Pediatrics News

• COVID-19: Telemedicine Gets Real, Real Fast Across Neurology In the face of COVID-19, neurologists working in stroke, epilepsy, dementia, and other subspecialties are tasked with a quick pivot from in-office patient visits to a new era of online consultations.
  Medscape Medical News, March 28, 2020
• Alert EMA Panel Backs Zolgensma Gene Therapy for SMA Zolgensma is a gene therapy that addresses the genetic root cause of spinal muscular atrophy by replacing the defective or missing SMN1 gene to halt disease progression.
  International Approvals, March 27, 2020
• AAD 2020Off-Label Prescribing Off Limits, Leaving Some Untreated The off-label use of drugs is unrelenting in dermatology because of the disconnect between the skin diseases dermatologists treat and the small number of effective therapies approved by regulators.
  Medscape Medical News, March 27, 2020
• Infants With Neonatal COVID-19 Seem to Have Mild Course, Favorable Outcome The clinical symptoms of newborns with or at risk for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) appear to be mild and outcomes "favorable," researchers from China said today.
  Reuters Health Information, March 26, 2020
• Pediatric Malpractice Claims Decreased While Median Payout Remained the Same During a 30-year period, the proportion of U.S. pediatricians who faced malpractice claims fell but the median indemnity stayed about the same, according to a new study based on survey data.
  Reuters Health Information, March 26, 2020
• US Autism Rates Up Nearly 10%, But This May Be a Good Thing US autism rates have increased nearly 10% over 4 years, an indicator of improved early screening and diagnosis, and better detection in minorities.
  Medscape Medical News, March 27, 2020
• Medical Meetings May Be Forever Changed COVID-19 has caused medical conferences to be canceled this spring. Some regular attendees are expressing relief. Will this disruption lead to lasting changes?
  Medscape Medical News, March 27, 2020
• COVID-19 and the Science of Social Distancing One expert suggests that if the virus wanes during warmer months, the best approach will be to practice on and off periods of social distancing.
  Medscape Medical News, March 27, 2020
• Keep Calm: Under 25s With Diabetes Not Hospitalized Due to COVID-19 Reassuringly, COVID-19 in under 25s with diabetes doesn't seem to require hospitalization, early reports from global hotspots indicate. But the pandemic means new cases of type 1 diabetes are being missed.
  Medscape Medical News, March 26, 2020
• Alert EpiPens May Malfunction, Delaying Life-Saving Med, FDA Warns Epinephrine auto-injectors could potentially have delayed injections or fail to inject as intended as a result of device design issues or operator error, the FDA warns.
  News Alerts, March 25, 2020
• Two-Step Screening Strategy for Biliary Atresia in Newborns Shows Promise Newborn screening for biliary atresia using direct or conjugated bilirubin measurements has a high diagnostic yield, detecting all known infants with the rare liver disorder in a large cross-sectional study of infants born at 14 Texas hospitals.
  Reuters Health Information, March 24, 2020
• Early Puberty in Men Linked to Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Middle Age Boys who enter puberty at an earlier age are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes as adults, irrespective of weight in childhood, a study of more than 30,000 men in Sweden suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, March 23, 2020
• Boston, Philadelphia Criteria Misclassify Many Infants With Invasive Bacterial Infections The decades-old Boston and Philadelphia criteria for identifying infants at risk for serious bacterial infections misclassify many babies as low-risk, a new study suggests.
  Reuters Health Information, March 23, 2020
• State Lines Erased for Doctors During COVID-19 With the global pandemic stressing healthcare, states are allowing physicians to treat patients in other locations in person or via telehealth.
  Medscape Medical News, March 25, 2020
• Asthma, Type 1 Diabetes Often Co-occur in Children, Families In those who already have asthma, the risk for type 1 diabetes is increased, but not the other way around.
  Medscape Medical News, March 25, 2020
• Physical Education Online: British Children Join Exercise Lesson From Home Hundreds of thousands of British children joined in an online live physical education (PE) class on Monday after the government ordered the closure of the nation's schools to curb the spread of coronavirus.
  Reuters Health Information, March 23, 2020
• Is Your Practice Ready for a COVID-19 Case? Many practices may have to adjust their operations, if they haven’t already.
  Medscape Reader Polls, March 25, 2020
• In the Shadow of Ebola and COVID-19, Measles Rips Through Congo Thomas the Tank Engine beams from the front of Dobo Mambanza's ripped pullover. Unlike the cartoon train's face, Dobo's is blistered and scrunched as she struggles for breath, her eyes shuttered and weeping. The three-year-old is going blind.
  Reuters Health Information, March 23, 2020
• U.N. Chief Calls for Global Truce So World Can Focus on Coronavirus United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for a global ceasefire so the world can focus on fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
  Reuters Health Information, March 23, 2020
• Seven Physicians Lose Hospital Privileges in Paperwork Jam In Florida, seven oncologists lost privileges at the only hospital in town and sued to be reinstated. Their battle is part of a larger war, said the judge.
  Medscape Medical News, March 24, 2020