·         Children in United States Grossly Under-Served by the Health Care System :  The New England Journal of Medicine reports that children in the United States get less than half the medical care recommended for them.  A review of medical records in 12 metropolitan areas revealed that kids receive only abut 46.5 percent of the care indicated as appropriate by quality standards.  MCH Section Member James Perrin, MD, and his colleagues at the Harvard Medical School called this “shocking” in an accompanying editorial, and called for substantial performance improvement.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/dh/6928

·         Improving Diversity in Medicine One Student at a Time:  On Friday nights in the Bronx, college students in the Mentoring in Medicine program gather in the Montefiore Medical Center emergency department. There, Lynne Holden, MD, cofounder of the program, helps them navigate the obstacles that prevent many minorities from becoming health care professionals. http://www.medpagetoday.com/tbindex2.cfm?tbid=8036

·         Nasal Irrigation Best for Kids:  Nasal irrigation with a saline solution of processed seawater may clear up children's cold symptoms faster than standard medication alone and prevent them from returning, Czech researchers found.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/tbindex2.cfm?tbid=8040

·         Schizophrenia Traced to Mother’s Stress in Early Pregnancy:  Researchers in Denmark determined that about 0.3 percent of schizophrenia cases can be attributed to stress caused by the death of a family member of the mother during the first trimester of pregnancy.  A national health registry allowed the researchers to examine records associated with 1.38 million Danish births from 1973 to 1995.  The researchers pointed out that other maternal stressors may also have an impact on schizophrenia.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/tbindex2.cfm?tbid=8224

·         Kids Near Ground Zero on 9/11 Prone to Behavioral Problems:  Preschoolers who witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Center or other high intensity events on Sept. 11, 2001 were at increased risk of behavioral problems long afterwards, especially if they had experienced other traumatic events.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/tbindex2.cfm?tbid=8223

·         Lack of Physician Training Leaves Kids Vulnerable to Dosage Errors:  A British study in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood shows that physician training in calculating medication dosages for children is inadequate, and there are no validated tools to assess the effectiveness of individual learning in this area.  As a result, there is much room for error in medicating children, especially since many physicians are unfamiliar with which medications are appropriate in a pediatric setting. http://www.medpagetoday.com/tbindex2.cfm?tbid=8005

·         Breast Milk Studies Show Promise in Reducing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV:  A study in Tanzania showed that nursing mothers with high levels of certain fatty acids in their breast milk were up to 79 percent less likely to pass the HIV virus to their children through this route than women with lower levels of the same fatty acids.  More study is required to determine causation, but if a link is found, “the public health implications could be substantial,” researchers said.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/HIVAIDS/HIVAIDS/dh/6618

·         Mother’s Milk Does Not Reduce Risk of Asthma or Allergies:  In Montreal, researchers found no evidence that exclusive breastfeeding reduced the risk of asthma, hay fever or eczema, and that children who were exclusively breastfed for at least three months were actually 2-3 times more likely to experience a positive skin prick test.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/dh/6669

·         Testing Toddler Cholesterol Levels Screens Parents as Well:  Screening children for elevated cholesterol at 15 months, when they come in for scheduled immunizations, also identifies 95 percent of parents with a major risk for coronary heart disease.  Investigators reporting in BMJ said that at that stage of a child’s development, parents are especially receptive to preventive strategies for their children and may, therefore, be more open to a family-based intervention that would save both generations.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Dyslipidemia/dh/6685

·         No Evidence of Benefits of Amniotomy During Spontaneous Labor:   Amniotomy during spontaneous birth does not reduce time of labor or improve the condition of the newborn.   A systematic review of the Cochrane database, the gold standard in meta-analysis, showed that intentional rupturing the amniotic membranes, one of the most commonly performed obstetric procedures, should not be used in standard labor unless there is a good clinical reason to do so.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/Pregnancy/dh/7010

·         Tonsillectomy for Snoring Also Improves Behavior in Kids:  Children in Kansas City, Kan., who underwent surgery for sleep-disordered breathing also improved significantly for oppositional behavior, inattention and hyperactivity.  Researchers theorize that the surgery itself did not cause behavioral change, but that improving sleep may significantly influence daytime behavior.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/Surgery/Otolaryngology/dh/6983

·         Infection Early in Life May Be Sign of Increased Risk of Asthma:   Doctors in Copenhagen found that if bacteria colonize the throat of a one month old infant, the child has an increased risk of asthma later in life.  The most likely explanation is that the early bacterial colonization may reflect an innate immune defect that also promotes the development of asthma.  http://www.medpagetoday.com/AllergyImmunology/Asthma/dh/6943

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