Why Some Children Develop Severe COVID-19 Disease

Severe outcomes included cardiovascular complications, neurologic complications, respiratory problems, and infectious-related issues. Those with pre-existing chronic disease, older age, and longer symptom duration put them at serious risk for severe outcomes.

Report: Anxiety, Depression Up Significantly Among U.S. Children 2016-2020

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health conditions among Americans age 3 to 17 years were trending negatively.

Children Undergoing Stem Cell Transplant Lack Palliative Care

Palliative care teams can shorten length of stay, prevent readmissions, improve patient satisfaction, lower costs, and reduce burnout rates.

IRBs Determine Acceptable Risk for Pediatric Studies

IRBs may be disinclined to approve study protocols based on the mistaken belief there is little public support for net-risk pediatric research. Thus, researchers should show IRBs data on the risks of the interventions in question. To demonstrate the study’s social value, researchers could explain how the approach under investigation could help address an important health condition.

Access Problems with Pediatric Mental Healthcare Raise Ethical Worries

Mental health insurance claims roughly doubled for teens in March and April 2020 compared to those same months in 2019. However, only half of parents who tried to obtain mental healthcare for their children succeeded in doing so during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Survey Indicates Americans Favor Including Children in Clinical Trial Research

But as risk rises, respondents were less supportive of the notion.

Pediatric Pneumonia — Diagnostic and Therapeutic Stewardship

A randomized, multicentered trial in the United Kingdom and Ireland showed children receiving amoxicillin for community-acquired pneumonia perform similarly well with lower dose (35-50 mg/kg/day vs. 75-90 mg/kg/day) and shorter duration (three vs. seven days) treatments.

Children and Electronics: A Longitudinal Study

This Finnish investigation of electronic media (e-media) use in young children revealed 95% of 5-year-olds studied exceeded guidelines for time spent with e-media. The authors noted an association between more screen time and additional psychosocial symptoms at 5 years old and found these associations were less prominent when measuring use of electronic games alone.

U.S. Advocacy Groups Declare National Emergency on Children’s Mental Health

Health professionals call on policymakers to address regulatory, financial, and technological challenges.

Children Hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2

Two recently published studies give a clear, consistent finding: About three-fourths of children hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 do not have severe COVID-19-related illness but are merely identified as infected when subjected to screening tests. Surveys reporting the number or incidence of SARS-CoV-2-infected hospitalized children likely overestimate the actual burden of disease.

Articles Tagged With: Pediatrics