Children whose parents and families are under ongoing stress have more fevers with illness than other children. Published this month in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, the study also shows the unanticipated conclusion that children’s natural killer cell function, part of the body’s innate immune system, increases under chronic stress, unlike adults, whose function is decreased.
Nearly four out of five hospitalized children receive medications that have been tested and approved only for adults, according to a study of hundreds of thousands of patient records. This so-called “off-label” use of drugs was thought to be especially common in children, and the new research, the largest-ever U.S. pediatric study, confirms this.
An estimated ten million Americans suffer from osteoporosis, and another 34 million Americans are at risk of developing the disease, which is characterized by a severe loss of bone mineral density, fragile bones and an increased risk of hip, spine and wrist fractures. The basic mechanism behind osteoporosis involves an imbalance between bone mineral formation and loss, but the detailed biological processes that lead to this imbalance are not completely understood.
Inadequate intellectual stimulation and poor nutrition, especially iodine and iron deficiencies, are likely to blame for hindering more than 200 million children in developing countries from meeting their full potential, says a Purdue University researcher.
New evidence suggests that the risk of HIV transmission may be highest in the early stages of infection. According to a study published in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online, early infection accounted for nearly half of all transmission occurrences in an HIV-infected population in the province of Quebec, Canada.
Public health officials throughout Missouri will gather next week to learn more about their roles and responsibilities during a public health emergency.
Programs that reduce the spread of HIV should be praised and promoted, not criticized and condemned, said the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network in response to a report being released by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
Scientists and public health officials, wary that the H5N1 avian influenza virus could trigger an influenza pandemic, have looked to past pandemics, including the 1918 “Spanish Flu,” for insight into pandemic planning.
Opening windows can be more effective than using mechanical ventilation at reducing the risk of transmission of airborne diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) – a study funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Sir Halley Stewart Trust.
A study funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Sir Halley Stewart Trust has shown that opening windows can be more effective than using mechanical ventilation at reducing the risk of transmission of airborne diseases such as tuberculosis (TB).