Marian Freedman is a freelance writer.
Exposure to acid-suppressive medications or antibiotics in the first 6 months of life is associated with development of allergic disease, according to a retrospective study in more than 750,000 children from within 35 days of birth until aged at least 1 year.
Investigators compared the accuracy of an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) practice guideline algorithm for diagnosing of urinary tract infection (UTI) in 2- to 23-month-olds with a new tool (UTICalc; University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) that first estimates UTI probability based on clinical variables and then, if laboratory testing is performed, updates the estimate based on the results.
Among a variety of generic titles, parents prefer being addressed as “Mom” or “Dad” rather than “Mommy/Daddy” or “Ma’am/Sir,” according to a survey of 137 parents of children being seen or admitted to a New York State children’s hospital.
An analysis of about 1590 stock photographs of sleeping babies found that infants often are not portrayed in a way that is consistent with American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines on infant sleep safety.
Youngsters who use social media for an hour a day or longer are likely to sleep for fewer hours than their peers who don’t use social media-and as media use increases, so does this likelihood.
A recent trial showed that a single intravenous infusion of a vector expressing a high specific-activity factor IX gene safely produces a sustained, effective level of factor IX coagulant activity in patients with hemophilia B.
Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) is highly sensitive and specific for diagnosing urinary tract infections (UTIs), according to a study in febrile children aged up to 24 months.
Compared with adolescents who use e-cigarettes with relatively low or no nicotine concentrations, those who use e-cigarettes with higher nicotine concentrations are more likely to progress to more frequent and intense combustible cigarette smoking and vaping.
A comparison of a combination of oral morphine and oral ibuprofen with each of these drugs alone found that none of these options provided optimal analgesia for the pain of a musculoskeletal injury (MSK-I).
Children who view movies with gun violence are more interested in guns and violence than their peers who do not have this exposure, a recent experiment showed.
Breastfeeding for a minimum of 2 months has a significant protective effect against sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), almost halving the risk of its occurrence.
The risk of coronary artery lesions (CALs) in Kawasaki disease (KD) is related to CYP2E1 gene polymorphisms, a study from Taiwan confirmed.
A novel assay for distinguishing bacterial from viral infections significantly outperformed routine laboratory parameters and biomarkers in a study using serum remnants from children suspected to have acute infection.
Using a cost-utility model of a hypothetical group of symptomatic children aged younger than 2 years who were diagnosed with acute otitis media (AOM), investigators evaluated whether antimicrobial therapy reduces time to symptom resolution, overall symptom burden, and persistence of infection.
Being exposed to recordings of their mothers’ voices limited pain preterm infants experienced while undergoing heel lance procedures, according to a study conducted in an Italian neonatal intensive care unit.
A study of the accuracy of a technology for assessing jaundice in outpatient neonates based on analysis of digital images demonstrated that this smartphone application (app) may be useful for screening newborns for jaundice.
A study of Mycoplasma pneumoniae disease during an epidemic in Norway found that preschool children infected with this bacterium had a significantly higher risk of severe disease, particularly severe pneumonia, than school-aged children.
The link between a child’s losing a father and poor health is well documented. Now a new study shines a light on the biologic factors that may underlie this association.
Parents of children who visit a pediatric emergency department often report that their child has an allergy to penicillin, which can lead to treatment with a less than optimal antibiotic.
Most pediatricians advise patients and their parents who smoke to quit, and the proportion of those who do so changed little from 2004 to 2010, according to surveys conducted in those years.
Antibiotic treatment with either clindamycin or trimethoprim- sulfa - methoxazole (TMP-SMX) leads to better outcomes than incision and drainage with placebo in patients with uncomplicated cutaneous abscesses, particularly those caused by Staphylococcus aureus, according to a large study.
Compared with traditional appendectomy, nonoperative management (NOM) of uncomplicated appendicitis using parenteral antibiotics is associated with more subsequent emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations, as well as more subsequent appendectomies.
Almost 1300 US children die and 5790 are treated for gunshot wounds each year, according to an analysis of information in several national databases.
More than one-third of families of 184 infants surveyed every 6 months during a 4-year period reported exposing their child to TV during meals.
Infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) treated with supportive nonpharmacologic interventions have a substantially shorter hospital stay and are less likely to be treated with morphine, a new study shows.
Between 1990 and 2010, more than 260,000 children were treated in emergency departments (EDs) for ear injuries related to use of cotton-tip applicators (CTAs), according to data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.
A review of a large claims-based database suggests that they are. Investigators identified almost 10,000 children aged up to 14 years who were prescribed either Lotrisone or Mycolog-II creams (antifungal and corticosteroid combination products) by pediatricians and other specialists from 2007 through 2014.
Diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age 9 years is associated with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), according to an analysis of data for 1572 children who are part of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) birth cohort.
An analysis of 2015 claims data for about 69,000 children with an asthma diagnosis suggests that the answer to this question is “yes.” Of these children, who were insured through a large Texas health plan for children with Medicaid and CHIP and who ranged in age from 1 to 18 years, 42.1% were given an oral corticosteroid (OCS) 1 or more times during the year; 9.9%, 2 or more times; and 3.3%, 3 or more times.
A comparison of 4 levels of pain management of routine vaccine injections found that of the remedies tried, only liposomal lidocaine applied at the injection site provided consistent relief.