Children’s Health

Infants generally cry with more variable pitch and duration than adults. Longer, harsher, rougher, and louder cries mean they are experiencing pain or mild discomfort. Hence, a baby’s cry with universal acoustic properties is innately decoded by caregivers. In a recent Current Biology study, researchers detected that a baby’s cry expresses the pain that can be actually

The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is responsible for a third of pneumonia cases around the world and is the second leading cause of infant deaths. RSV also affects older people above the age of 60 years, causing both illness and death on a scale similar to that of influenza in this patient population. Over 99%

Stopping children undergoing chemotherapy from feeling pain and other debilitating side-effects is the focus of research underway at The University of Queensland. Dr Hana Starobova from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience has been awarded a Fellowship Grant from the Children’s Hospital Foundation to continue her research to relieve children from the side-effects of cancer treatments.

Tears, tantrums, and distress – when it comes to needles, many children struggle with anxiety. But with vaccinations becoming more regular, finding ways to help reduce needle-related fear and pain is high on the agenda. Now, new research from the University of South Australia shows that children’s vaccination and needle fear can be lessened when

In one of the largest follow-up studies to date, involving 25 pediatric hospitals, more than a quarter of children and adolescents hospitalized with coronavirus infection early in the pandemic still had health problems two to four months later, either persisting symptoms or activity impairment. The study, led by Boston Children’s Hospital, is published August 12

RUDN doctors have discovered genetic and viral causes of a frequent ENT disease in children – adenoid hypertrophy. The results are published in Life. Adenoid hypertrophy (AH), or their overgrowth, is one of the most common ENT diseases in children. Consequences range from snoring and frequent runny nose to respiratory arrest in a dream. However,

Researchers at Ochsner Health and Tulane University School of Medicine have identified the genes that become active in carotid arteries when plaque rupture causes a stroke. The work, published in Scientific Reports, was made possible by acquiring samples closer to the time of the stroke than previously possible. The results provide a picture of what

Physicians at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt have found another reason to vaccinate children against COVID-19: to help reduce the likelihood of neurologic complications caused by the virus. “COVID-19 and Acute Neurologic Complications in Children,” a study of more than 15,000 children hospitalized with COVID-19 across 52 children’s hospitals over a two-year period,

Chronic alcohol use is a major cause of liver damage and death: Approximately 30,000 persons in the United States die annually from alcoholic liver diseases, such as cirrhosis. Among the negative impacts of excessive alcohol use is its ability to adversely affect the gut microbiome, though how that happens has been a mystery, since the

Academic stress takes a toll on the mental well-being of certain groups of college students more than others – a correlation further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Rutgers New Jersey Medical School study. Published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, researchers found a significant correlation between perceived academic stress and poor mental

A monoclonal antibody, mepolizumab, decreased asthma attacks by 27% in Black and Hispanic children and adolescents who have a form of severe asthma, are prone to asthma attacks and live in low-income urban neighborhoods, a National Institutes of Health clinical trial has found. This population has been underrepresented in previous clinical trials of asthma therapeutics.

In a recent study published in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics, researchers estimate the risk of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in Denmark. MIS-C is a severe manifestation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children and adolescents. Study: Risk and Phenotype of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Vaccinated and

Behavioral scientists have long researched how to help children cope with extreme adversity – such as poverty or exposure to violence. Yanping Jiang, a researcher at the Rutgers Institute for Health, thinks she’s found the answer in rural China. Building on previous studies of children in China whose parents are living with HIV or have

In a recent Birth Defects Research study, United States-based scientists determined that infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during the first trimester of pregnancy does not increase the risk of any specific congenital malformations. Study: First trimester COVID-19 and the risk of major congenital malformations–International Registry of Coronavirus Exposure in Pregnancy. Image

Gender-diverse youth are at an increased risk of suicide and depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the prevalence of gender diversity is largely unknown-;especially in rural areas, where studies of the topic are rare. To fill that knowledge gap, researchers at West Virginia University-; along with their colleagues at the

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant (lineage B.1.1.529) is currently the dominant circulating strain in most nations. Although millions of children have been affected by SARS-CoV-2 globally, accurate data on the pediatric burden of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not available due to underreporting of cases and testing limitations. Study: Anti-SARS-CoV-2

Bullying has been made easier and sometimes more serious by social media, gaming platforms, and other online communications technologies, affecting so many of our schools, families and communities. Research is also clear that cyberbullying – the online variant of school-based bullying – is linked to a host of negative emotional, psychological, physiological and behavioral outcomes.

Thought LeadersDr. Cicely Fadel and Amir Bein R.D., Ph.D.ResearchersWyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University In this interview, News-Medical speaks to Dr. Cicely Fadel and Amir Bein Ph.D about their latest research which involved the development of an Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) Chip that reveals the effects of nutrition and genetics on disease in children. Please

During a battle with cancer, T cells can become exhausted and are no longer able to function properly. The early phase of exhaustion can sometimes be reversed with immunotherapy drugs, but once T cells become too exhausted, it had been thought that this state was irreversible. However, new insights from University of Pittsburgh and UPMC

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many pediatric patients who suffer from headaches have experienced more frequent headaches and worsening anxiety and mood, and a new study finds links to stress, decreased physical activity and increased screen time. The findings, published in the Journal of Child Neurology, showed that elevated stress associated with disruptions