News

Giving patients clearly written educational materials that convey key messages without resorting to jargon is an important part of engaging patient compliance with treatment and can contribute to health literacy, according to an article published in the April issue of Chest.

Abbott's lower-strength pediatric tablet formulation of the HIV protease inhibitor Kaletra has received marketing approval by the European Commission.

Despite high national coverage rates with two doses of mumps vaccine, the largest outbreak of mumps in two decades occurred in 2006, suggesting that changes to the mumps vaccine or vaccine policy may be needed to avert future outbreaks, researchers report in the April 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers have identified a gene conferring susceptibility to asthma in populations of European descent, according to research published online April 9 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Gene mutations may underlie half of all cases of sporadic childhood-onset idiopathic cardiac hypertrophy, and two-thirds of cases in which there is a positive family history, according to study findings published online April 9 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Contemporary Kids 2008 Media Kit

The BMJ has begun accepting votes on which areas of health care allow doctors to make the biggest difference to patient care, with a shortlist of six areas each being championed by eminent doctors and researchers. The winning topic will gain special coverage in the BMJ and the BMJ Group's 24 other specialist journals and online education products.

Short or disrupted sleep during infancy and childhood may be associated with a range of problems including mood and behavioral disorders in young adulthood, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, as well as maladaptive parental behaviors, according to three studies published in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Early-onset paternal, but not maternal, obesity is associated with a higher risk of having high levels of alanine aminotransferase, a marker of liver injury associated with obesity, researchers report in the April issue of Gastroenterology.

Exercising mothers not only reward their own health without harming their fetus, but also impart health benefits to the developing baby, according to researchers presenting at the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Physiological Society.

Depressed adults with a history of maltreatment in childhood tend to have higher levels of C-reactive protein than their counterparts without a history of abuse, putting them at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a report published in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Since 1976, the overall prevalence of iron deficiency in U.S. toddlers has not declined and continues to be elevated in certain high-risk groups including Hispanic and overweight toddlers, according to an article published in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Infants who sleep less than 12 hours per day may have an increased risk of becoming overweight when they reach preschool age, according to research published in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

The risk of heart disease in teens with metabolic syndrome may be elevated if they have a history of inactivity during childhood.

From October 2005 through September 2006, approximately 905,000 U.S. children, nearly 20 percent of whom were younger than 1 year of age, were victims of maltreatment, according to a report published in the April 4 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Gymnastics has one of the highest injury rates of all girls' sports, accounting for an average 26,600 hospital emergency department treatments a year in children, according to an article published in the April issue of Pediatrics.

People who experience psychological distress in childhood and early adulthood may be more likely to experience adverse working conditions during middle age, according to the results of a study published online April 3 in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

A study released by the CDC discovered that 91,278 nonfatal cases of abuse and neglect among children younger than age 1 occurred in the 2006 fiscal year, and 32.7% of these cases involved infants a week old or younger.

In Latin American infants, oral live attenuated human rotavirus vaccine provides significant protection against rotavirus gastroenteritis up to age 2, according to the results of a study published in the April 5 issue of The Lancet.

Using high throughput RHD genotyping of fetuses may obviate the need for anti-RhD immunoglobulin in RhD-negative pregnant women, according to research published April 3 in BMJ Online First.

Among pubertal boys, those who are obese have a reduced ability to oxidize fat during moderate exercise compared to those who are lean, possibly because of differences in muscle fiber distribution, according to a report published online April 2 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Survivors of childhood cancer often experience late effects of their treatment, but not all patients need to be recalled to a cancer clinic for follow-up, according to an editorial published in the April 5 issue of BMJ.

Lack of access to vaccines in low- and middle-income countries causes over 2 million avoidable deaths a year, according to an article published in the April 5 issue of BMJ.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted approval to Rotarix, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals of Rixensart, Belgium, making it the second oral vaccine against rotavirus on the market in the United States.

A sample of toddlers who were born extremely prematurely had a high prevalence of autism spectrum behaviors, and families of children with autism tend to face a substantial loss of household income, according to two studies published in the April 1 issue of Pediatrics.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved GlaxoSmithKline's Rotarix, the second oral licensed vaccine in the US for the prevention of rotavirus.

Data released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) revealed that about 31% of children ages 2 to 5 who are from low-income families have untreated cavities, compared to about 6% of children from high-income families.

In England, rates of serious injury are significantly higher among children from the poorest neighborhoods than they are among children from the most affluent neighborhoods, and injury patterns also vary between children living in rural and urban settings, according to a report published online April 1 in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Lung transplantation should continue to be offered as a treatment option for children with cystic fibrosis, the authors of an article published in the March issue of Pediatric Transplantation maintain, directly challenging another recent study that questions the benefit of lung transplantation in this population.

Across the United States, the location where a child is born and raised can make a huge difference in the child's health and well-being, according to a report released on April 2 by the non-profit Every Child Matters Education Fund.