Contemporary Pediatrics week in review: October 19-23, 2026

Review some of the top stories from the Contemporary Pediatrics website over the last week, and catch up on anything you may have missed.

Thank you for visiting the Contemporary Pediatrics® website. Take a look at some of our top stories from last week (Monday, October 19 to Friday, October 23, 2026) and click each link to read and watch anything you may have missed.

1.) FAQ: How should pediatricians manage UTIs under new AAP guidance?

The American Academy of Pediatrics released its first update since 2011 to its clinical practice guideline on diagnosing and treating urinary tract infections in children aged 8 days to 5 years, publishing the guidance alongside three technical reports in the October 2026 issue of Pediatrics. UTI remains one of the most common bacterial infections in young children, with a prevalence of about 7% among infants with fever, and the updated guideline was developed using the GRADE methodology to reassess diagnosis, treatment, imaging, and prevention recommendations. Because this FAQ is a secondary summary, clinicians wanting the full evidence grading and specific recommendations should consult the guideline and its accompanying technical reports directly.

2.) FDA proposes cadmium action levels for baby food under Closer to Zero

On October 22, 2026, the FDA issued draft guidance proposing the first cadmium action levels for processed foods marketed to children under 2, as part of its ongoing Closer to Zero initiative. The proposed limits range from 10 ppb for most fruits, vegetables, and mixed products to 45 ppb for dry infant cereals, the category with the highest mean cadmium levels in the agency's analysis of more than 1,400 samples collected since 2009. The FDA projects the levels would cut 90th-percentile exposure by up to 32% for carrots but only modestly for infant cereals, and the agency notes the action levels are nonbinding and exclude infant formula, toddler drinks, and several snack categories still under review.

3.) Making severe RSV uncommon: Experts map the prevention playbook

In a Contemporary Pediatrics Peer Exchange, a panel of specialists outlined persistent gaps in RSV prevention even as nirsevimab and clesrovimab monoclonal antibodies and maternal RSV vaccination have become available. RSV still drives up to 80,000 hospitalizations a year in children under 5, and the panelists flagged missed birth-hospitalization doses, unconfirmed maternal vaccination timing, and lower monoclonal dosing rates among Medicaid-enrolled infants as recurring equity and care gaps. One panelist cited French surveillance showing resistance mutations in 9% of treated RSV B isolates, a risk the group called theoretical for now but worth continued genomic monitoring.

4.) Low third-trimester PlGF linked to later ADHD in offspring

A University of Iowa retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that lower third-trimester placental growth factor (PlGF) in maternal plasma was associated with a later ADHD diagnosis in offspring, with each 1-SD increase in PlGF tied to lower ADHD odds (OR, 0.38; P = .002) among 176 pregnancies. The association held after excluding pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, or early preterm birth, and children later diagnosed with ADHD also had higher rates of speech/language disorder, learning disability, and conduct/oppositional disorder. The authors caution that the single-center, mostly White cohort was modest in size and that the retrospective design cannot establish causality, and the lead author now plans mouse studies to probe a possible mechanism.

5.) Family-focused behavioral care tied to better HbA1c in pediatric T1D

An updated meta-analysis in Pediatrics pooled 46 randomized controlled trials of behavioral interventions for type 1 diabetes self-management in youth and young adults up to age 25, finding a small overall benefit on HbA1c (g = 0.12) that was largest for family-focused, multicomponent interventions delivered during routine diabetes care appointments (g = 0.29). Youth-focused and parent-focused approaches alone showed far weaker effects, and pilot trials showed larger benefits than full-scale trials, suggesting early results may overstate real-world impact. The authors called for more rigorous trial designs, noting that even the strongest effect size remained in the "small" range by conventional benchmarks.