CONCLUSIONS: The SCSS may represent a simple tool for early risk stratification in pediatric septic shock using variables available within the first 24 h of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) admission. Although the model demonstrated encouraging apparent predictive performance in this single-center study population, the internal validation was performed on the final fitted model after predictor selection and may therefore provide optimistic performance estimates. Accordingly, the results...

OBJECTIVE: The Haemoglobin-to-Red Cell Distribution Width ratio (Hb/RDW) is an emerging marker of inflammation and clinical risk, but its correlates in patients with bacterial bloodstream infections and kidney dysfunction remain poorly defined in low-resource settings. This study aimed to determine the clinical and laboratory correlates of the Hb/RDW ratio in patients with bacterial bloodstream infections and concomitant kidney dysfunction at Ndola Teaching Hospital, Ndola Zambia.

CONCLUSIONS: C. auris candidemia was characterized by a distinct healthcare-associated exposure profile and antifungal susceptibility pattern. Although crude 30-day mortality was similar between groups, adjusted mortality estimates were higher for C. auris, but remained imprecise and included the null. These findings should be interpreted as associative rather than causal. Larger prospective multicenter studies across diverse healthcare settings are needed to further clarify these findings.

CONCLUSION: This case illustrates the diagnostic complexity of PRES in paediatric intensive care within a resource-limited setting. It suggests that sepsis of gastrointestinal origin may contribute to the occurrence of PRES both directly and by initiating associated dysfunctions - arterial hypertension, acute kidney injury, hypovolaemia and uraemic encephalopathy - acting as contributory cofactors. The diagnosis of PRES was retained as predominant on the basis of brain imaging and clinical...