Child Health News

RSS

UNICEF aims to vaccinate 1.7M children against measles in DRC

A UNICEF measles immunization campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) aimed to vaccinate 1.7 million children under age five between December 19 and December 21, IRIN reports.

23 Dec 2011

Toddlers don't respond to their own voice

When grown-ups and kids speak, they listen to the sound of their voice and make corrections based on that auditory feedback. But new evidence shows that toddlers don't respond to their own voice in quite the same way, according to a report published online on December 22 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

23 Dec 2011

Researchers successfully treat severe congenital disorder in mouse model

Using a mouse model, Heidelberg University Hospital researchers have for the first time successfully treated a severe congenital disorder in which sugar metabolism is disturbed.

23 Dec 2011

$First study to explore impact of crowding on children with fracture-related pain$

First study to explore impact of crowding on children with fracture-related pain

Crowding in hospital emergency departments has led to a decrease in the timely and effective use of pain medication in children suffering acute long bone fractures, according to a new study by the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

23 Dec 2011

Health care issues leaving mark on presidential race

President Obama is busy touting his health law, while Mitt Romney argues that an individual mandate in Massachusetts is a "conservative" idea. In the meantime, the Associated Press examines Newt Gingrich's past support of the Children's Health Insurance Program.

23 Dec 2011

Fetal heart rate monitor may improve infant's health

Despite the numerous medical advances that happen every day, the infant mortality rate in the United States is still higher than most European countries. While experts believe this is closely linked to the growing rate of pre-term births, researchers are committed to finding ways to make labor and delivery safer. Northwestern Medicine- researchers are examining a new device that may support improved newborn health at delivery through closer monitoring of infant oxygen use during labor.

22 Dec 2011

UCSD Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care & Burns offers holiday safety tips

The UC San Diego Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care & Burns offers these holiday safety tips to insure an enjoyable time for everyone.

22 Dec 2011

Autism Speaks announces 47 new ASD research grants

Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, today announced the awarding of 47 new research grants totaling $13,242,279 in funding over the next three years.

22 Dec 2011

Study hopes to explain premature births and failed inductions of labour

New research hopes to explain premature births and failed inductions of labour. The study by academics at the University of Bristol suggests a new mechanism by which the level of myosin phosphorylation is regulated in the pregnant uterus.

22 Dec 2011

Government, humanitarian agencies respond to flooding in Philippines, warn of disease threat

"Philippine authorities are warning of the spread of diseases in cramped evacuation centers, days after flash floods hit the southern Philippines and claimed more than a thousand lives," ABC/Asia Pacific News reports, noting that flooding also has affected the country's northern provinces, displacing at least 50,000 people.

22 Dec 2011

Study measures brain activity in infants to better understand their pain response

Recently, the accuracy of current methods of pain assessment in babies have been called into question. New research from London-area hospitals and the University of Oxford measures brain activity in infants to better understand their pain response.

22 Dec 2011

Truths and myths about pregnancy, obesity

Ironically, despite excessive caloric intake, many obese women are deficient in vitamins vital to a healthy pregnancy. This and other startling statistics abound when obesity and pregnancy collide. Together, they present a unique set of challenges that women and their doctors must tackle in order to achieve the best possible outcome for mom and baby.

22 Dec 2011

ORNL tool reveals previously undiscovered role of retinoblastoma

Armed with a new ability to find retinal anomalies at the cellular level, neurobiologists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have made a discovery they hope will ultimately lead to a treatment for cancer of the retina.

22 Dec 2011

FDA approves Merck's Isentress to treat HIV-1 infection in children, adolescents

Isentress (raltegravir) was approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use with other antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV-1 infection for children and adolescents ages 2-18.

22 Dec 2011

Breastfeeding should continue until 12 months urge experts

According to a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare women who are breastfeeding are steadily becoming a smaller number. The report notes that only 40 per cent of mothers still exclusively breastfeed their babies at three months and 15 per cent of mothers are still breastfeeding at five months. This is despite health guidelines that recommend breastfeeding for the first six months.

21 Dec 2011

Cholera education campaign launched in Somali capital

Health ministry officials on Friday launched a cholera education campaign in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, "which aims to educate at least one person in every household on preventing the disease and what to do when symptoms occur," Agence France-Presse reports.

21 Dec 2011

Mother's milk for healthy growth

A PhD project from LIFE - the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen has shown that breastfed children follow a different growth pattern than non-breastfed children. Breastfeeding lowers the levels of the growth hormones IGF-I and insulin in the blood, which means that growth is slightly slower. This is believed to reduce the risk of overweight and diabetes later in life.

21 Dec 2011

Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline to increase sales of pneumococcal vaccines through GAVI

Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline are increasing their sales of reduced-cost pneumonia vaccines to developing countries through the GAVI Alliance "by more than 50 percent, marking the scale-up of an international program to protect millions of children," Reuters reports.

20 Dec 2011

Three-dose artesunate therapy effective in treating children with malaria

A shorter anti-malaria treatment is as effective in treating seriously ill children as the standard regimen, according to new research. Researchers have shown that three doses over two days of the drug artesunate are as effective in killing the malaria parasite in the blood as five doses over three days.

20 Dec 2011

Grand Challenges Canada, Gates Foundation announce grants to develop portable diagnostic tools

The Canadian government-funded non-profit Grand Challenges Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "have invested around $32 million in the discovery and development of new and improved diagnostic tools to help health workers in developing countries, with the aim of speeding up treatment and saving lives," IRIN reports.

20 Dec 2011