The eye can provide a very reliable way of diagnosing cerebral malaria, researchers in Malawi have shown. By looking at the changes to the retina, doctors are able to determine whether an unconscious child is suffering from this severe form of malaria or another, unrelated illness, leading to the most appropriate treatment.
Sunscreens that contain benzophenone-3 provide effective protection against both UVA and UVB radiation, but these preparations should not be used for young children. The substance can be found in the urine of adults several days after coming home from a holiday in the sun. A doctoral thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy has recently presented these results.
The growing number of children relying on portable home ventilators to breathe create their own ventilator-dependent lifestyles. But low esteem and social exclusion remain major problems. Professor Jane Noyes’ six-year study included interviews with over 100 children and parents. A third of the home ventilated children had received spinal or head injuries. The other two-thirds had congenital conditions.
Senior health officials of the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau today (November 6) reaffirmed the importance of co-operation and information exchange in a tripartite meeting.
The Elderly Health Service of the Department of Health today (November 6) started the free influenza vaccination programme for more than 60,000 elderly people living in more than 700 residential care homes.
The 2006-07 Influenza Vaccination Programme will start tomorrow, covering 300,000 people considered to be in the eight needy or high-risk groups.
As the number of older people increases, the number of people who experience dementia before they die is also likely to increase, according to a new study. The research, spearheaded by Professor Carol Brayne at the University of Cambridge, has shown that factors believed to protect against dementia at earlier stages in life may not provide protection from dementia at the end of life.
Going into another flu season, a new study reports that hospitalizing children for influenza may cost up to three or four times the previously accepted estimates. Pediatric researchers from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia say their finding strengthens the economic justification for broadly vaccinating children against flu. The cost of influenza-related hospitalizations in children was about $13,000 each — compared to prior estimates of $3,000 to $4,000.
Each year in the United States, 23.5 million children travel 4.3 billion miles on 450,000 school buses — and a new study shows that kids may not be as safe as previously thought. Researchers at the Columbus Children’s Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio, found that an estimated 17,000 injuries occur annually — three times more than previously reported.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology has raised an issue to debate over euthanasia for severely disabled newborn infants. The call was made in a submission to an ethical inquiry into increased survival rates of disabled children.