Udaondo, ClaraNuñez-Cuadros, EsmeraldaMurias, SaraRemesal, AgustinAlcobendas, RosaGuerrero, ConcepcionGuillen-Martin, SaraEscuredo, MartaAleo, EstherAlonso, DanielTagarro, AlfredoDe-Santiago, EloisaCamacho-Lovillo, MarisolDiaz, FatimaArenas, DoloresCamacho, PilarLirola, Maria JoseDiaz-Almiron, MarianaCalvo, Cristina2023-05-032023-05-032022-08-11Udaondo C, Núñez Cuadros E, Murias S, Remesal A, Alcobendas R, Guerrero C, et al. Are infections in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis more frequent than in healthy children? A prospective multicenter observational study. Front Pediatr. 2022 Aug 11;10:9177312296-2360http://hdl.handle.net/10668/20695Children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) might be at a higher risk of infection. Our objectives are to describe and compare infection rates in patients with JIA vs. healthy patients. A prospective, multicenter observational study was performed in Spain from January 2017 to June 2019. Patients with JIA from 7 participating hospitals and children without JIA (siblings of patients with JIA, and non-JIA children from primary health centers) were followed up with quarterly questionnaires to record infection episodes. Tuberculosis, herpes zoster, and infections requiring hospital admission were considered severe infections. Rates of infection (episodes/patient/year) were compared using a generalized estimating equations model. A total of 371 children (181 with and 190 without JIA) were included. The median age was 8.8 years (IQR 5.5-11.3); 75% of the patients with JIA received immunosuppressive treatment (24% methotrexate, 22% biologic, 26% both). A total of 667 infections were recorded; 15 (2.2%) were considered severe. The infection rate was 1.31 (95%CI 1.1-1.5) in JIA and 1.12 (95%CI 0.9-1.3) in non-JIA participants (p = 0.19). Age We found no differences in the infection rate or infection severity between patients with and without JIA. Most infections were mild. An age younger than 4 years increased the infection risk in both groups. Higher disease activity was associated with a higher infection rate.enAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Infection rateInfectionsJuvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)MethotrexateSafetyTumor necrosis alpha antagonistÁrea de Gestión Sanitaria Sur de Sevillaresearch article36034561open accessInfeccionesHospitalesTuberculosisHerpes ZósterArtritis juvenil10.3389/fped.2022.917731PMC9403004https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2022.917731/pdfhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9403004/pdf