News

A reader discusses concerns about use of the over-the-counter drug ipecac among adolescents.

An editorial discussing recent misleading information related to vaccines and autism.

A proposal for stricter manufacturing standard by the state of Washington has the toy industry pledging to stop selling toys in the Evergreen State.

Figures A-D show 4 children with the same congenital malformation pattern. Children with this disorder often have a low birth weight and feeding problems in the nursery, with severe gastroesophageal reflux. Their cry is frequently low-pitched and growling. Among the characteristic birth defects are those that affect the limbs, as shown in these patients.

As pediatricians, we have been encouragingcar seat and seat belt use by our patients formany years-checking them off our list ofanticipatory guidance to be given at healthmaintenance visits. If we are not runningshort on time, we may even remember to remind preteensthat they should not get in the car with anyonewho has been drinking or using drugs. But are thereother issues we should be mentioning related to gettinginto cars that pose a risk to our patients?

A discussion of three types of Genital Lesions: Phimosis, Paraphimosis, and Hypospadias.

The patient's medical history was unremarkable. He had been born via normal vaginal delivery. His father had a history of strabismus. The child had fix-and-follow vision in both eyes. Extraocular muscle movement appeared normal. A Hirschberg test showed orthophoria. A Bruckner test showed symmetrical red reflexes in both eyes. Cycloplegic refraction revealed moderate hyperopic correction, which was symmetrical in both eyes. No retinal or optic nerve head defects were noted on dilated fundus examination.

An age-dependent increase in ceramide levels in the lungs of mice with cystic fibrosis causes many of the symptoms of the disease, which can be reversed by an inhibitor that normalizes ceramide levels, according to research published online March 30 in Nature Medicine.

Adverse drug events were the third leading cause of nonfatal injuries among infants, and the sixth leading cause of nonfatal injuries, among children ages 1 to 4 that led to emergency department visits from 2004 to 2005.

An increasing body of evidence has advanced the understanding of social anxiety disorder as a distinct condition with neurobiological underpinnings, according to a seminar published in the March 29 issue of The Lancet.

While the participation of children in clinical trials has substantially improved childhood cancer survival rates, enrollment in cancer treatment clinical trials is lacking among 13- to 24-year-olds, according to two articles published in the April issue of The Lancet Oncology.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced this week that it is investigating a possible association between the use of Singulair (montelukast) and mood and behavioral changes, suicidal thinking/behavior and suicide. Singulair, a leukotriene receptor antagonist, is used in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and asthma.

The benefits of making drugs accessible through over-the-counter sales must be constantly reviewed in light of adverse reaction information that subsequently becomes available, according to an article published in the March 29 issue of BMJ.

Adolescents who regularly have abdominal pain face a substantially higher risk of depressive symptoms than those who seldom have abdominal pain, according to research published in the March issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Positive Phase III results from a vaccine that combines four existing immunizations together were reported online by Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated guidelines on infection control by health care workers restate the standard precautions such as hand hygiene and appropriate protection, but also now incorporate respiratory hygiene and coughing etiquette, according to an article published in the March issue of the AORN Journal.

Most Americans -- including those with health insurance -- are deeply concerned about the cost and quality of health care and believe that the system requires fundamental reform, according to the 2008 Health Care for America Survey conducted by the AFL-CIO and Working America, which was released March 25.

In children under age 5 with a first febrile urinary tract infection, renal ultrasonography should be routinely performed, according to research published in the March issue of Urology.

Individuals who were born preterm have diminished long-term survival and rates of reproduction compared to individuals born at term, according to the results of a large population-based study in Norway. The findings are published in the March 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Localized neuroblastoma in infancy often regresses spontaneously, and a watchful-waiting strategy that avoids chemotherapy and extensive surgery may be appropriate in some patients, according to new research published in the March 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The prevalence of familial cases in juvenile-onset Behcet's disease indicates that there may be a genetic component to early expression of the disease, according to study findings published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Children with healthy diets perform better in school than children with unhealthy diets, according to the April Journal of School Health.

In South African children with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, treatment with fluoroquinolones may have led to the emergence of invasive pneumococcal disease caused by fluoroquinolone-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, according the results of a study published online March 24 in The Lancet.

Cockayne syndrome, an especially severe type of progeria often caused by mutations in the CSB gene, may be linked to a fusion protein that dates back in primates at least 43 million years, according to research published online March 21 in PLoS Genetics.

Rhinovirus infections, diesel exhaust particles, bacterial endotoxin and mouse allergens may all be associated with the development or worsening of asthma symptoms, according to research presented at the 2008 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting in Philadelphia this month.

Up to two and a half percent of the diagnosed autism cases may be because of one specific gene disruption, a recent study found.

Children with a genetic mutation in their hemoglobin have an increased number of abnormally small red blood cells, which protects them from severe malarial anemia due to a lower concentration of hemoglobin per red blood cell, according to a report published online March 18 in PLoS Medicine.

Two types of leukemia that predominantly strike at the opposite ends of the age spectrum -- acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which peaks in prevalence between the ages of 2 and 5 years, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which is typically diagnosed in patients' 70s -- are the subject of overviews in the March 22 issue of The Lancet.