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U.N. officials warn Yemen facing humanitarian, health disasters

High-level officials from UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) this week warned that "routine immunization of children has dropped by 40 percent in some areas of Yemen, leading to outbreaks of polio and measles and reflecting a growing collapse of public services in a country that is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster," IRIN reports.

27 Oct 2011

Children have fewer components that strengthen their immune defense than adults do

Children have fewer components that strengthen their immune defense than adults do. This is shown in a mapping of children's saliva that was carried out at Malmö University in Sweden. The study may have found an explanation for children's inability to fend off infections.

27 Oct 2011

Speculation abounds about what is on the deficit panel's list

Some Democrats have concerns that defense budget cuts are no longer being considered by the super committee. If this is true, it would force deep cuts to health programs and other discretionary spending.

27 Oct 2011

UNICEF issues statement clarifying reports of polio cases in Madagascar

UNICEF released a statement on Tuesday correcting an October 21 report by its office in Madagascar "expressing concern over a resurgence of polio in Madagascar after a routine health survey identified vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) in several healthy children." According to the statement, "there was no re-emergence of polio in Madagascar," and "the last wild poliovirus case in Madagascar was detected in 1997."

27 Oct 2011

Surgeons freeze organoid units and regenerate TESI for short bowel syndrome

Surgeons at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have conducted a study that could put regenerative tissue treatment for short bowel syndrome one step closer to the bedside. The researchers were able to successfully isolate and store organoid units and later generate tissue-engineered small intestine (TESI) in a mouse model. The groundbreaking results were presented at the 2011 Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

27 Oct 2011

Henry Ford becomes first U.S. hospital to offer skin transplant surgery for vitiligo

Henry Ford Hospital is the first in the country to offer skin transplant surgery as part of its treatment portfolio for patients with the skin disease vitiligo.

27 Oct 2011

Al Jazeera examines maternal mortality in Afghanistan

Al Jazeera examines maternal mortality in Afghanistan, which "remains one of the worst places to be a mother," 10 years after the beginning of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and "despite billions of dollars in aid and considerable progress." In an accompanying video, the news service reports, "One in five children born in Afghanistan dies by the age of five, and the statistics for mothers aren't good either."

27 Oct 2011

VitaYeast project to curb global malnutrition

Any way you slice it, bread that contains critical nutrients could help combat severe malnutrition in impoverished regions. That is the goal of a group of Johns Hopkins University undergraduate students who are using synthetic biology to enhance common yeast so that it yields beta carotene, the orange substance that gives carrots their color. When it's eaten, beta-carotene turns into vitamin A.

27 Oct 2011

Breast milk component induces expression of P-glycoprotein

Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have found that a component of breast milk induces expression of P-glycoprotein (Pgp), a protein that is protective against necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)--a complex, lethal disease that affects up to 7 percent of babies admitted to the NICU.

27 Oct 2011

Parent behavior training can effectively treat ADHD in young children

Formal training in parenting strategies is a low-risk, effective method for improving behavior in preschool-age children at risk for developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while there is less evidence supporting the use of medications for children younger than 6 years old, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

27 Oct 2011

Taking the Pill for 10 years can reduce risk of ovarian cancer by almost half

Taking the Pill for 10 years can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by almost half (45 per cent), new research part-funded by Cancer Research UK shows today.

27 Oct 2011

Less incidence of nearsightedness in kids who spend more time outdoors: Study

A new study finds that children who play outdoors often are smarter, leaner and stronger than kids more inclined toward indoor activities. They're less likely to suffer from nearsightedness, in which objects in the distance appear blurry.

26 Oct 2011

Effectiveness of present flu vaccines may not be satisfactory: Study

According to a report published online October 25 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases there are gaps in the evidence for the effectiveness of licensed influenza vaccines in the United States. Individuals who are at risk for medical complications or people who are aged 65 years or older are especially affected by the gaps, the researchers write.

26 Oct 2011

Tiny teeth in tatters

The tiny teeth of Australian toddlers are rotting and dental researchers at the University of Sydney are poised to start a long-term study to find out why.

25 Oct 2011

One embryo is all it takes for a successful IVF: Study

Doctors practicing IVF often transferred multiple embryos to a woman’s body at once, in the hope that at least one of them would lead to a successful pregnancy. That changes now as a new study from researchers at the University of Iowa in Iowa City found that women who had only one embryo transferred during IVF didn’t have lower chances of getting pregnant, but they did have a lower risk of giving birth to twins than women who had multiple embryos transferred.

25 Oct 2011

BPA exposure in mothers may affect unborn daughters’ behavior: Study

A new federal study revealed Monday in the journal Pediatrics shows that bisphenol A (BPA) - a chemical used widely in plastic bottles, metal cans and other consumer products could be linked to behavioral and emotional problems in toddler girls.

25 Oct 2011

The unvaccinated population contributing to the measles outbreak

As the US faces its largest outbreak of measles in 15 years - affecting 214 children so far – new research suggests too many unvaccinated U.S. children could be the reason. Experts speculate that unfounded fears regarding safety of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine leading to many children bring missed out could have led to this situation.

24 Oct 2011

UNICEF warns of possible polio resurgence in Madagascar amid outbreak involving three children

"An outbreak of polio in three children from the south of Madagascar has raised concerns over a possible resurgence of this crippling disease," BBC News reports, adding, "UNICEF spokesman Daniel Timme says three cases of polio without symptoms have been identified ... during UNICEF's Mother and Child Health week following tests and urine samples".

24 Oct 2011

NHMRC awards $2 million to investigate new therapies for reversing autoimmune disease

Research being undertaken at the University of Adelaide and Women's and Children's Hospital is providing vital clues into the causes of autoimmune diseases which affect millions of people around the world.

24 Oct 2011

Opinion pieces address World Polio Day

Though the number of new polio cases has dropped by 99 percent over the past 20 years, World Polio Day is recognized "because we haven't done enough yet," Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in his blog, "The Gates Notes."

24 Oct 2011