Children's health leaders call for emergency response as respiratory viruses continue to spread |
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association have requested a formal emergency declaration from the US government to support hospitals and communities amid an "alarming surge of pediatric respiratory illnesses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, along with the continuing children's mental health emergency." Seasonal flu activity is "elevated across the country," with "high" or "very high" respiratory virus activity in more than half of US states, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pediatric hospitals have been more full than usual in recent months, data from the US Department of Health and Human Services shows. More than three-quarters of pediatric hospital beds are in use nationwide, up from an average of about two-thirds over the past two years. "These unprecedented levels of RSV happening with growing flu rates, ongoing high numbers of children in mental health crisis and serious workforce shortages are combining to stretch pediatric care capacity at the hospital and community level to the breaking point. Due to these challenges, pediatric hospitals and pediatricians are being asked to support more care and higher levels of care than ever before," the leaders of the organizations wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. There is also the looming threat of Covid-19, although Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, told CNN that the US is in a different place this holiday season than it was in previous pandemic years. "I'm hoping we're not to see anything like the spike we saw in January, but we may very well still see a lot more infections in the weeks and months ahead," Jha said. "The good news, though, is that we can gather safely, we can do all of these things, if people go ahead and get that updated bivalent vaccine that's available, get treated if you have infection. We're just in a very different place." Experts have continued to encourage preventative measures to stay healthy during this unusual respiratory virus season including flu and other routine vaccinations in addition to Covid-19 vaccinations. |
|
|
Sponsor Content by FinanceBuzz |
|
|
Drug shortages compound stress of a rough season for viral illnesses in kids |
Shortages of key medications used to treat common childhood illnesses like flu, ear infections and sore throats are adding to the misery of this year's early and severe respiratory virus season. "Right now, we are having severe shortages of medications. There's no Tamiflu for children. There's barely any Tamiflu for adults. And this is brand-name and generic," said Renae Kraft, a relief pharmacist in Oklahoma City. Additionally, "as far as antibiotics go, there's not a whole lot." Prescription fills for the antiviral Tamiflu are at a 10-year high for this time of year, according to according to GoodRx.com, a company that helps people find discounts for prescription drugs. People in the US are six times more likely to be taking Tamiflu at this point in the flu season as during the winter of 2019-20, which the next highest year. As for the antibiotics amoxicillin and Augmentin – a combination of amoxicillin and clavulanate, an agent that helps guard against antibiotic resistance – it's not entirely clear why demand is so high. The cause of these shortages doesn't seem to be manufacturing problems, but rather increased demand ahead, earlier in the year than expected says the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The US Food and Drug Administration has also taken steps to help amid the shortage, putting out guidance to pharmacists for how to make liquid amoxicillin for children from pill versions, which are not in short supply. Although news of these shortages may generate some anxiety, parents should not be alarmed. It just may take some extra time and driving to fill a prescription or using a different medication in place of what was originally prescribed. |
|
|
FDA approves first treatment to delay onset of type 1 diabetes | A biologic therapy that delays the onset of type 1 diabetes received approval from the FDA last week. It is the first therapy approved for prevention of type 1 diabetes. The monoclonal antibody teplizumab, which will be marketed under the brand name Tzield, is given through intravenous infusion. The therapy will carry a wholesale cost of roughly $194,000 for a full course of treatment, the drugmaker says, although this is not expected to be the price consumers would pay. Tzield is thought to work by turning down the body's misdirected attack on its own insulin-producing cells, which is the cause of type 1 diabetes. The idea is that protecting these cells buys people more time before they become dependent on insulin to manage their condition. In clinical trials, Tzield delayed progression to full-blown diabetes by a little over two years. But the benefits have lasted even longer in some of the study participants. Aaron Kowalski, CEO of the diabetes advocacy nonprofit JDRF, says the main challenge in prescribing Tzield will be finding people who need it. The drug is approved for people who don't have any symptoms of the disease and may not know they're on the road to getting it. "Screening becomes a really big issue, because what we know is, about 85% of type 1 diagnoses today are in families that don't have a known family history," Kowalski said. "Our goal is to do general population screening" with blood tests to look for markers of the disease. |
|
|
Parents welcome twins from embryos frozen 30 years ago |
Born on October 31, Lydia and Timothy Ridgeway came from what may be the longest-frozen embryos to ever result in a live birth, according to the National Embryo Donation Center. It's possible an older frozen embryo may have been used; although the CDC tracks success rates and data around reproductive technologies, it does not track how long embryos have been frozen. But there's no evidence of an older embryo resulting in a live birth. "There is something mind-boggling about it," Philip Ridgeway said as he and his wife cradled their newborns in their laps at their home outside Portland, Oregon. "I was 5 years old when God gave life to Lydia and Timothy, and he's been preserving that life ever since." The embryos were created for an anonymous married couple using in-vitro fertilization and frozen on April 22, 1992. Although this is sometimes called embryo adoption, the medical name for the process the Ridgeways went through is embryo donation. When people undergo IVF, they may produce more embryos than they use. Extra embryos can be cryopreserved for future use, donated to research or training to advance the science of reproductive medicine, or donated to people who would like to have children. Embryos can be frozen pretty much indefinitely, experts said. And the age of the embryo shouldn't affect the health of the child. What matters more is the age of the woman who donated the egg that went into the embryo. "If you're frozen at nearly 200 degrees below zero, I mean, the biological processes essentially slow down to almost nothing. And so perhaps the difference between being frozen for a week, a month, a year, a decade, two decades, it doesn't really matter," said Dr. John Gordon, the Ridgeways' doctor. |
|
|
| The holiday season is full of opportunities to gather with friends and loved ones to celebrate and make memories, but these moments can be anxiety-producing when there's nutrition-shaming. Here's how to avoid serving disordered eating to your teens. |
|
|
As you sit down to enjoy your Thanksgiving meal, think about how your senses are helping you process what you're eating. How does it smell? What color is it? What does it sound like when it's cooking? And, of course, how does it taste? This all factors into exactly how our brains perceive flavor, a field of study known as neurogastronomy. Professor Dan Han, chief of the division of Neuropsychology at UK Healthcare, who studies neurogastronomy, says smell matters more than taste when it comes to the flavor of our food – and not surprisingly, even our memories play a part in how we experience food. I can personally attest to this because when I even think about eating my mother's masala turkey, every sense and my memories are engaged, and I can imagine the exact flavor of this dish. From an evolutionary standpoint, Han says, it makes sense that comfort food is what we crave, since it's how we survived. But now that we have ultra processed foods so easily available, it's thrown us off-balance. "Baked into our DNA is the desire to seek comfort, and we're creatures of comfort, and to try to fight that is also just as irresponsible, in my humble opinion. So don't deny the fact that we want sugary and oily things. I mean, they are delicious, from our flavor perception perspective. But at the same time, don't create those situations to be so overboard that it's actually hurting us," Han says. Neurogastronomy is a relatively new field, but its promise is incredible. Once we understand exactly how taste and flavor works in our brains, this can help us change the way we approach food and potentially change our habits. And that doesn't mean just eating healthier. It could also help you open up to new foods. Han says that even changing the color of a plate can change how we perceive food. One study showed that blue plates made people eat more, and red plates made them eat less. Want to get your kids to try a new vegetable? Try introducing them as part of your traditions so their brain starts getting positive memories to associate with those foods. Or sometimes you might try introducing an element of texture they like in another food to a dish they are more reluctant to try. Basically, Han says, if we can figure out ways to perceive food the way we want to, we can "have our cake and eat it, too." Listen to our full conversation here and give yourself an entirely new perspective on your Thanksgiving meal this year. |
|
|
| Each week on "The Assignment," host Audie Cornish pulls listeners out of their digital echo chambers to hear from the people who live the headlines. Whether it's the sex work economy or the battle over what's taught in classrooms, no topic is off the table. Listen to "The Assignment" every Thursday. |
|
|
CNN Health's The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows up in your inbox every Tuesday.
Want to easily manage your newsletter subscriptions? Create your account. Like what you see? Don't like what you see? Let us know.
Did a friend forward you this newsletter? Sign yourself up! |
|
|
THE RESULTS ARE IN WITH DR. SANJAY GUPTA |
|
|
|
Comments
Post a Comment