Ashley Howard

University of Connecticut | UConn

Purpose of review Universal and targeted screening of newborns for congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is increasing globally. Questions remain concerning the management of infants who have been identified with congenital CMV infection, especially those with “minimally symptomatic” or clinically inapparent infection. Our objective is to disc...

Background: In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revised the recommendations for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunoprophylaxis. Palivizumab was no longer recommended for children with hemodynamically significant congenital heart disease (hs-CHD) in the second year of life (12-24 months) at the start of the RSV season. Herein, we...

Background: Meningococcal serogroup B (MenB) is the leading cause of invasive meningococcal disease among US adolescents and young adults, accounting for 62% of cases in 16-23-year-olds in 2018. Since 2015, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended vaccination of healthy adolescents against MenB based on shared clinic...

Background The AAP, in 2014, stopped endorsing palivizumab for use in children with BPD/CLDP born at < 32 weeks’ gestational age (wGA) between the ages of 12 to 24 months not requiring medical support during the 6 months before the start of RSV season and all children with BPD/CLDP born at > 32 wGA. We sought to understand the impact of the guidanc...

Background In 2014, the AAP stopped recommending palivizumab for use in children with hemodynamically significant CHD (hs-CHD) aged 12 to 24 months at the RSV season start. This analysis investigates the impact of the 2014 AAP policy on the contemporary burden of RSVH and BH in children with CHD for whom palivizumab immunoprophylaxis is no longer r...

Objective To characterize the demographic and clinical features of pediatric SARS-CoV-2 syndromes and identify admission variables predictive of disease severity. Study design We conducted a multicenter, retrospective and prospective study of pediatric patients hospitalized with acute SARS-CoV-2 infections and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in...

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium with numerous different etiologies, the vast majority of which are infectious in origin. Patients afflicted with myocarditis can have variable presentations from flu-like symptoms to cardiogenic shock and sudden death, thus making the diagnosis difficult. The purpose of this study is the deve...

Encephalopathy is an important complication associated with influenza, most frequently observed in young children, with a wide range of severity. The most severe category of influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE) is acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE), characterized by high frequency of neurologic sequelae and fatal outcomes. We report two yo...

Since 2007, Zika virus has spread through the Pacific Islands and the Americas. Beginning in 2016, women in Brownsville, Texas, USA, were identified as possibly being exposed to Zika virus during pregnancy. We identified 18 pregnant women during 2016–2017 who had supportive serologic or molecular test results indicating Zika virus or flavivirus inf...

Background: Murine typhus is a zoonotic infection caused by Rickettsia typhi that remains endemic in South Texas. In 2003, only 9 Texas counties reported murine typhus compared with 41 counties in 2013. Methods: A retrospective study of children discharged with a confirmed diagnosis of murine typhus from Driscoll Children's Hospital between Janu...

Context: Henoch-Schönlein Purpura in a 44-day-old female. Objective: To report on the rare incidence of infantile Henoch-Schönlein Purpura. Design: Case Report Setting: This case took place in the General Pediatric Unit at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. Patients: A 44-day-old female presents with a dark blue skin rash on her lower extremities...