Children News and Research

RSS

More PMTCT interventions needed, experts at WHO Regional meeting say

Experts participating in the 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa called for more interventions to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT), New Times/allAfrica.com reports.

5 Sep 2009

Many high health costs remain mysterious, including the cost of reform

Health care's high costs are a main reason lawmakers are taking on health reform, but it's also a challenge to identify and target the many reasons care is so expensive. NPR takes a look at medical devices, like plastic tubes and scalpels, that boast surprisingly big price tags. A $2,000 dollar metal stent must be tiny and flexible, a $60 plastic catheter must bend in exactly the right way and "the market is still sorting itself out" on the appropriate price of relatively new specialty scalpels used for heart surgery (Joffe-Walt 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

Book for young life insurance beneficiaries

Anthem Life kicks off Life Insurance Awareness Month by enhancing the support services already available to its group life insurance beneficiaries by offering a new book to help children who are affected by the loss of a loved one - The Healing Book: Facing the Death and Celebrating the Life of Someone You Love (written by Ellen Sabin and published by Watering Can Press).

5 Sep 2009

Sinovac to purchase H1N1 vaccine for the national stockpiling plan

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (NYSE: SVA), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, announced today that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China has issued the initial order to Sinovac to purchase H1N1 vaccine for the national stockpiling plan.

5 Sep 2009

Over 2,800 people worldwide have died from H1N1, WHO reports

The WHO on Friday announced the H1N1 (swine) flu virus has killed at least 2,837 people - the result of an continued increase in the number of H1N1 cases worldwide, not the virulence of the virus, Reuters reports. "There is no sense that the virus has mutated or changed in any sense," WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl said during a news conference (Nebehay/MacInnis, 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

Flu vaccinations now available at all 22 Target Clinic locations

Target(R) announces that flu vaccinations are now available at all 22 Target Clinic locations in Minnesota. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends nearly everyone protect themselves against this potentially serious illness.

5 Sep 2009

Aflac Ford Fusion to sport 13-year-old cancer patient's paint scheme

On September 6(th), at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion will sport a colorful new look inspired by a 13-year-old patient at the Aflac Cancer Center. Aflac invited children at the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service to "Color Carl's Car" for the Labor Day weekend race.

5 Sep 2009

Retirement planning and investing workshops for nurses

Nurses appear to be taking far better care of their patients than they are their financial futures, according to a survey released today by the Center for American Nurses and the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER).

5 Sep 2009

New approach for understanding how drug resistance occurs in leukemia

UCSF researchers have developed a new approach to identify specific genes that influence how cancer cells respond to drugs and how they become resistant. This strategy, which involves producing diverse genetic mutations that result in leukemia and associating specific mutations with treatment outcomes, will enable researchers to better understand how drug resistance occurs in leukemia and other cancers, and has important long-term implications for the development of more effective therapies.

5 Sep 2009

Health Net's ECHO kit to help military families maximize the health care benefits

Health Net Federal Services, LLC, the government operations division of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), today announced its newly developed Extended Care Health Option (ECHO) kit for service members and their families in the TRICARE North Region, designed to provide user-friendly, educational information to enhance understanding of the ECHO program.

5 Sep 2009

nSR100 protein plays a key role in neuron development

Researchers at the University of Toronto have identified a protein which plays a key role in the development of neurons, which could enhance our understanding of how the brain works, and how diseases such as Alzheimer's occur.

5 Sep 2009

Health care reform could affect Americans having dental and vision coverage policies

Over 132 million Americans face having their family dental and vision coverage split in two under current Congressional proposals for health care reform, according to the National Association of Dental Plans whose members cover 80 percent of Americans with dental benefits.

5 Sep 2009

Alcohol is harmful for unborn babies

Learning disabilities, mental health issues and behavior problems are just some of the issues that afflict babies exposed to alcohol in the womb, yet some doctors still tell their patients it is safe to have a drink now and then while pregnant.

5 Sep 2009

Today's state news: Medicaid challenges, high denial rates and a new plan to tax Calif. insurers

Today's state news includes Wyoming's worries about a Medicaid crunch, a surprising last minute solution to California's children health worries, the state's high insurance claims denial rates, and a windfall of stimulus grants to medical researchers in Massachusetts.

5 Sep 2009

Bloodstream infections can be avoided with a daily scrub solution bath

Giving critically ill hospital patients a daily bath with a mild, soapy solution of the same antibacterial agent used by surgeons to "scrub in" before an operation can dramatically cut down, by as much as 73 percent, the number of patients who develop potentially deadly bloodstream infections, according to a new study by patient safety experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and five other institutions.

5 Sep 2009

Researchers discover the causes for the severity of RSV illness

Approximately one-half of all infants are infected with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during the first year of life, and almost all children have been infected at least once by the time they reach their second birthday. Researchers at West Virginia University have discovered what makes RSV such a severe and persistent illness.

4 Sep 2009

Target Clinics in Maryland start selling seasonal flu vaccinations

Target(R) announces that flu vaccinations are now available at all six Target Clinic locations in Maryland. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends nearly everyone protect themselves against this potentially serious illness.

4 Sep 2009

Solution for fecal incontinence in children

Encopresis isn't the sort of medical problem making headlines, but there's no mistaking the quiet emotional toll it takes on children as school resumes across the country. Bright, vivacious boys and girls in elementary school are becoming quiet, withdrawn and ostracized. After all, children can be cruel and nobody wants to associate with the "smelly kid" sitting all alone.

4 Sep 2009

Morning Edition: September 4, 2009

Today's headlines illustrate the following point: Everyone should enjoy the long weekend ahead, because next week Congress comes back to Washington and President Obama delivers his big health care speech -- in other words, the health policy world will be very busy.

4 Sep 2009

Children International distributes free wheelchairs to physically disabled children in Ecuador

For 10-year-old Jessica, who struggles with muscular dystrophy and epilepsy that make her life on the steep mountainside above Quito, Ecuador extremely difficult, her new wheelchair is priceless!

4 Sep 2009