–3 weeks after exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been shown to decrease over time; however, there is limited data about antibody levels at 6 months or later postinfection, particularly in children. Materials and Method: A prospective multicenter study was performed using 315 samples of 74 confirmed and 10 probable coronavirus disease 2019 pediatric cases. About 20% of these cases were classified as asymptomatic, 74% as mild/moderate and 6% as severe/critical. Patients were included if at least 2 samples were available. The antibody response was classified as either early-period or late-period (14 days–3 months and after 6 months, respectively) for IgG response whereas IgA response was tested on various time intervals, including as early as 4 days up to 3 months. Euroimmun Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgA and Genscript SARS-CoV-2 Surrogate Virus Neutralization Kits were used for antibody detection. Results: There was no difference between the early-period and late-period IgG positivity (P = 0.1). However, the median IgG levels were 11.98 in the early periods and 4.05 in the late periods, with a significance of P < 0.001. Although the decrease in IgG levels was significant in asymptomatic and mild/moderate cases (P < 0.008 and P < 0.001, respectively), the decrease in severe/critical cases was moderate (P = 0.285). The sensitivity of the IgG after 15 days was higher than 94%, and the sensitivity of IgA was 88% on days 8–15. Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody levels decreased after 6 months. The decrease was moderate in severe/critical cases. Overall, 95.8% of the patients remained positive up to 9 months after infection. Although the IgA response may be useful early on, the IgG response is useful after 14 days.

Objective: The coronavirus disease pandemic is a major problem that the world has been facing since December 2019. It mainly affects the respiratory system; however, the disease can affect the kidneys to different degrees. This study aimed to determine the changes in tubular dysfunction and inflammation parameters in children with coronavirus disease using urine biomarkers. Materials and Methods: We included 36 children who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction using respiratory specimens. Coronavirus disease-positive and -negative period parameters were evaluated. For measurement of interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and urine β2 microglobulin levels, patients’ urine samples were collected at diagnosis and 1 month after discharge. Additionally, routine urine and hematological parameters were evaluated concurrently. Results: For all patients, the median urine β2 microglobulin, serum urea, and lactate dehydrogenase levels were significantly higher in the coronavirus disease-positive period than in the coronavirus disease-negative period (P < .05). Further, serum platelet count was significantly lower in the coronavirus disease-positive period than in the coronavirus disease-negative period (P < .05). However, there was no difference in serum creatinine, interleukin-6, or interleukin-1β levels between the 2 periods (P > .05). Conclusion: Our results suggest kidney involvement and tubular dysfunction in patients with asymptomatic, mild, and moderate infections. Furthermore, interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 levels were high in the urine, even in non-critically ill patients. We believe that these findings contribute to the accumulation of evidence on continued inflammation in the kidney. Cite this article as: Taş N, Uslu Gökçeoğlu A, Aykaç K, et al. Evaluation of tubular dysfunction using urine biomarkers in children with COVID-19. Turk Arch Pediatr. 2022;57(1):99-103.

Cite this article as: Kaan Aslan M, Cesur Ö, Özcan A, et al. Hyperimmunoglobulin D syndrome presenting with volvulus due to abdominal fibro-inflammatory bands. Turk Arch Pediatr. 2023;58(1):109-111.