News

Although Medicaid and CHIP were considered off limits during the original debt-ceiling deal, the landscape has since tilted precipitously with more bad economic news: S&P?s recent downgrade of US debt adds fear and strain to the uncertainty about the future of these programs. A bipartisan congressional ?super committee? is saddled with recommending as much as $1.5 trillion in federal budget cuts over the next 10 years. Medicaid and CHIP were intended to be off the table during the negotiations, but now providers? payments may be at risk.

Pediatricians trying to meet the government mandate to implement electronic prescribing also struggle with another issue: How to safely round dosages up or down. Now, an easy-to-adopt solution can remedy that problem. Here?s how to get the recommended rounding tolerances for 102 commonly prescribed drugs.

The CDC held meetings this summer on adding a new infant vaccine to its list of recommendations, but those gatherings frequently turned into a forum on the overall issue of immunizations, with both supporters and detractors having their say. Read here to see where they stand on the meningococcal vaccine now.

Researchers conducted a study to examine changes in the rates of chronic conditions of extremely low-birth-weight children aged between 8 and 14 years and found some surprising results, especially when it comes to obesity. Our experts offer advice to pediatricians whose practice includes these patients.

Both the AAP and the American Heart Association recommend that children who are at risk for dyslipidemia have a fasting cholesterol check, but denying food to children, who may not understand what is going on, is different than an adult who foregoes morning coffee until after the blood work. Find out why a new study suggests that fasting may not always be necessary.

Perennial concerns about whether cell phones cause brain cancer often focus on children and adolescents. In the first-of-its-kind study, Swiss researchers found that answer is no, and they also offer some advice to parents who are anxious.

Diagnosing allergic diseases : Why knowing the history is as important as the test Managing vomiting : Should I consider options besides rehydration? Puzzler : Dressing up as fever and a rash Dermcase : Lesions expand at blistering speed in baby boy

Meeting the challenge of relieving chronic pain in America will require a cultural transformation in the way pain is perceived and managed on personal and social levels, according to an IOM report.

Children in whom a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is missed during a first medical consultation have a 3-fold increased risk of presenting later in diabetic ketoacidosis, according to UK researchers.

Treating a vomiting child is a challenge, especially when the cause is unknown.

Although evidence shows that breastfeeding prevents childhood obesity and reduces a mother's risk for breast and ovarian cancers, many hospitals in the United States fail to support breastfeeding.

Contemporary Pediatrics will offer a new section on practice management periodically in this space, focusing specifically on issues important to pediatricians.

Federal spending on children is expected to fall markedly over the next several years, although that funding had risen in previous years.

A bouncing 8-month-old baby boy comes to your office with a blistering eruption and a very worried mother.

According to an evaluation of the cost effectiveness of immunoprophylaxis with palivizumab against respiratory syncytial virus infection, based on actual cost and observed RSV incidence rates in various pediatric risk groups during the 2004 to 2005 RSV infection season in Florida, the answer is no.

A 15-year-old girl has a fever and rash.

The Simplified Motor Score can replace the Glasgow Coma Scale for predicting outcomes of traumatic brain injury in the out-of-hospital setting, according to a new study.

The Male Genital Mutilation bill scheduled to appear on the November ballot to ban circumcision in San Francisco was ordered removed by a Superior Court judge on the grounds that state law already regulated medical practices and that such a measure would infringe on religious freedom.

A comparison of real-time polymerase-chain-reaction-based testing of liquid and dried-saliva specimens with standard rapid culture of saliva specimens obtained at birth showed that PCR assays of both types of saliva specimens have high sensitivity for detecting congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning parents and caregivers that Salmonella Typhimurium present in pet frogs is responsible for a national outbreak of Salmonella illness and continues to pose a serious risk to children, especially sick children.

What does society do when one person's behavior puts the greater community at risk? We make them stop.

In vitro tests for allergen-specific immunoglobulin can assist in the diagnosis and initial management of atopic disorders.

Preterm births have declined, infant mortality before the first birthday has dropped, and the number of babies born to adolescents has fallen.

As we continually enhance our ability to prevent and treat a wide variety of conditions that threaten the health and lives of our children, our tolerance diminishes for ailments that seemed trivial when infection shortened too many lives.

Giving children intravenous (IV) fluids early in the course of Escherichia coli infection appears to lower the odds of developing severe renal failure.

This 1-year-old African-American boy is being followed for developmental delays. His 35-year-old mother has no known health problems, and this was her third pregnancy.Premature delivery at 27 weeks was uncomplicated, yielding appropriate birth weight and Dubowitz scores for gestational age.

Although parents still need to be warned that allowing infants to sleep in adult beds is a dangerous practice that should be avoided, bedsharing with toddlers does not seem to negatively affect their behavior or cognition, according to a new study. Find out what may cause those problems.