Child Health News

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Childhood cancer on the rise across the developing world

Across the developing world, childhood cancer is on the rise, and mortality is high. Once thought of as a rich world disease, cancer is a growing health threat across low-income and middle-income countries (LMCs). A major new Lancet Oncology Series by some of the world’s most eminent cancer experts outlines the biggest challenges to treating childhood cancer in developing nations and proposes strategies to improve care for children and young people.

20 Feb 2013

Child cancer survival rate progress threatened by lack of new drug development

Remarkable improvements in survival from childhood cancer have taken place in high- income countries over the past 50 years, but further progress is being threatened by increasingly strict research regulations and insufficient development of new drugs, according to a major new Lancet Oncology Series on improving cancer care for children and young people.

20 Feb 2013

Working toward polio eradication in 2018

"Since the eradication of smallpox in the late 1970s, no other diseases have followed suit; the goal that has come closest so far is eradication of polio," a Lancet Infectious Diseases editorial states, noting that in 2012 only about 250 people were infected with polio worldwide.

20 Feb 2013

KSU faculty members help children with auditory processing disorder receive better treatment

Several Kansas State University faculty members are helping children with auditory processing disorder receive better treatment.

20 Feb 2013

Ark., N.Y. head in opposite directions on abortion regulation

Arkansas and New York are states headed in opposite directions on new abortion regulation: Arkansas's Senate passes a bill banning the procedure after 20 weeks while New York's governor works on legislation guaranteeing access to late-term abortions.

20 Feb 2013

Bipartisan measure introduced to undo health law's insurance tax

In other Capitol Hill news, some GOP lawmakers are upset with a physician group that encourages pediatricians to ask about gun ownership during kids' check-ups.

20 Feb 2013

Study evaluates effectiveness of H1N1 vaccine in pregnant women against adverse infant outcomes

Pregnant women who received the H1N1 influenza vaccine during the 2009 pandemic were less likely to have premature babies, and their babies weighed more on average.

20 Feb 2013

UCLA plays a vital role in ongoing research into Rasmussen encephalitis

How do you find a cure for a devastating pediatric brain disease so rare that it can take decades to build a meaningful research base? In 2010, the parents of a patient created the Rasmussen Encephalitis (RE) Children's Project to help solve this problem. In a short amount of time, the foundation has raised funds to establish a consortium of top researchers, build a collection of samples of the disease from around the world and support projects to study the disease tissue and search for genetic links. The goal is to find a cure.

20 Feb 2013

EMA designates Osiris as Orphan Drug title holder for Prochymal

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., the leading stem cell company developing and marketing products to treat medical conditions in inflammatory, cardiovascular, orthopedic and wound healing markets, announced today that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has designated Osiris as the Orphan Drug title holder for Prochymal (remestemcel-L).

19 Feb 2013

Three characteristic emotions cause babies to cry

Spanish researchers have studied adults' accuracy in the recognition of the emotion causing babies to cry. Eye movement and the dynamic of the cry play a key role in recognition.

19 Feb 2013

Abnormalities in overall growth regulation play a role in congenital heart disease

The poor growth seen in children born with complex heart defects may result from factors beyond deficient nutrition. A new study by pediatric researchers suggests that abnormalities in overall growth regulation play a role.

19 Feb 2013

Study establishes possible link between high-fat diets and ADHD, learning disabilities

A University of Illinois study has established a possible link between high-fat diets and such childhood brain-based conditions as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and memory-dependent learning disabilities.

19 Feb 2013

Caffeine intake during pregnancy associated with low birth weight babies

Maternal nutrition is important to a developing embryo and to the health of the child later in life. Supplementing the diet with specific vitamins is known to increase health of the foetus for example folic acid (vitamin B9) reduces the risk of spina bifida. However not everything an adult might consume is beneficial to a developing baby.

19 Feb 2013

New study reveals how control of brain blood flow develops with age

A new study by Columbia Engineering researchers finds that the infant brain does not control its blood flow in the same way as the adult brain. The paper, which the scientists say could change the way researchers study brain development in infants and children, is published in the February 18 Early Online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

19 Feb 2013

No difference in TEWL between newborns bathed in water alone or with baby wash

The findings by academics at The University of Manchester, published in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing, compared Johnson's Baby Top-to-Toe wash against plain bath water on 307 newborn babies over a four week period.

From The University of Manchester 19 Feb 2013

Reduced lung function during infancy may increase risk of wheezing in young adulthood

A study in Australia suggests that reduced lung function in infancy was associated with wheezing beyond childhood at 18 years of age, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

19 Feb 2013

U.K., Ugandan Government sign new healthcare alliance

A Ugandan-UK Healthcare Alliance, which will help improve health care for people living in the East African country, has been launched this week after being developed by a University of Manchester health professional.

From The University of Manchester 19 Feb 2013

Vaccine prices and availability: an interview with Kate Elder, Vaccines Policy Advisor for Médecins Sans Frontières's Access Campaign

One of the key reasons why children are missed by immunization programs, particularly in developing countries where Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) works, is that the products that we currently have in their present formulation are not well-suited to the places that have the most un-immunized children. These are the most challenging contexts to work in.

19 Feb 2013

New book discusses potential solutions and new ways of looking at hidden hunger

Hunger is a two-sided coin. It refers simultaneously to that which is visible and can be subjectively and objectively viewed, and that which is hidden. This less-visible hunger is known as 'hidden hunger' or chronic malnutrition. Every two minutes thirteen children worldwide die of the consequences of hidden hunger before they are five years old.

18 Feb 2013

Blog examines child survival efforts in India

"Last week, the Government of India held a star-studded National Summit on child survival, 'co-convened' with USAID and UNICEF," Victoria Fan, a research fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Rachel Silverman, a research assistant for the global health team at the CGD, write in the center's "Global Health Policy" blog.

16 Feb 2013