Children

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is still actively spreading in many countries, including the United States. There is still no approved treatment or vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19. However, effective infection control measures such as social distancing, proper wearing of masks, and regular handwashing can help contain

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 6 2020 Only about one in every 170 children take them. But “orphan drugs” accounted for 1 in every 15 private insurance dollars spent on children’s health care in the United States in 2018, according to a new study. That’s up 65% from just five years before. Even though insurance

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 6 2020 Boys and girls who experience puberty earlier than their peers have an increased risk of self-harm in adolescence, a study funded by the National Institute for Health Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Bristol BRC) and published in the journal Epidemiology & Psychiatric Sciences today [Tuesday 6 October]

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 5 2020 Most parents know or suspect when their child smokes, but they are much more likely to be in the dark if the child vapes or uses other tobacco products, according to a large national study by researchers at UC San Francisco. The study, which tracked more than 23,000

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 1 2020 Many of our children play a lot of computer games. Some youth play so much and develop such big problems that a new diagnosis called Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been proposed. Symptoms of a gaming disorder include that it has an impact on school, work or friendships,

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 30 2020 As many as 70% of very premature infants (born earlier than 32 weeks gestation) show signs of white matter abnormalities at birth. But only some of those infants go on to develop cognitive, language, motor, or behavioral disorders as they grow. Now, scientists say a new software tool

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 1 2020 As many as 800 million children have dangerously high lead values in their blood. The neurotoxin can cause permanent brain damage. The huge international numbers come from a new report from Pure Earth and UNICEF. Pure Earth works to solve pollution problems that can be harmful to humans.

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 1 2020 When newborn babies or children with heart or lung distress are struggling to survive, doctors often turn to a form of life support that uses artificial lungs. This treatment, called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), has been credited with saving countless lives. But in some cases, it can also

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 30 2020 Scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health have discovered bacteria linked to post-infectious hydrocephalus (PIH), the most common cause of pediatric hydrocephalus worldwide. Results of the study led by Pennsylvania State University with CII scientists and clinical colleagues

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 29 2020 An international team led by current and former McMaster University researchers has developed an artificial lung to support pre-term and other newborn babies in respiratory distress. The group has proven the concept using a live piglet, a major step along the route toward approval for use in humans,

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 28 2020 Following two decades of research on a group of rare diseases called hypereosinophilic syndrome at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug Nucala (mepolizumab) for use in the treatment of patients with hypereosinophilic syndrome. Hypereosinophilic syndrome, also known as HES,

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 25 2020 In the United States, individual state laws barring 18- to 20-year-olds from buying or possessing a handgun make little difference in the rate of homicides involving a gun by people in that age group, a new University of Washington study has found. The central issue is that there’s

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 25 2020 A new drug offers hope for young boys with the progressive neuromuscular disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) by potentially offering an alternative to high-dose glucocorticoids that have significant side effects. Interim results from a 24-month clinical trial at Duke Health and other institutions suggest that the drug, vamorolone,

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 25 2020 A Dartmouth-led study, published in the journal Pediatrics, offers new details about pediatric mental health boarding in emergency departments across the country, a problem that has steadily increased in the last 10 years and been made worse by a shortage of psychiatric resources. Boarding refers to the practice

Analysis reveals 63% of the COVID-19 cases in the US until August 2020 originated from people between the ages of 20–49, while about 1.2% of the cases originated from children 0–9 years old. However, this could change as schools re-open. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 23 2020 The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) today announced the publication of the organization’s first patient and caregiver resource focused on a childhood cancer type. The brand new NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) shares the latest expert advice for treating infants, children, and adolescents with

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), placed many countries into lockdown during the peak of the pandemic. Now, many nations have re-opened businesses to boost their economies, which have been negatively impacted by the outbreak. With many countries lifting restrictions, and some schools opening their face-to-face classes,

The COVID-19 pandemic caused the closure of many schools around the world, both primary and secondary, in March or April. This has been estimated by different researchers to have widely varying impacts on the incidence and mortality of COVID-19. For instance, one study shows that weekly incidence was reduced by 62%, and weekly deaths by

The COVID-19 pandemic shows no sign of being over, in many parts of the world, posing a continuing source of infection to those countries and regions where a measure of control has been achieved. One big concern has been the effect of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on pregnancy, including the increased

As the search for a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine continues, with some candidate vaccines nearing the completion Phase III clinical trials, a trio of experts weighs in with some sound reasoning as to whether any future vaccine should be considered mandatory for children. The viewpoint article is published in the journal

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 17 2020 Children who experience neglect are seven times more likely than other abuse victims to have a teen pregnancy say University of Queensland researchers. A study of the long-term impact of child abuse and neglect found that neglect was one of the most severe types of maltreatment when compared

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 17 2020 Children who take oral steroids to treat asthma or autoimmune diseases have an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and blood clots, according to Rutgers researchers. The study, which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, examined the records of more than 933,000 US children from