News

The teacher of a 6-year-old noticed suspicious bruises on the child’s leg and notified Children’s Protective Services. Arrangements were made to see the child at school. The social worker noted 2 complete and 2 partial hand imprints on the child.

Measles outbreaks are at their worst level in more than a decade, with almost all transmissions caused by imported cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises on steps clinicians can take to keep an imported measles case from transmitting to an outbreak.

Undiagnosed chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis is an important but underappreciated cause of frequent school absence in secondary school children, British researchers report. Outcomes are better in children when their symptoms are identified in school-based clinics, but why?

Less than half of adolescents have been vaccinated against the hepatitis A virus, leaving a large segment of this population susceptible to the infection as they enter adulthood. Yet participation is higher when health care providers recommend the vaccine to their patients. Find out how you can make a huge difference for your teen patients by encouraging compliance.

Socioeconomic status but not race may influence a physician?s willingness to consider abuse as a cause of an unwitnessed fracture in a child and to report the incident to child protection services. Do the physicians in your practice make decisions based on stereotypes?

Identifying abusive head trauma : Knowing what to look for can save babies from future harm Dermcase : Tender, red skin in a 5-year old Puzzler : Persistent stridor in an otherwise healthy newborn Updates : Vaccination schedules, DSM-5 on Autism Speech Therapy for PVFM, Hemophilia B FWS in Infants, HPV Vaccinations

The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its recommended immunization schedules for children and adolescents.

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Stretching infant formula by dilution or reduced feedings exposes babies to serious developmental risks, yet it can be a monthly temptation for families receiving supplemental nutrition assistance. Find out how families forced to resort to formula stretching can be better identified and what other options can be offered to them.

Certain characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may change as a child ages. An analysis of a national survey of children’s health found that children with a current diagnosis of ASD were more likely to have a co-occurring neurodevelopmental or psychiatric condition, such as learning disability or depression, than those with a past (but not current) diagnosis of ASD. This is important information to have when arriving at an ASD diagnosis.

The latest data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey show that the overall prevalence of obesity in children may be leveling off at about 17%, in contrast to the rapid increases seen in the 1980s and 1990s. Another study showed that the availability of junk foods had little effect on weight gain in middle-school children. Learn why efforts to promote healthy eating may have to extend beyond the classroom.

Half of teen mothers who became pregnant unintentionally say that they did nothing to prevent the pregnancy, according to data from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey. The data show that misperceptions still abound regarding contraception and pregnancy, and it is never a bad idea to have frank talks with your patients-boys and girls alike.

Results of a survey of AAP members show that most US pediatricians bypass an ECG before starting children on stimulant medication for ADHD, opting for a routine cardiac history and physical examination instead. Find out how perceived barriers to cardiac screening influence clinical practice.

Common household chemicals such as those found in nonstick cookware, food packaging, and fabrics-even microwave popcorn bags-can reduce the immune response to routine childhood immunizations. According to newly released study results, the more children are exposed to perfluorinated compounds, the less likely they are to have a good immune response to vaccinations. These results may not entirely surprise you, but they might help you to figure out what is wrong when a child’s vaccination didn’t seem to work.

Swelling and redness have progressed over the past 16 hours in this 5-month old boy.

A new prospective study confirms previous suggestions that in very low-birth-weight newborns exposed to treatment with ranitidine for gastric acid suppression, the rate of infections is significantly higher, as are the risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, length of hospital stay, and fatal outcome.

Could sleep problems help explain why even adherent young patients with type 1 diabetes may have trouble maintaining blood glucose control? A new study suggests that poor sleep not only worsens blood glucose control but also quality of life in youth with diabetes. Perhaps it’s time to include routine sleep assessment in the clinical care of your young patients with type 1 diabetes.

New research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health found that risperidone as a first-line treatment for childhood mania is more effective than other mood-stabilizing medications. However, be aware that potentially serious metabolic effects associated with this antipsychotic drug are raising concerns about long-term treatment.

Most sexually active US high school students have not been tested for human immunodeficiency virus, despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other organizations calling for routine testing. Find out why health care providers must play a central role in increasing the number of teens being tested.

Hoarseness developed in a 27-month-old girl who was previously treated in the ED for a presumed asthma exacerbation and bronchiolitis.

The rapidly growing field of Minimal Access Surgery : Benefits for infants and children Dermcase : Itchy, red rash plagues teenager Puzzler : Liberian immigrant girl with difficult breathing and altered mental status Updates : Chronic kidney disease, OCD cues in children, Lyme Meningitis, FDA on Rapid Influenza Test, CVD risk factors in overweight children, ADHD

A frustrated teenage girl comes to your office complaining of an itchy, red rash on her right calf that she's had for 3 months.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new mobile imaging device that aids in the detection of life-threatening bleeding in the skull through near-infrared spectroscopy.

A randomized trial of ivacaftor, a potentiator of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein, in patients with CF demonstrated that its use is not only associated with improvements in lung function but also with improvements in the risk of pulmonary exacerbations, respiratory symptoms, weight, and concentration of sweat chloride.

Keeping critically ill children with weakened hearts alive until a donor heart can be found appears more hopeful with US Food and Drug Administration approval of a cardiac-assist device specifically designed for children from newborns to adolescents.

An analysis of the cardiovascular safety of drugs used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in a population of more than 1.2 million children and young adults from 4 geographically diverse health plans with more than 2.5 million person years of follow-up found no evidence that these drugs increase the risk of serious cardiovascular events.

According to the American College of Surgeons Health Policy Research Institute, in 2006, only 12.8% of counties in the United States had a single pediatric surgeon of any type, and only a little more than half of those counties had a pediatric general surgeon.