News

Nearly half of patients with severe congenital neutropenia, a rare genetic disorder, possess mutations in the gene encoding granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor, and new research elucidates how stem cells bearing this mutation gain clonal advantage over other bone marrow cells, leading to leukemia, according to an article published online Feb. 21 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Low expression of the mannose-binding lectin 2 (MBL2) gene appears to increase cystic fibrosis severity in part due to its association with Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection at a younger age, and MBL2's effects are increased in patients with a high-producing genotype of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFB1), according to a report published online Feb. 21 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The Food and Drug Administration has made the approval of GlaxoSmithKline's rotavirus vaccine all but official, having its advisory panel vote in favor of the vaccine...

Supplementation with antioxidants and folinic acid has no impact on the psychomotor and language development of children with Down syndrome, according to a study published Feb. 21 in BMJ.

The active recruitment of health care workers from Sub-Saharan Africa is a violation of the human rights of African people and should be viewed as an international crime, according to an article in the Feb. 23 issue of The Lancet, which is a special issue on human resources for health.

There is a wide variation in cholera incidence rates across regions where the disease is endemic, but children are always the worst affected, according to research published in the January issue of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

So few children have strokes that it's been difficult to study them. But a new report released by the American Stroke Association said that boys are more likely to suffer a stroke as girls...

Due to new types of flu strains that have spread in the past weeks, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to scrap last year's vaccine and start from scratch...

In children and adolescents, salt intake is strongly associated with total fluid and sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption, which supports public-health measures to limit salt content in foods, researchers report in the March issue of Hypertension.

In developing countries, the cause of maternal death is rarely investigated by autopsy, making it impossible to estimate the indirect causes and therefore make informed decisions on the best use of resources targeted at reducing maternal mortality, according to an editorial published in the February issue of PLoS Medicine.

Antidepressant medications can improve a range of depression-related symptoms, but not all of the effects of depression subside at the same rate, according to a report published in the January/February issue of General Hospital Psychiatry.

Infant formula enriched with extra proteins, fat, and nicronutrients like calcium and copper increased preterm infants' cognitive abilities. The study was published in Pediatric Research...

A pair of studies for the Scottish government shows that, as the costs of cocaine drop, more and more teenagers are trying it.

In rural Ethiopian villages severely affected by ocular chlamydial infections that cause trachoma, mass antibiotic distribution can eliminate the infections. But biannual distribution may be the most effective strategy, according to the results of a study published in the Feb. 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Two Orlando children's hospitals have come to terms with the group that wants to build a third hospital.

Printed educational materials and brief audiovisual presentations are both effective in increasing adolescents' knowledge about acne, researchers report in the February issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Children suspected of having cutaneous rosacea should be seen by an ophthalmologist, since ocular involvement often accompanies skin findings, according to an article published in the Archives of Dermatology in February.

In adult survivors of childhood cancers, a shared-care program involving pediatric oncologists and family doctors may be appropriate for long-term follow-up, according to the results of a pilot study published online Feb. 18 in The Lancet Oncology.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had issued a draft of its "Good Reprint Practices" guidelines for drug manufacturers when they are distributing articles involving "off-label" use of drugs and devices to scientific and medical journals or other reference publications.

Introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine has reduced the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease in children, and use of the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine is increasing in low-income countries, according to two reports published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, at least 82 adolescents have died playing a game where the goal is to black out from oxygen loss by choking.

A game played by young people in which strangulation is used to stimulate a temporary high caused by cerebral hypoxia has caused the deaths of at least 82 youths in the United States, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The CDC has issued a warning for parents to be vigilant for signs that their children are playing the game.

The rate of suicide among young men in the United Kingdom has declined over the past decade, and restrictions on prescribing antidepressants to young people imposed in 2003 have not caused an increase in suicidal behavior, according to two studies published online Feb. 14 in the British Medical Journal.

A preventive nutrition program targeting all young children was more successful in reducing childhood undernutrition in Haiti than the traditional model, which targeted only underweight children, according to an article published Feb. 16 in The Lancet.

The venom lying in wait in a scorpion's tail is certainly bad news to its prey. But it could contain the key to an effective cystic fibrosis (CF) treatment.

In utero exposure to the immunosuppressant mycophenolate mofetil can lead to birth defects such as cleft lip and palate as well as hearing loss, according to a clinical report in the January issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics.

The Food and Drug Administration gave the okay to Ranbaxy Laboratories for its pediatric formulation of the generic antibiotic cefuroxime axetil.

MTV is teaming up with the Kaiser Family Foundation and the musician Common to encourage young people to get regularly tested for HIV.