Pediatric News
Identifying Children at Low Risk for Bacterial Conjunctivitis
A study out of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine conducted a prospective observational cohort study to identify a population of children at low risk for bacterial conjunctivitis on the basis of history and physical examination findings. Age 6 years or older, presentation in April through November, no or watery discharge, and no glued eye in the morning were the clinical factors found to be independently associated with a negative conjunctival culture. If 3 factors were present, 76.4% (95% confidence interval, 63.6%-85.6%) of patients had a negative culture. If all 4 factors were present, 92.3% (95% confidence interval, 66.1%-98.2%) of patients had a negative culture.
Age of mother affects child's autism risk: study
Being an older mother significantly increases the risk of having a child with autism, but being an older father only increases the risk when the mother is under the age of 30, U.S. researchers said on Monday. But being an older father -- 40 or older -- only contributes significantly to autism risk when the mother is under 30.
Vaccine-Autism Study Is Retracted
A major British medical journal on Tuesday retracted a flawed study linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism and bowel disease. The retraction by The Lancet comes a day after a competing medical journal, BMJ, issued an embargoed commentary calling for The Lancet to formally retract the study. The commentary was to have been published on Wednesday.
Imaging Recomendations for new-onset afebrile seizures in infants
To investigate the presenting characteristics of new-onset afebrile seizures in infants (age 1–24 months) a prospective trial was conducted. It was found half of the infants had partial features to their seizures, yet evidence for primary generalized seizures was rare. The majority had more than 1 seizure upon presentation. Seizures in this age group tended to be brief, with 44% lasting less than 1 minute. EEG abnormalities were found in half. One-third of CTs were abnormal, with 9% of all CTs requiring acute medical management. Over half of MRIs were abnormal, with cerebral dysgenesis being the most common abnormality (p < 0.05). One-third of normal CTs had a subsequent abnormal MRI—only 1 resulted in altered medical management. Infantile seizures are usually brief, but commonly recurrent, and strong consideration should be made for inpatient observation. Acute imaging with CT can alter management in a small but important number of infants. Due to the superior yield, strong consideration for MRI should be given for all infants, as primary generalized seizures are rare, and there is a high rate of cerebral dysgenesis.
Ibuprofen Bests Acetaminophen/Codeine for Kids' Broken Arms
Children treated for arm fractures said ibuprofen reduced the pain as effectively as a combination of acetaminophen and codeine (Tylenol 3), with fewer adverse effects, in a randomized, double-blind trial.
Bacteria May Be Connected to Colic
A bacterium normally found in the mouth, skin and intestines might play a role in the still-mysterious cause of colic in babies, a new study says. Researchers found the bacterium Klebsiella along with gut inflammation in the intestines of all babies in their study who had colic, a condition characterized by uncontrollable crying.
More Dairy, Calcium in Childhood Could Mean Longer Life
A 65-year-long study finds that people who took in lots of calcium and dairy products as children tended to avoid stroke and live longer than those who didn't. "This study shows a modest protective effect of dietary calcium intake in childhood against stroke risk later in life, and a modest protective effect against mortality from any cause from higher intake of milk in childhood,"
Serious Bacterial Infections in Febrile Infants in the Post–Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Era
Academic Emergency Medicine
A cohort study with nested case-controls was undertaken at a tertiary care military hospital emergency department (ED) from December 2002 through December 2003. Irrespective of clinical findings at the initial encounter, patients were included if they were under 3 months of age and had a home or ED temperature of ≥100.4°F or if they were between 3 and 24 months of age with a temperature of ≥102.3°F. The WBC count and height of fever were not found to be accurate predictors of SBI in infants age 3 to 24 months. UTI and pneumonias made up the vast majority of SBI in this population of infants. The overall bacteremia frequency was well below 1%. This calls into question the continued utility of obtaining routine complete cell counts and blood cultures in the febrile infant in the post-PCV7 era.
A novel role of HLA class I in the pathology of medulloblastoma
MHC class I expression by cancer cells enables specific antigen recognition by
the immune system and protection of the host. However, in some cancer types MHC class I
expression is associated with an unfavorable outcome. We explored the basis of MHC class I
association with unfavorable prognostic marker expression in the case of medulloblastoma.
Anticoagulation In Patient Following Prosthetic Heart Valve Replacement
To identify optimum International Normalization Ratio (INR) levels and required warfarin doses and anticoagulation related complications in patients following mechanical prosthetic valve replacment.
Medications in the Breast-Feeding Mother
Prescribing medications for a breast-feeding mother requires weighing the benefits of medication use for the mother against the risk of not breast-feeding the infant or the potential risk of exposing the infant to medications. A drug that is safe for use during pregnancy may not be safe for the nursing infant.
