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Risk of Mental Illness Rises for Kids Treated in ICUs
U.S. News & World Report reported:
Youngsters so sick they’ve needed treatment in an ICU appear to bear the scars of that experience years later, a new study finds.
Children and teenagers treated in an intensive care unit have a significantly higher risk of developing a mental illness as they grow up, researchers reported July 20 in the Journal of Affective Disorders. For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 8,700 children admitted to an ICU between 1996 and 2013.
Those who survived their illness were followed for an average of nearly 10 years. Data showed the survivors had: 4.7 times the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 3.2 times the risk of schizophrenia, a doubled risk of bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder and 1.7 times the risk of major depression.
Kids who stayed in the ICU for three days or more in particular had a higher risk of these disorders, researchers said.
Vaccination Rates in Ohio Kindergarteners Drop, Sparking Concern in Health Experts
The Columbus Dispatch reported:
Ohio’s youngest school children remain under-vaccinated in 2024, a trend whose persistence since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic both state and nationwide has health experts concerned.
Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said in a Tuesday press conference that the percentage of reported Ohio kindergartners that met all vaccination requirements dipped slightly and remains below the ideal rate for herd immunity from vaccine-preventable diseases like measles.
Data from the state health department also showed a record percentage of reported Ohio kindergarteners with a nonmedical or a “reason of conscience” or “religious” exemption to childhood vaccines, at 4% in the 2023-2024 school year, up from 2.6% in the 2019-2020 school year.
That’s above the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which sits at 3.2% for the 2022-2023 school year and has been rising since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Parents Face Challenges Finding COVID Vaccine for Little Kids
Scheduling a COVID-19 vaccine for young children has become more challenging. Providers in the Twin Cities are no longer offering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children six months to four years old.
The Pfizer vaccine is expiring before an updated version, expected to target the JN.1 or KP.2 strains, is being released. That could happen next month, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.
The HealthPartners website said, “We’re no longer supplying the 2023-2024 covid vaccine formula. We expect to get the new 2024-2025 formula in early fall. Please check back and schedule the patient’s appointment when it’s available.”
There are Moderna vaccines available for patients six months old through 11 years old, according to said Jessica Munroe, with MDH.
5 Strategies for Families to Ensure Children Are Safe Online, According to a New White House Report
When it comes to the online safety of their children, parents could build a family media plan to set expectations, maintain open conversations with their kids about their social media use, choose content that’s developmentally appropriate for their child, set good examples and balance time with and without devices by creating “screen-free” times.
Those are just some of the latest strategies put forth in a first-of-its-kind report released Monday by the White House’s Task Force on Kids Online Health and Safety.
In the United States, it’s estimated that about 95% of teenagers and 40% of children between the ages of 8 and 12 use some form of social media, according to the report.
Charted: Big Declines in Teen Births
Teen birth rates in the United States have continued to decline significantly across the board since 2000, but racial and ethnic disparities still exist, federal data released Wednesday shows.
Why it matters: Decreasing teen births can positively affect adolescents’ physical and mental health, lifetime income and education attainment, according to research organization Child Trends.
Children at Risk as Mpox Variant Hits Congo Displacement Camps
Scars from the mpox pustules are still visible on 7-year-old Grace Kabuo’s face, as well as on a handful of her playmates at a camp for displaced people near Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Grace has otherwise recovered from the virus. Her mother Denise Kahindo says she is still unsure how her daughter was infected earlier this month.
For disease experts, Grace’s case embodies a new concern about mpox, which was first identified over 50 years ago. Her infection was caused by a new variant that appears to be more capable of transmitting between people than previous strains.
Local doctors say they have seen 130 suspected mpox cases, almost entirely in children and adolescents, in the last four weeks at a nearby facility that treats displaced people from the camps in the last four weeks.
In Congo, there are no vaccines or specific treatments for mpox available outside of clinical trials. Stigma, regulatory hurdles, and a lack of money, along with measles and cholera outbreaks in the displacement camps have made it a challenge for people to access medical tools, especially in the densely packed locations.
Last month, the country approved the use of two mpox vaccines, but funding remains a significant challenge. Only a few countries have offered to donate shots to Congo and WHO approval regulations remain a hurdle for international vaccine organizations.
