Blood
08 May 2008
Steroids provide no survival benefit for children with bacterial meningitis
Corticosteroids given to children who are hospitalised for bacterial meningitis do not provide a benefit in survival or in reduced hospital stays, according to a large multicenter study by pediatric researchers. This finding stands in contrast to previous studies in hospitalised adults, for whom corticosteroids dramatically reduced mortality. "Because of…
Children's health
08 May 2008
Study finds connection between mental fitness and multi-lingualism
Children who speak a second or third language may have an unexpected advantage later in life, a new Tel Aviv University study has found. Knowing and speaking many languages may protect the brain against the effects of aging. Dr. Gitit Kavé, a clinical neuro-psychologist from the Herczeg Institute on Aging…
Children's health
08 May 2008
Too much or too little weight gain poses risks to pregnant mothers, babies
Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a new report by the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center. The report, which was supported…
Children's health
04 May 2008
The ‘choking game,’ psychological distress and bullying
Ontario’s youth are experiencing a different kind of high, approximately seven percent (an estimated 79,000 students in grades 7 to 12) report participating in a thrill-seeking activity called the “choking game”, which involves self-asphyxiation or having been choked by someone else on purpose. The 2007 Ontario Student Drug Use and…
Children's health
04 May 2008
Prevention and control of childhood pneumonia
This month’s WHO Bulletin, led by the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP), focuses on the prevention and control of childhood pneumonia. It highlights research on the many aspects that drive this deadly disease and the progress now being made – progress that is a…
Children's health
04 May 2008
1 in 10 children using cough, cold medications
Researchers from Boston University’s Slone Epidemiology Center have found that approximately one in ten U.S. children uses one or more cough and cold medications during a given week. These findings will be presented today at the 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies’ and Asian Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Children's health
30 Apr 2008
New treatment could reduce chronic lung disease in premature babies
A less traumatic way of delivering surfactant, a lung lubricant that premature babies need to help them breathe, could reduce the incidence of respiratory problems they’ll have later, Medical College of Georgia physicians say. The problem is that while surfactant keeps the tiny air sacs inside the lungs from sticking…
Children's health
30 Apr 2008
Factors affecting survival, disability of extremely premature infants identified
Gestational age has long been the factor most commonly used to predict whether an extremely low-birth-weight infant survives and thrives, but four additional factors that can help predict a preemie’s outcome have been identified by the National Institutes of Health Neonatal Research Network, of which Yale is a member. Birth…
Children's health
29 Apr 2008
National infant immunisation week reminds parents of the importance of immunisations
The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will launch National Infant Immunisation Week (NIIW) with events beginning April 19 and continuing through April 26, 2008. Parents, caregivers and healthcare providers will be reminded during NIIW of the benefits…
