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Higher Medicaid reimbursement rates could increase childhood vaccinations

Reuters: A new study in the journal Pediatrics suggests that raising Medicaid reimbursement rates could help more children from low-income families receive flu vaccinations. "Although the vaccine itself is provided free of charge to children covered by Medicaid, doctors are only reimbursed for about half the cost of administering it," and are losing money in the process, say researchers.

18 Oct 2010

MSF calls for donor countries to improve food aid nutrition standards on eve of World Food Day

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) released a statement in advance of Saturday's World Food Day saying that the "world's biggest donors of food aid ... continued to supply and fund nutritionally 'substandard' food to developing countries, despite scientific evidence showing it was of little value in reducing child malnutrition," Reuters AlertNet reports.

18 Oct 2010

ACEP urges increased emergency medicine representation on National Commission on Children and Disasters

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) today expressed concerns about a new report delivered to the White House and Congress by the National Commission on Children and Disasters. The organization urged the Commission to include more representation from emergency physicians, the group of physicians considered the experts in disaster preparedness, and emergency nurses who care for these victims.

18 Oct 2010

African-American children have higher risk of hypertension

Persistently high blood pressure, or hypertension, may spell worse heart trouble for black children under the age of 13 than for other children of the same ages, according to research led by scientists at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and published in the November issue of Pediatrics.

18 Oct 2010

Researchers to develop technologies that can mask horrid taste of children's medicines

A spoonful of sugar is the traditional way to help medicines 'go down'. But getting young children to take foul-tasting medicines - even if their lives depend on it - requires more than a bit of added sweetener. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), each year over eight million children die of diseases that could be avoided if essential medicines were available in appropriate formulations for children.

18 Oct 2010

Study finds correlation between flu vaccination and Medicaid reimbursement rates

Increasing the amount that physicians are reimbursed by Medicaid for administering influenza shots may raise vaccination rates among poor children. That is the conclusion of a study published online today in the journal Pediatrics.

18 Oct 2010

New study on Retinopathy of Prematurity

A new clinical trial at The Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center will focus on ways to catch a debilitating eye disease before it's too late.

18 Oct 2010

Paper presented at HBPR 2010 highlights relationship between BMI and blood pressure in children

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) welcomes the findings of a paper presented today at the American Heart Association's High Blood Pressure Research 2010 Scientific Sessions (HBPR 2010) held in Washington, DC, USA.

18 Oct 2010

Small changes in weight can make huge difference in BP for overweight children

Small changes in weight can make bigger differences in the blood pressure for overweight children, compared to those at normal weight, according to a new study. Researchers tracked blood pressure, height and weight of 1,113 children over time, with the longest follow-up exceeding 10 years. They then compared the children's body mass index (BMI, a measure of body weight) to national charts adjusted for age, sex and height. Kids with BMIs in the 85th percentile or higher are considered overweight.

18 Oct 2010

Whooping cough cases increase

Whooping cough (Pertussis) a dreaded childhood disease that is vaccine preventable is back. After two doctors in Adelaide tested positive to whooping cough, nearly a 100 adults and children are being given precautionary antibiotics.

18 Oct 2010

Tips to help keep teeth and gums healthy

Good nutrition and healthy eating habits are essential to maintaining optimal oral and overall health. With Halloween just around the corner, the Pennsylvania Dental Association (PDA) encourages parents to be mindful of the amount of candy their children are consuming, and to use this holiday as an opportunity to remind them about the importance of taking care of their teeth and gums.

15 Oct 2010

Births in Italy and Germany from eggs tested by CGH

Two women taking part in the world's first controlled study of a comprehensive genetic screening test before IVF have given birth to healthy babies. The babies, twin girls born in Germany in June and a singleton boy born in Italy in September, are the first deliveries in a pilot study of comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) by microarray, a new method of screening oocytes for IVF for a full range of chromosomal disorders.

15 Oct 2010

Heavy drinking during pregnancy associated with serious developmental defects in fetus

Scientific data continue to indicate that higher intake of alcohol during pregnancy adversely affects the fetus, and could lead to very severe developmental or other problems in the child. However, most recent publications show little or no effects of occasional or light drinking by the mother during pregnancy.

15 Oct 2010

Questcor's H.P. Acthar Gel sNDA for infantile spasms receives FDA approval

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Questcor's supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection) in the treatment of infantile spasms (IS), an ultra-rare orphan disorder affecting approximately 2,000 American children annually. IS is a devastating and potentially life-threatening form of epilepsy seen in infancy and early childhood.

15 Oct 2010

Scientists to monitor effectiveness of Streptococcus vaccine

Respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases kill approximately four million children each year, with most deaths occurring in developing countries. New vaccines for Streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacterium that causes pneumonia, and rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhoea, have proved successful in preventing the development of the diseases in clinical trials, but have yet to be used routinely in many parts of Africa.

15 Oct 2010

Questcor, CNF partner to fund infantile spasms research

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it is partnering with the Child Neurology Foundation (CNF) to fund a $30,000 grant to support research into infantile spasms (IS). Catherine Chu-Shore, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital was selected by CNF as the recipient of this first-ever "Logan Infantile Spasms Research Award."

15 Oct 2010

Childhood obesity impacts musculoskeletal system

An epidemic of childhood obesity can have a devastating impact on a child's musculoskeletal system, the U.S. Bone and Joint Decade says. Extra weight stresses growing bones, causing pain and interfering with normal growth and development.

15 Oct 2010

HHS limits, but can't eliminate, child-only policy double-standards

The New York Times: "The Obama administration, aiming to encourage health insurance companies to offer child-only policies, said Wednesday that they could charge higher premiums for coverage of children with serious medical problems, if state law allowed it. ... Earlier this year, major insurers, faced with an unprofitable business, stopped issuing new child-only policies.

15 Oct 2010

Experts use multi-disciplinary approach to provide innovative care for children

Liver tumors affect more than 300 children in the United States each year and management of these children requires coordinated comprehensive care from experts in many disciplines. To answer this problem, Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine announced today the formation of a new Liver Tumor Center that brings together renowned specialists in all aspects of liver cancer who will utilize a multi-disciplinary approach to provide the most comprehensive and innovative care for children afflicted with these diseases.

15 Oct 2010

Study: Characteristics of children with OCD could help predict personalized medicine approach

New research from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center may help clinicians better predict how a child with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) will respond to some of the most commonly used treatment approaches. The findings, published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, could help guide important clinical decisions about the best intervention for children with this often debilitating anxiety disorder.

15 Oct 2010