Objective To investigate the distribution and antimicrobial resistance profiles of clinically isolated Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis in hospitals across China from 2015 to 2021,and provide evidence for rational use of antimicrobial agents.Methods Data of H.influenzae and M.catarrhalis strains isolated from 2015 to 2021 in CHINET program were collected for analysis,and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by disc diffusion method or automated systems according to the uniform protocol of CHINET.The results were interpreted according to the CLSI breakpoints in 2022.Beta-lactamases was detected by using nitrocefin disk.Results From 2015 to 2021,a total of 43 642 strains of Haemophilus species were isolated,accounting for 2.91％of the total clinical isolates and 4.07％of Gram-negative bacteria in CHINET program.Among the 40 437 strains of H.influenzae,66.89％were isolated from children and 33.11％were isolated from adults.More than 90％of the H.influenzae strains were isolated from respiratory tract specimens.The prevalence of β-lactamase was 53.79％in H.influenzae strains.The H.influenzae strains isolated from children showed higher resistance rate than the strains isolated from adults.Overall,779 strains of H.influenzae did not produce β-lactamase but were resistant to ampicillin(BLNAR).Beta-lactamase-producing strains showed significantly higher resistance rates to these antimicrobial agents than the β-lactamase-nonproducing strains.Of the 16 191 M.catarrhalis strains,80.06％were isolated from children and 19.94％isolated from adults.M.catarrhalis strains were mostly susceptible to both amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and cefuroxime,evidenced by resistance rate lower than 2.0％.Conclusions The emergence of antibiotic-resistant H.influenzae due to β-lactamase production poses a challenge for clinical anti-infective treatment.Therefore,it is very important to implement antibiotic resistance surveillance for H.influenzae and guide rational antibiotic use.All local clinical microbiology laboratories should actively improve antibiotic susceptibility testing and strengthen antibiotic resistance surveillance for H.influenzae.

Objective To investigate the changes of anti-Müllerian hormone(AMH),inhibin-B(INHB)and inhibin-A(INHA)levels in boys with cryptorchidism,analyze their clinical application value,and provide labo-ratory data for the diagnosis and treatment of cryptorchidism.Methods A total of 1 310 boys with cryp-torchidism who were hospitalized or visited the outpatient department in the hospital from July 2020 to July 2023 were included in the case group.Another 50 boys who underwent physical examination at the hospital and had no abnormalities in reproductive system development such as testicles were selected as the control group.Venous blood was collected from all the research subjects in a fasting state and placed into biochemical tubes.After centrifuging the serum,the changes in the levels of anti-Müllerian hormone(AMH),Inhibin B(INHB),and Inhibin A(INHA)in the two groups were detected by the chemiluminescence method.The differences between the two groups were analyzed,and the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of AMH,INHB,and INHA for cryptorchidism.Results The AMH lev-els in boys with cryptorchidism were significantly higher than those in the control group(P＜0.01),while the INHB and INHA levels were significantly lower than those in the control group(P＜0.01).ROC curve analy-sis showed that the area under the curve(AUC)of AMH was 0.65(95％CI:0.56-0.74,P＜0.01).When the Youden index was 26.85％and the cut off value was 37.19 ng/mL,it had relatively good sensitivity(88.85％)but relatively low specificity(38.00％).The AUC of INHB was 0.63(95％CI:0.57-0.70,P＜0.01).When the Youden index was 24.17％and the cut off value was 77.17 pg/mL,it had relatively poor sensitivity(38.17％)but relatively good specificity(86.00％).Both AMH and INHB have certain clinical val-ue in the differential diagnosis of boys with cryptorchidism.The AUC of INHA was 0.81(95％CI:0.79-0.84,P＜0.01).When the Youden index was 75.86％and the cut off value was 5.165 pg/mL,it had a rela-tively good sensitivity(77.86％)and specificity(98.00％).Conclusion The changes in the levels of serum AMH and INHB have certain diagnostic value for boys with cryptorchidism,while INHA has a good diagnos-tic value and can be used as an auxiliary diagnostic indicator for boys with cryptorchidism.

Objective To investigate the distribution and antimicrobial resistance profiles of clinically isolated Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis in hospitals across China from 2015 to 2021,and provide evidence for rational use of antimicrobial agents.Methods Data of H.influenzae and M.catarrhalis strains isolated from 2015 to 2021 in CHINET program were collected for analysis,and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by disc diffusion method or automated systems according to the uniform protocol of CHINET.The results were interpreted according to the CLSI breakpoints in 2022.Beta-lactamases was detected by using nitrocefin disk.Results From 2015 to 2021,a total of 43 642 strains of Haemophilus species were isolated,accounting for 2.91％of the total clinical isolates and 4.07％of Gram-negative bacteria in CHINET program.Among the 40 437 strains of H.influenzae,66.89％were isolated from children and 33.11％were isolated from adults.More than 90％of the H.influenzae strains were isolated from respiratory tract specimens.The prevalence of β-lactamase was 53.79％in H.influenzae strains.The H.influenzae strains isolated from children showed higher resistance rate than the strains isolated from adults.Overall,779 strains of H.influenzae did not produce β-lactamase but were resistant to ampicillin(BLNAR).Beta-lactamase-producing strains showed significantly higher resistance rates to these antimicrobial agents than the β-lactamase-nonproducing strains.Of the 16 191 M.catarrhalis strains,80.06％were isolated from children and 19.94％isolated from adults.M.catarrhalis strains were mostly susceptible to both amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and cefuroxime,evidenced by resistance rate lower than 2.0％.Conclusions The emergence of antibiotic-resistant H.influenzae due to β-lactamase production poses a challenge for clinical anti-infective treatment.Therefore,it is very important to implement antibiotic resistance surveillance for H.influenzae and guide rational antibiotic use.All local clinical microbiology laboratories should actively improve antibiotic susceptibility testing and strengthen antibiotic resistance surveillance for H.influenzae.

Objective:To establish the biology reference interval (RI) of peripheral blood procalcitonin (PCT) for children between 3 days and 6 years old in China.Methods:Totally 3 353 reference individuals with apparent health or no specific diseases were recruited in 18 hospitals throughout the country during October 2020 to May 2021. Reference individuals were divided into four groups: 3-28 days, 29 days - 1 year, 1-3 years and 4-6 years. Vein blood or capillary blood were collected by percutaneous puncture from every reference individual. The PCT level in serum and the capillary whole blood were assayed by Roche Cobas e601 and Norman NRM411-S7 immunoanalyzer. Outliers were deleted and 95th percentiles of every group were provided as RIs. Man-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test were used performed to assess the difference among different gender, age or method groups. Results:The difference of PCT distribution between male and female is not statistically significant, but the difference between serum and capillary whole blood is statistically significant. The differences between age groups are significant too. For Roche e601, serum PCT RI of 3-28 days group is <0.23 μg/L, 29 days - 6 years are <0.11 μg/L. For NRM411, Serum PCT RI of 3-28 days group is <0.21 μg/L, 29 days - 1 year: <0.09 μg/L, 1 - 6 years: <0.10 μg/L. For whole blood PCT, RI of 3-28 days group is <0.26 μg/L, 29 days - 6 years is <0.15 μg/L.Conclusions:Serum and capillary whole blood PCT have different RIs, however, capillary whole blood PCT testing is valuable in pediatric application. Children in 3-28 days show higher PCT levels than other age group. To establish the RIs and understand the differences among different groups are essential for the interpretation and clinical application of peripheral blood PCT testing results.

Objective:To explore the performance of the commonly used whole blood C-reactive protein (CRP) detection systems and give related recommendation on the performance requirements of detection systems.Methods:A total of 7 540 venous blood samples from 26 maternal, child and children′s hospitals were collected to conduct this multi-center study on the analytical performance of 5 commonly used whole blood CRP detection systems from March to April in 2019. The blank check, carryover, repeatability, intermediate precision, linearity, sample stability, influence of hematocrit/triglyceride/bilirubin, comparison with SIEMENS specific protein analyzer and trueness were evaluated. The 5 systems included BC-5390CRP autohematology analyzer, AstepPLUS specific protein analyzer, Ottoman-1000 Automated Specific Protein POCT Workstation, i-CHROMA Immunofluorometer equipment Reader and Orion QuikRead go detecting instrument. The 5 systems were labeled as a, b, c, d and e randomly.Results:Within the 5 systems, all values of blank check were less than 1.00 mg/L, the carryovers were lower than 1.00%. The repeatability of different ranges of CRP concentrations including 3.00-10.00, 10.00-30.00 and>30.00 mg/L were less than 10.00%, 6.00% and 5.00%, respectively, and the intermediate precision was less than 10.00%. The linearity correlation coefficients of the 5 systems were all above 0.975, while the slope was within 0.950-1.050. Whole blood samples were stable within 72 hours both at room temperature (18-25 ℃) and refrigerated temperature (2-8 ℃). The CRP results were rarely influenced by high triglyceride or bilirubin, except for the immmunoturbidimetric test based on microparticles coated with anti-human CRP F(ab) 2 fragments. When triglyceride was less than 15.46 mmol/L, the deviation of CRP was less than 10.00%. When bilirubin was less than 345.47 μmol/L, the deviation of CRP was less than 10.00%. CRP was more susceptible to Hct on the systems without Hct correction. The deviation of CRP between different Hct dilution concentration and 40% dilution concentration can reach as high as 67.48%. The correlation coefficients ( r) of 5 systems were all more than 0.975 in the range of 0-300.00 mg/L compared with Siemens specific protein analyzer. All systems passed the trueness verification using the samples with specified values of 12.89 and 30.60 mg/L. Conclusion:The performance of 5 systems can basically meet the clinical needs, but it is suggested that the whole blood CRP detection system without automatic Hct correction should be modified manually.

Objective:To compare the in vitro antibacterial activities of Cefpodoxime proxetil and Cefixime against common pathogens of community acquired pneumonia in children, and to provide basis for guiding the rational use of antibiotics in clinical practice. Methods:The pathogens of 100 cases of community acquired pneumonia in Children′s Hospital of Jiangxi Province from June 2018 to October 2019 were analyzed retrospectively.The sensitivity and resis-tance of these pathogens to Cefpodoxime proxetil and Cefixime were measured separately by the broth dilution method (tube) recommended by the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), and the results were compared.Results:(1)The 50% minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC 50) and MIC 90 values of Cefpodoxime proxetil to Streptococcus, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis were all within the sensitive range, showing that Cefpodoxime proxetil had a strong antibacterial effect.The MIC 50 values of Cefixime to Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenza were within the sensitive range, while the MIC 90 values showed that these two types of bacteria were resistant to Cefixime.The remaining bacteria were resistant to Cefpodoxime proxetil and Cefixime to varying degrees.(2)The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) ranges of Cefpodoxime proxetil to Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae were significantly lower than those of Cefixime to these two types of bacteria, indicating that Cefpodoxime proxetil had stronger bactericidal activities than Cefixime.The MBC 50 and MBC 90 values of the two drugs to Moraxella catarrhalis, β-Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus lactis were still within the sensitive range of MIC, suggesting that both drugs had a strong bactericidal effect.The remaining bacteria showed resistance to the two drugs to varying degrees.(3)The sensitivity rates of 100 selected pathogens to Cefpodoxime proxetil and Cefixime were 70.00% (70/100 strains) and 57.00% (57/100 strains), respectively.The resistance rates of the 100 pathogens to the two drugs were 22.00% (22/100 strains) and 39.00% (39/100 strains), respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( χ2=7.40, P=0.03). Conclusions:Cefpodoxime proxetil has high sensitivity to common pathogens of children with community-acquired pneumonia, so it can be used as the initial empirical treatment of respiratory tract bacterial infection in children.It is also an appropriate sequential antibiotic therapy for common respiratory tract bacterial infection in children.

TORCH, which is considered as a series of pathogens, including the Toxoplasma gondii, Rubella virus, Cytomegalovirus or Herpes simplex virus, often infects the pregnant women to induce the the fetus or newborn infection by transplacental infection or exposure to contaminated genital tract secretions at delivery. Increasing evidence have been confirmed that the infection of TORCH may cause the miscarriage, premature birth, malformed fetus, stillbirth, intrauterine growth retardation, neonatal multiple organ dysfunction and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. For most TORCH-infections cases may lacking the effective treatments during pregnancy, and it is important to achieve the effacing monitoring of TORCH infections before and during pregnancy. The laboratory testing of TORCH has the great significance. However, the consensus opinions still need to improve the the standardization of TORCH testing process and the correct interpretation. Based on the characteristics of the TORCH detection method, this article gives a consensus opinion on the standardized detection and clinical application of TORCH from the laboratory perspective according to the characteristics and types of infection of different pathogens.

Objective To explore the genetic variation in children patients with esophageal atresia (EA ) to provide a prophase basis for further studying EA pathogenesis .Methods Ten children cases of EA were collected from the neonatal surgery department of our hospital .The high-throughput whole-exon sequencing was used to study the genetic variations ,and their clinical significance was analyzed by the bioinformatics methods .Results In the high quality sequencing data ,the effective clean reads accounted for 85 .36% ,in which 97% of the clean reads could participate in the comparison with the reference genes .The comparison analysis obtained 520541 single nucleotide polymorphism sites ,in which single nucleotide variation(SNV) occurred at 149622 sites ,including synonymous mutation ,nonsynonymous mutation ,stop codon gain ,stop codon loss ,frameshift insertion ,nonframeshift insertion ,unknown mutation ;meanwhile ,598 copy number variation genes were detected .The functional cluster analysis revealed that the mutant genes were closely related to cell biology .Conclusion The SNV occurrence may influence the expression and function of body various proteins and may play an important role in EA pathogenesis .

Objective To quantitatively analyze the early warning value of laboratory indexes for death risk in children with criti ‐cal hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) .Methods The univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analysis were conducted to explore the independent risk factors of death in critical HFMD children .Then the area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was applied to give the comprehensive assessment of the test model ,as well as the early warning capacity and the optimal cut‐off level of laboratory indexes in critical HFMD children .Results The AUC of the Logistic regression model (Y ) established based on white blood cell ,neutrophil ,myoglobin ,creatinine for early predicting the death risk in critical HFMD children patients was 0 .847 (95% CI :0 .783 - 0 .911) ,which indicating that its diagnostic value was superior to single index .Conclusion The diag‐nostic value of the Y model established based on four indexes of white blood cell count ,neutrophile granulocytes count ,myohemo‐globin and creatinine is superior to any single index ,which has the better early warning value for the death risk in children with crit‐ical HFMD .

Objective To study the changes of Neuroendocrine immunology sensitive indicators in children with Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease (HFMD) and values of determining the patient′s conditions. Methods The children with HFMD were divided into three groups , the common group , severe group and risk group according to the clinical diagnosis and classification standards, meanwhile, the healthy children were enrolled as control group. Peripheral blood samples were collected from the case groups and control group , concentrations of cortisol (COR), β-endorphin (β-EP), interleukin-13 (IL-13), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), immunoglobulin (IgG, IgA, and IgM), and the relative contents of T cell subsets, B cells and NK cells were tested respectively. Results Compared with the control group, the levels of COR, β-EP, IL-13, IFN-γ and IgG, IgA, IgM all significantly increased in the three groups of HFMD. All the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.01), except the difference of IgG, and IgA between the ordinary type and the control group. Compared with the common group, the percentage of NK and B cells dramatically increased, meanwhile, compared the other two types with the control group , the percentage of T cell subsets and NK cells significantly decreased , but B cells significantly increased, and there were all significant difference (P < 0.01). Conclusions HFMD caused by EV71 infection is the result of the combined effect of changes in nervous system , immune system and endocrine system. It is extremely important to detect early the sensitive indicators in children with HFMD , such may help to find the risk cases and carry on early intervention for patients′ recovery.