Children’s Health

A small group of brain cells linked in a circuit is responsible for setting off whole-brain seizures in a rare form of epilepsy affected by blood sugar levels, a study led by UT Southwestern researchers suggests. The finding, published in Science Translational Medicine, could lead to new treatments for other metabolic disorders in the brain,

Uptake of national guidelines for the treatment of children hospitalized with COVID-19 fell well below what would typically be expected, report researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and elsewhere in Pediatrics. The researchers looked at the medical records of children with COVID-19 at 42 children’s hospitals across the country before and after

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that infants are breastfed for at least the first six months of life and that breastfeeding is continued, along with the gradual introduction of complementary food, for two years or more. Study: Milk Antibody Response after 3rd Dose of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine and SARS-CoV-2 Breakthrough Infection and Implications for Infant

In a recent study published in the Nature Communications journal, researchers monitored the changing symptom profiles associated with different severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, especially Omicron subvariants BA.1 and BA.2. Study: Variant-specific symptoms of COVID-19 in a study of 1,542,510 adults in England. ​​​​​​​Image Credit: NIAID Background Previous community-based studies have shown that

Breastfed babies are believed to suffer fewer allergic conditions, like eczema and food allergies, than formula-fed babies; yet the reason has not been well understood. Now, a new study by Penn State College of Medicine finds that small molecules found in most humans’ breast milk may reduce the likelihood of infants developing allergic conditions like

Adolescents who underwent sleeve gastrectomy, a type of weight-loss surgery that involves removing part of the stomach, were less likely to go the emergency room or be admitted to the hospital in the five years after their operations than those who had their stomachs divided into pouches through gastric bypass surgery, according to new research.

Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found disparities in the completion of follow-up concussion care, particularly among pediatric patients who are publicly insured and identify as Black, suggesting barriers to care exist. The findings, recently published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, will help inform research funded by a newly awarded grant from

Financial stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic took a distinct toll on adolescent mental health and contributed to depressive symptoms, according to a new study by researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The study, published today in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, found the effect was most pronounced in low-income adolescents but also

Public Health authorities have warned health care workers to be on the alert for polio, yet most physicians will not be familiar with presentation of this highly infectious, life-threatening disease. An article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.221320 outlines five things to know about polio. The oral polio vaccine is used internationally, but not

Telethon Kids Institute is leading a unique clinical trial in pet dogs that could pave the way for a new immunotherapy treatment for one of the most common childhood cancers, Sarcoma. The treatment is a polymer-filled gel which is loaded with immunotherapy drugs and can be applied inside the surgical wound when a patient has

Worldwide, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes a significant burden of disease among infants. According to estimates, more than 101,000 children under five die every year. Although more than 97% of RSV-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, the RSV healthcare burden is also quite significant in high-income countries. Passive immunization with palivizumab is available

According to the United States Influenza Surveillance Report (FluView) published each week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rate of influenza cases throughout the country continues to rise, with its highest levels reported in Mid-Atlantic states, as well as south-central regions of the West Coast. Image Credit: True Touch Lifestyle

An article published in the journal Toxics describes how air pollutants adversely impact the human nervous system. Study: Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration of the Central Nervous System from Air Pollutants: A Scoping Review. Image Credit: Hung Chung Chih / Shutterstock Impact of pollutants on the nervous system Neurotoxicants are chemicals capable of inducing adverse side effects in the

Parental reporting of racism experienced by children in minority groups in the USA increased by 2.6% between 2016 and 2020, according to new research published in the open access Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. The most impacted groups were Indigenous and Black children, with 15% reported as experiencing racism in 2020. These findings are especially important

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety were more likely in adolescents exposed to war than those living outside the war-affected region in Ukraine. The unique study conducted by the Research Centre for Child Psychiatry of the University of Turku is the largest epidemiological study using standardized measures that examined the impact of the Russia-Ukraine

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified one of the reasons why the childhood cancer neuroblastoma becomes resistant to chemotherapy. The findings are significant for how future treatments should be designed. The results have been published in Science Advances. Neuroblastoma is an aggressive cancer of the sympathetic nervous system, especially of the adrenal gland.

Readily available electronic health record (EHR) data can be used to reliably identify readmission risk for children of all ages while they are still in the hospital, according to a study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago published in the journal JAMA Network Open. The newly developed and validated tool will

Social determinants of health affect the outcomes of many illnesses, and pediatric cancer is no exception. In fact, children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) living in poverty are significantly more likely to relapse and die from their disease than those from wealthier backgrounds. While socioeconomic status often influences survival outcomes, children with relapsed/refractory ALL treated

Although many parents of infants worry about their child having a food allergy, there has not been a lot of research into the presentation of anaphylaxis in infants. A new study being presented at this year’s American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting in Louisville, KY shows that, in infants aged

Infection with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of respiratory illness among both infants and young children throughout the world, as well as the most common cause of infant hospitalizations in the United States. Although RSV cases typically peak between December and February, RSV hospitalizations are reaching similarly high levels much