Chest tightness variant asthma(CTVA) is a newly recognized and special type of bronchial asthma, with the only main clinical manifestation of chest tightness or sighing respiration, but without wheezing and other typical symptoms of bronchial asthma.At the same time, the patients with CTVA are likely to be misdiagnosed in clinic practices.There are few studies on CTVA in children.This article focuses on hot issues about the clinical features, pathoge-nesis, diagnosis and treatment of CTVA, which hopes to enhance the diagnosis and treatment level of CTVA in children.

Objective To summarize the epidemiology and evaluate possible age-related differences in the presenting clinical features in three year-old children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia(MPP)during 2009 to 2014.Methods The medical records of 17855 children with community-acquired pneumonia enrolled by Children′s Hospital of Soochow University during 2009 to 2014.Totally 1145 younger than three year-old children with MPP were enrolled,and they were classified into three groups of 1 month to 1 year-old group (n=512),1 to 2 year-old group (n=393) and 2 to 3 year-old group (n=240).The epidemiology and possible age-related differences in the presenting clinical features,main laboratory and imaging results in three year-old children with MPP were summarized.Results (1) The highest infection rate of different reasons in Suzhou was in autumn(10.46%),and the lowest was in spring(6.95%),The highest infection rate of different ages was 2 to 3 year-old group(11.61%),and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).(2) Compared with 1 month to 1 year-old group(n=512,4.31%) and 1 to 2 year-old group (n=39,10.09%),2 to 3 year-old group (n=240,11.61%) had higher infection rate,more patients with fever(53.9% vs. 77.1% vs. 85.4%) and high fever(16.8% vs. 30.5% vs. 41.4%),longer time to normalization of temperature(3d vs. 5d vs. 6d),but less patients with wheezing(61.3% vs. 52.4% vs. 42.9%) and dyspnea(7.6% vs. 4.6% vs. 3.8%).(3) The differences were statistically significant in the percentage of neutrophils,lymphocytes,CRP and platelet count between different ages(P<0.001).(4) The incidences of large area of lesions in chest X-ray examination among different ages had significant differences(P<0.001).Conclusions MP is one of the important pathogens of respiratory tract infection in younger than 3 year-old children.It can occur in every season,and the highest infection rate of MP is in autumn and spring.In younger than 3 year-old,older patients are more vulnerable to infection of MP,the number of fever and high fever are more,fever duration is longer,but younger patients are more vulnerable to virus infection and prone to dyspnea.Chest X-ray examination shows small patchy shadow in most cases,the younger children are more easily to have large area of lesions and pleural effusion.

ObjectiveTo analyze the genotype and variation ofMycoplasma pneumonia (MP) strains isolated from chil-dren with MP infection in Soochow area.MethodsThe nasopharyngeal secretions from hospitalized children with MP infection were collected during January 2012 and December 2013. The nested-multiplex PCR based on MPP1 gene was performed to detect the subtype ofMP gene.ResultsIn 313 samples, 304 (97.12 %) samples were classiifed as P1-I type and 8 (2.56%) sam-ples were classiifed as P1-II type and one (0.32%) was V2 variant. Gene sequencing results were consistent with nested-multiple PCR results.ConclusionsNested-multiplex PCR is a reliable method for genotyping of MPP1 gene. During the study period, P1-I type was the common genotype and only one case of V2 variant was found.

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics of mycoplasma pneumonia with pulmonary atelectasis and lavage interventional effect through fiberoptic bronchoscopy in children.Methods During Jun 2012 to Apr 2013,fifty-three children diagnosed of mycoplasma pneumonia with pulmonary atelectasis who received fiberoptic bronchoscopy were enrolled as the experimental group.Thirty-five children diagnosed of mycoplasma pneumonia without pulmonary atelectasis were chosen as control group.According to the lavage interventional time of fiberoptic bronchoscopy,we divided the patients in the experimental group into two groups,the early group and late group.Clinical data and laboratory finds were collected and analyzed.Results The duration of fever,hospital stay and C-reactive protein (CRP) of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P ＜ 0.05).The location of pulmonary atelectasis in the experimental group were usually in the right middle lobe (18 cases,33.9％).Under fiberoptic bronchoscope,all patients had obviously bronchial mucosa congestive edema.Some of them had follicular hyperplasia (9 cases,17.0％),mucosal erosion (3 cases,5.7％),mucus plug formation (7 cases,13.2％) and poor ventilation of segmental bronchi (4 cases,7.5 ％).Neutrophils (43 cases,81.1％) increased and phagocytic cells (31 cases,58.5％) dereased obviously in bronchoalevolar lavage fluid.After treatment in the experimental group,52 children (98.1％) got complete recruitment of atelectasis.The average duration of fever and hospital stay of the early group were significantly shoter than those of late group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Children diagnosed of mycoplasma pneumonia with pulmonary atelectasis had longer fever duration and higher CRP level.Bronchoscopic interventional therapy promoted the recovery of pulmonary atelectasis.Using bronchoscop early in shorten the duration of fever and hospitalization in children diagnosed of mycoplasm pneumonia with pulmonary atelectasis.

OBJECTIVE To study the carriage,the risk factors and the antibiotic resistant pattern of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated from hospitalized children with respiratory infection below 3 years old.METHODS A total of 453 children with respiratory infection hospitalized at Children′s Hospital of Soochow University in Suzhou Jiangsu Province from Mar 2006 to Mar 2007 were enrolled and given deep orotracheal aspiration(OTA) technique to get the sputum.S.pneumoniae strains were tested and analyzed.RESULTS The carriage rate of S.pneumoniae was 9.3% which was related with age and season.The percentage of resistance to penicillin,erythromycin,tetracycline,clindamycin,chloramphenicol and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was 16.7%,100%,95.2%,95.2%,14.3% and 73.8%,respectively.No resistant strains to ceftriaxone,ofloxacin and vancomycin were detected.All S.pneumoniae strains were resistant to multiple drugs.CONCLUSIONS The carriage of S.pneumoniae in respiratory infected children below 3 years old in Suzhou area is relatively low.Age and incidence season are the risk factors.The antibiotic resistance is serious.

Objective To explore the influence of coinfection with other pathogens on human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection in children.Methods A total of 11 299 children admitted to the Department of Respiratory Disease,Children's Hospital of Soochow University between June 2010 and May 2015 were enrolled in this study.Sputum specimens were collected and multiple pathogenic joint detection was done,including peripheral blood,and blood routine,C reactive protein (CRP),hepatic function and cellular immunity.Patients' clinical data were collected.Results Among 11 299 hospitalized children,hMPV was positive found in 222 children (1.96％).One hundred and fourteen children (51.4％) had hMPV simple infection and 108 cases of them (48.6％) were coinfected with other pathogens.The hMPV coinfected with bacteria (63 cases,28.4％)was most common.The average age of multiple coinfected children was older than that of simple hMPV infection in children [(2.43 ± 2.47) years old vs.(1.27 ± 1.30) years old],and the difference was significant (Z =-2.360,P ＜ 0.05).Fever seemed to be more common in children coinfected with bacteria or multiple coinfection (63.5％ and 70.0％) compared with those with simple hMPV infection (43.0％),and the differences were significant (x2 =6.827,4.986,all P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in other clinical features among 5 groups (all P ＞ 0.05).Multiple coinfection children had a higher percentage of neutrophils (0.50 ± 0.18) than that in simple hMPV infection children (0.37 ± 0.19),children coinfected with bacteria (0.39 ±0.19) or other virus (0.35 ±0.19),and the differences were significant (all P ＜0.05).CRP was elevated in 30.2％ (19/63 cases) of children coinfected with bacteria,which was significantly higher than that of simple hPMV infection children (16.7 ％,19/114 cases),and the difference was significant (x2 =4.381,P ＜ 0.05).CD3 + CD4 + was significantly lower in multiple coinfection children (0.31 ± 0.07),but there were no significant difference compared with other groups (all P ＞ 0.05).CD19 + CD23 + was significantly higher in children coinfected with other virus com pared with that of simple hMPV infection group,hMPV coinfected with bacteria,hMPV coinfected with Mycoplasma pneumonia and multiple coinfect group (0.37 ± 0.10 vs.0.30 ± 0.09,0.30 ± 0.08,0.29 ± 0.07,0.29 ± 0.09),and the differences were significant (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions It is suggested that hMPV seems easily coinfected with other pathogens,especially with bacteria.It should be on high alert that bacteria coinfection is accompanied with high percentage of neutrophils and high level of CRP.Coinfection does not significantly exacerbate the clinical symptoms of hMPV infection,but may exacerbate the cellular immune disorders to a certain extent.

Protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB) is a common cause of children with chronic wet cough.Original microbiologic-based case of PBB was defined as wet cough (＞ 4 weeks) without signs of another cause,bacterial pathogens growing and quantitative culture ≥ 107 cfu/L in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and cough resolved following a 2-week course of an appropriate oral antibiotics (usually amoxicillin-clavulanate).In recent years,clinical-based case definition of PBB,refractory PBB and recurrent PBB have been proposed to increase its clinical applicability.At present,the pathogenesis of PBB including biofilm formation,impaired airway muco-ciliary clearance,neutrophil inflammation,immune dysfunction and inappropriate use of antibiotics.

Protracted bacterial bronchitis ( PBB) is a common cause of children with chronic wet cough. It is defined by the presence of persistent wet cough for longer than 4 weeks,often accompanied by wheezing,but lacks of specific symptoms or signs suggestive of other alternative diagnosis of chronic cough. Airway malacia frequently coexists with PBB,and haemophilus influenzae and streptococcus pneumoniae are the most commonly identified pathogens. Neutrophilic inflammation is present in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid,and usually resolves with appropriate antibiotic treatment for two weeks(amoxicillin/clavulanate). By far,PBB hasn′t been fully recognized by most pediatricians in China. In this commentary, diagnosis and treatment were reviewed.

Objective:To understand the present situation of the construction of standardized asthma clinic for children in China, to explore the problems existing in the process of construction, and to promote the healthy development of standardized clinic construction.Methods:The process and current situation of the construction of standar-dized asthma clinics for children in China were reviewed and investigated, and the practical significance of the China Children′s Asthma Action Plan (CCAAP) in the construction of standardized asthma clinics for children was explored.Results:(1)By December 2020, 1 289 standardized asthma clinics for children and 135 regional demonstration centers had been built; 56 training sessions had been held, with a total of 2 560 doctors and 650 nurses trained, covering 2 560 hospitals across the country; and 4 518 patient education sessions were held.Online publicity covers a total of 1 million person-times, with an annual average of 1.33 million patients.(2)CCAAP improved the quality control level of standardized asthma clinic and promoted the standardized management of children.Conclusions:Through process optimization, professional evaluation, individual health education and real-time disease monitoring, standardized asthma clinic for children with asthma can effectively enhance asthma management awareness of children and their parents, improve disease awareness, and promote better control of asthma.It is an effective management model of asthma in children at present, and it is worthy of clinical promotion.CCAAP plays a good role in the construction of standardized outpatient clinic for asthma in children.The construction of standardized asthma clinic for children in China has achieved remarkable results, and the development trend is good in the future.