Be firm about "firm": Parents don't always get message on infant bedding
September 1st 2011Parents don?t always understand what is meant by ?firm? when talking about bedding intended to reduce the risk of SIDS, and they worry that their infants may be uncomfortable, according to new research. Find out what misunderstandings are likely to occur and how you can counter them.
Low HPV vaccination rate could mean danger later for teenagers
September 1st 2011Pediatricians are in an ideal position to turn around the low rate of vaccination against human papillomavirus in teenaged girls, according to a new government study. Nearly two-thirds of American teenaged girls have yet to receive the recommended 3-dose vaccination. Here are some proven methods for getting them the protection they need.
New guidelines: No routine VCUG in infants with UTIs
September 1st 2011Here?s welcome news for nervous parents and the pediatricians who have to deal with urinary tract infections (UTI) in infants: New guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics do not recommend routine use of voiding cystourethrography after the first UTI in febrile infants and children aged 2 to 24 months. Read more for information on when the test is indicated as well as other changes in UTI diagnosis and management.
The heart of the matter: Unexplained nausea may not be digestive issue
September 1st 2011Unexplained chronic nausea often is treated as a digestive entity, but a new study suggests that regulating heart rate and blood pressure may be a better approach in some cases. Read more to find out how fludrocortisone worked in reducing debilitating chronic nausea in young patients.
Reassure worried parents: Vaccines rarely have serious adverse effects
September 1st 2011A recent consensus report gives pediatricians more ammunition when trying to persuade parents to update their children?s immunizations as school begins this year. The message was very clear: Serious adverse events associated with vaccines can occur but are very rare. The report also had some comforting information about the adverse effects (ie, autism) that parents fear most.
New tools to help counsel parents hesitant about vaccines
August 25th 2011The start of school means an increase in questions about vaccine safety from parents who need to update their children?s immunizations. Just in time, FDA has archived materials that pediatricians can use to reassure parents of the safety of the recommended vaccine schedule. Read how to access these materials and others that might be helpful.
Early physical maturity can be dangerous for boys
August 25th 2011Research has found that the ?accident hump? for boys is trending downward into younger years. With physical maturity occurring earlier than ever, pediatricians should warn parents that their sons? deeper voices may mean more, not less, supervision.
Malpractice suits against pediatricians not likely, but expensive
August 25th 2011Pediatricians have a considerably lower-than-average probability of being sued for malpractice compared with most specialties, but when plaintiffs prevail, their mean payouts are the highest of any physicians, according to a recent study. The mean indemnity payment for pediatricians was $520,923, almost twice as much as the mean for all physicians. But there?s good news too: read the study results and get the complete picture.
ADHD increase higher in economically disadvantaged children
August 25th 2011Here?s some new information that can help when you?re determining whom to screen for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: ADHD prevalence has increased to 10% for children with family income less than 100% of the poverty level and to 11% for those with family income between 100% and 199% of the poverty level compared with a 7% to 9% overall increase, according to a National Center for Health Statistics report. Read more to find out what other indicators were linked with above-average increases in the disorder?s prevalence.
Influenza vaccine nasal spray more effective in young children
August 25th 2011With influenza being one of the most common reasons for hospitalization of children, finding the most effective vaccination combination is increasingly important. That?s what researchers recently set out to do, finding that although the live attenuated influenza vaccine nasal spray and trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine shots are effective, only the nasal spray may confer additional immunity. Could a change in guidelines be on the horizon?
Brain tumor development affected by mothers' miscarriage history, birth defects
August 18th 2011A brief review of a mother?s pregnancy history, including miscarriages and birth defects, may help in screenin for brain tumors. A recent study found that children whose mothers have had 2 or more late miscarriages have 3 times the risk of developing central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Birth defects also correlate with increased risk of CNS tumors.
Mold in infants' homes can lead to asthma development
August 18th 2011Two new asthma studies include some practical advice that pediatricians can share with parents. One concerns mold in the home, which can lead to asthma development. Another study offers advice on using air cleaners to control asthma symptoms.
Younger siblings of autism patients need extra surveillance
August 18th 2011Family history is more important than previously thought in autism spectrum disorder, and pediatricians should consider early intervention for infant siblings of children with autism if any concerns arise about their development, according to new research. The largest prospective investigation of autism spectrum disorder and sibling recurrence to date uncovered surprisingly high occurrence of autism, especially when more than 1 older sibling had the disorder.
Wrong antibiotic used for resistant skin infections
August 18th 2011For many pediatricians, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) may be the oral antibiotic of choice when a patient presents with a community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, but another drug?clindamycin?may actually work better, according to a new study. Find out why the experts recommend clindamycin, even though there seemed to be good reasons to prescribe TMP-SMX.
Young athletes' ECGs frequently misinterpreted
August 18th 2011Electrocardiograms used to screen athletes for sports participation were misinterpreted more than 30% of the time by pediatric cardiologists participating in a recent study. Read here for help in using this screening tool for teen athletes.
Dosage changes making acetaminophen safer for children
August 11th 2011Telling parents to have their children take 2 Tylenol and call you in the morning may soon be safer than ever. The FDA is asking drug makers to voluntarily adopt recommendations to make children?s medicines containing acetaminophen safer to use. The industry has complied, phasing out some formulations and changing dosage recommendations. Find out what will now be available.
Few children participate in clinical trials; parents often unaware
August 11th 2011Less than 30% of FDA-approved medications have been studied in children, despite regulatory requirements and study incentives implemented by FDA over the past 15 years. One reason is parents' lack of awareness of opportunities for children to participate in medical research. Now, new tools can help pediatricians educate parents and increase children?s participation in clinical trials.
Uncontrolled asthma can affect children's schooling, family income
August 11th 2011Failure to appropriately control severe asthma in children not only has a critical effect on their health but also affects their educational achievement. It also doubles the health care costs related to their disease, according to a new study. Researchers found that children with ?very poorly controlled? asthma missed an average of 18 days of school each year, compared with 2 or fewer for other asthma patients. The economic effect was dramatic, even compared with children with ?not well controlled? asthma.
Developmental delays can be identified in quick screening, study says
August 11th 2011A few minutes spent interpreting results of a brief questionnaire can help pediatricians identify up to 82% of children with developmental delays, according to a recent Canadian study. The screening tools identified development delay in 10% of the children and were matched against a full battery of psychological tests. Find out what tests were used and in what age ranges they were most accurate.
New indications for when summer football practice endangers youths
August 11th 2011Against the backdrop of a record-breaking hot and humid summer many states have experienced and the beginning of school, or at least football practice, new guidance is available to pediatricians about which youths could be cleared for athletic participation in these conditions. New study results have been released, and the AAP has issued a new policy statement that adds a BMI above the 85th percentile for age, as well as other conditions, to the risk factors for heat-related illness for children and adolescents. Read more to see what the new indications are.
Debt-ceiling issue threatens payments to children's health providers
August 11th 2011Although Medicaid and CHIP were considered off limits during the original debt-ceiling deal, the landscape has since tilted precipitously with more bad economic news: S&P?s recent downgrade of US debt adds fear and strain to the uncertainty about the future of these programs. A bipartisan congressional ?super committee? is saddled with recommending as much as $1.5 trillion in federal budget cuts over the next 10 years. Medicaid and CHIP were intended to be off the table during the negotiations, but now providers? payments may be at risk.
Pediatric dose-rounding recommendations will make e-prescribing safer
August 4th 2011Pediatricians trying to meet the government mandate to implement electronic prescribing also struggle with another issue: How to safely round dosages up or down. Now, an easy-to-adopt solution can remedy that problem. Here?s how to get the recommended rounding tolerances for 102 commonly prescribed drugs.
CDC seeks input on meningococcal vaccine for children younger than 2 years
August 4th 2011The CDC held meetings this summer on adding a new infant vaccine to its list of recommendations, but those gatherings frequently turned into a forum on the overall issue of immunizations, with both supporters and detractors having their say. Read here to see where they stand on the meningococcal vaccine now.