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Paediatrics
Face masks for school as RSV cases surge
Authorities in the Western Cape Health Department have sounded a warning about respiratory infections among children, which have risen in the past month and...
Medical community at a crossroads on child gender-affirming care
The release of a major review of gender identity services for children has sparked debate about the best approach to providing care for young...
SA’s 'too high' Caesarean birth rate must be reversed
Although a Caesarean section can save the lives of mother and baby – and is essential in complicated labours or if the baby is...
Gene therapy restores child’s hearing, stimulates speech
Six months after groundbreaking gene-therapy treatment, a British toddler who was born deaf can now hear unaided, and has started talking.
Opal Sandy, as part...
Asthma drug warning stepped up after 500 children react
Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says more prominent warnings would be added to the information provided on boxes of the asthma...
Nestlé to end sugar addition in baby products from year-end
Nestlé will end the practice of adding sugar to its baby food products by the end of the year, it has announced, after an...
NICE approves drug combo for young brain cancer patients
British children and teenagers with an aggressive form of brain cancer may benefit after a new life-extending drug combination was recommended for NHS use...
High-dose vitamin A no help for babies’ severe lung disease
Another trial of high dose enteral vitamin A supplementation was unable to reduce bronchopulmonary dysplasia rates in very low birthweight babies, with scientists suggesting...
Nestlé adds sugar to products sold in SA and poorer countries
Nestlé is under fire for ignoring international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases after campaigners found it has been adding sugar and honey...
Post-surgery complications higher for African children
After a recent study revealed abysmal outcomes after anaesthesia and surgery for African children with complication rates up to four-fold higher and mortality rates...
Alarm as syphilis rates rise worldwide, including in SA
One of the oldest diseases in the world, syphilis is making an alarming comeback, with leading scientists describing it as a public health crisis...
Breastfeeding may lower paediatric cancer risk – Danish cohort study
Exclusive breastfeeding for longer than three months has been linked to a smaller risk of childhood leukaemia, a recent population-based cohort study showing a...
Swedish researchers warn of over-use of antibiotics with newborns
Low exposure to antibiotics in newborns treated in neonatal units over a nine-year period was not associated with an increased risk of early-onset sepsis...
SIDS linked to unsafe sleep practices – US analysis
More than three-quarters of sudden infant deaths (SIDS) involved multiple unsafe sleep practices, including co-sleeping, a recent analysis suggested, with the researchers saying soft...
Hospital liable for child’s blindness
Gauteng Health can expect to fork out millions after a court confirmed a child’s blindness resulted from negligence at a state hospital after her...
‘Pandemic babies’ have stronger gut health – Irish study
Scientists have discovered that Covid-19 “pandemic babies” appear to have developed a “protection” against allergies that is unique to them, saying lockdown restrictions allowed...
Let children try standard pills before gummies – US pharmacist
The past decade has seen an explosion in the number of gummy vitamins available for both adults and children as an easy – and...
Higher risk of long-term neurodevelopmental issues for preterm babies
Previous research has found that children born early have higher risks of neurodevelopmental and behavioural disabilities in the first years of life and throughout...
One in four Scottish babies died from co-sleeping
Parents are being urged to heed advice on co-sleeping with babies after new infant death figures were released, showing that more than a quarter...
Pure fruit juice linked to higher BMI in children – Canadian study
A recent study found that consumption of 100% fruit juice – despite this being a convenient source of vitamins, antioxidants and polyphenols – led...
High temperature and humidity in pregnancy affect foetus BP levels – UK study
Recent research that analysed repeated blood pressure measurements in more than 7 000 participants has suggested that outdoor humidity and temperature levels during pregnancy...
Jab could slash RSV babies’ hospital admissions by 80% – global study
An injection could reduce by 80% the numbers of babies and young children admitted to hospitals with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – which kills...
Start counselling for obese children from age six – US panel
Children with obesity should receive intensive counselling to promote healthy diet and exercise habits from the age of six, a panel of US experts...
FDA warns about probiotics use for pre-term infants
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a general warning and a specific warning letter about the use of probiotics for pre-term...
New test could speed up child illness diagnosis – UK study
Looking at gene patterns in the blood could speed up diagnoses in sick children, particularly when trying to figure out what is causing a...
Most child deaths in poor countries preventable, study finds
A sobering 99% of deaths in children under five occur in low- and middle-income countries, say concerned researchers, who found that 82% of these...
Large US study confirms 'allergic march' in children
Eczema in babies could be an indicator that they will go on to develop more allergies, say researchers, after a large study confirmed that the...
Nasal bacterial test for children with sinusitis may cut antibiotic use
With 5m American children being prescribed antibiotics for sinusitis every year – and only half seeing a drop in symptoms afterwards – researchers suggest a...
US study identifies component in breast milk that boosts brain function
A team of researchers has discovered that myo-inositol, a small cyclic sugar molecule found in breast milk – and also in a typical adult...
WHO alert to severe E-11 infections in newborns
There has been a global rise in enterovirus-echovirus 11 (E-11) neonatal sepsis cases, with another five countries reporting infections similar to those first reported...
Call for more action as one premature baby born every two seconds globally
Preterm birth has long been a huge, worldwide health issue, which can have serious health consequences – like respiratory and cardiac problems, among others...
Diabetes in children peaks after Covid – Canadian study
Scientists have noted an unusual spike in the number of children and teenagers worldwide diagnosed with type 1 diabetes since Covid.
Based on their recent...
Lack of breastfeeding stunts growth in SA’s children
A recent survey by the Grow Great campaign in the Ehlanzeni district in Mpumalanga – which also covered Bushbuckridge, Mbombela and Thaba Chweu – found concerning...
Improper antibiotic scripts for children rife in poor countries
A study by French experts has found the prescribing of inappropriate antibiotics for children is extensive in the three low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)...
Premature babies’ death rates slashed by skin-to-skin contact – US analysis
A large analysis of multiple global studies involving more than 15 000 infants has found early implementation of skin-to-skin contact (kangaroo mother care) significantly...
New antibiotics vital to stem newborn deaths
Experts have urged the development of new antibiotics after a landmark global observational study found that more than 200 000 neonates (within 60 days...
Peanut allergy breakthrough in US skin patch trial
Signalling good news for children with peanut allergies, a global phase three clinical trial found that a year-long immunotherapy through a skin patch safely...
SA and Kenya in global trial for neonatal sepsis treatment
An international clinical trial to evaluate desperately needed new antibiotic combinations for newborn babies with sepsis has begun in three public hospitals in South...
Foetal growth stunted by cannabis in pregnancy – US study
As more people use cannabis for recreational purposes, with research showing some dispensaries even recommend it to pregnant women to ease pregnancy symptoms, especially...
Noisy incubators could stunt infant hearing – Austrian study
Researchers in Vienna say while incubators might save the lives of many babies, their data suggest that the ambient noise associated with the incubator...