Neonatal/Perinatology

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Evidence does not support the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to treat symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in infants, and placebo-controlled evidence is lacking in children and adolescents, according to researchers of a systematic review. Their findings appear online in Pediatrics.

Recognizing infants at risk of neonatal hypoglycemia and instituting early measures to prevent and treat low glucose concentrations are the subject of a clinical report published in the March issue of Pediatrics.

Putting infants to sleep in the prone position reduces cerebral oxygenation, which may help to explain why this sleeping position is associated with an increase in the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), say Australian researchers.

Although inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) has proved effective in improving oxygenation in late preterm infants, studies of its efficacy in infants born at or before 34 weeks have produced variable and contradictory findings. Now a systematic review of findings from 22 trials of iNO use in 3,461 early preterm infants concludes that the evidence does not support routine use of iNO to treat these infants. The review, which appears in Pediatrics, examined 14 randomized, controlled trials (RCTs), 7 follow-up studies, and 1 observation study.

A controversial new analysis suggests that introduction of solid foods before 6 months of age may reduce the risk of allergies and iron deficiency anemia compared with exclusive breastfeeding. The researchers suggest that weaning should occur as early 4 months.

Trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine may be associated with febrile seizures in infants and children aged 6 to 23 months who received the vaccine this current flu season, according to a vaccine safety update released by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It's been 50 years since the publication of the first study demonstrating that chest compressions can be a life-saving measure for victims of cardiac arrest and 5 years since the American Heart Association published their 2005 Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiac Care.

After a quality-assurance inspection of its manufacturing plant in Michigan revealed contamination by insect pieces and larvae, Abbott notified FDA that it was suspending production and issued a voluntary recall for about 5 million containers of certain Similac-brand powdered infant formulas.