Introduction: In the era of data-driven decision-making, an unacceptable haziness and inconsistency surrounds the yearlong scientific and public debate on the school closure policy in the COVID-19 pandemic mitigation efforts. Aim: The present literature review stems out of the need for a clear scaffold collecting in one place all current evidence, as well as helping organizing incoming future evidence, concerning both the role of schools in driving the Sars-CoV-2 community spread and the cost-effectiveness of school closure in containing such spread. Methods: References for this review were initially identified through searches of PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library for articles published from March, 2020, to March, 2021 by use of the terms “Schools” “COVID-19” “pandemic” “clusters” “outbreak” “seroprevalence”. Further search was undertaken through Google Scholar and ResearchGate, and finally through Google. Results: School closure at times of high background prevalence of COVID-19 should not be considered a measure implemented to protect the health of children. Children had lower secondary attack rates than adults and that they infrequently represented the index case. One year of pandemic has been sufficient for the emergence of one indication of concern: a potentially increased burden of paediatric mental health disorders. Conclusions: A fact-based understanding of what is currently known on such a consequential policy is required to provide a basis of evidence for an advocacy of either school closure or school opening at times of high intensity community transmission of Sars-CoV-2.

The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette) and vaping devices started as a potential aid for cessation and reducing the harmful consequences of cigarette smoking, mainly in the adult population. Today e-cigarette use is highly increasing in vulnerable populations, especially young and pregnant women, due to the misconception of its harmless use. Despite the growing acknowledgment in e-cigarette as a potential harmful device, and due to mixed information found concerning its beneficial aid for smokers, along with an insufficient clinical study done in human models, it is important to further evaluate the possible benefits and risks of non-combusting, vaping nicotine or non-nicotine delivery devices. In this review we tried to summarize the latest updated information found in the literature, concentrating mainly in the variety of adverse effects of e-cigarette use and its contribution for recent and future health concerns.

Introduction Acute bronchiolitis is the most common respiratory illness and the main cause of respiratory failure in infant. Effective therapy is not available. A relatively new, safe and promising method of non-invasive respiratory support is oxygen delivery by high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC), but several questions concerning HFNC clinical practice remain unanswered. Aim The main aim of our study is to analyse the clinical course of infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis who underwent HFNC in order to identify clinical, laboratory or radiological findings that can have an impact on HFNC failure, which is defined as requirement for mechanical ventilation (MV). Methods We conducted a retrospective data analysis of case records of 130 patients less than 12 months hospitalized for bronchiolitis who underwent HFNC and clinical epidemiological laboratory and radiological data were collected. Results Only 11 (8.5%) out 130 infants required invasive mechanical ventilation for clinical deterioration. Patients who needed to switch from HFNC to MV because of a progressive respiratory failure showed more frequently a complete upper lobe consolidation on CXR (90.9%) than infants exclusively supported by HFNC (14.9%). They were younger with a lower admission weight and they had a lower lymphocyte count than patients who underwent HFNC only. Discussion Our study suggests that a complete upper lobe consolidation in young infants is a significant risk factor for HFNC failure. Further studies are needed to understand if an early identification of consolidation following by an adequate follow-up and proper therapeutic strategies may reduce the number of children who require mechanical ventilation.