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Whooping Cough Spikes, Especially Among Unvaccinated Teens
The U.S. is experiencing more than four times as many whooping cough cases compared with last year — a spike that some experts attribute to post-pandemic vaccine fatigue.
“With the increase in vaccine hesitancy that has been going on since the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re seeing outbreaks occurring in kids who are not vaccinated,” said Dr. Tina Tan, president-elect of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Babies are given the DTaP vaccine, which helps protect against three diseases: pertussis, diphtheria and tetanus.
The vaccine works well against diphtheria and tetanus, but is less effective over time for pertussis.
EMS Encounters for Youth Opioid Overdoses Remain Higher Than Before the Pandemic
Emergency medical services (EMS) encounters for youth opioid overdoses were rising before the COVID-19 pandemic, increased during its onset, and then flattened out, but remained higher than prepandemic levels, a cross-sectional study of nationwide data showed.
Prepandemic EMS encounters with youths who overdosed on opioids significantly increased by 29.9 per month (95% CI 9.3-50.4), with 810 and 1,538 encounters in Jan. 2018 and Feb. 2020, respectively, reported Jamie Lim, MD, of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and co-authors in a research letter in JAMA.
The interruption triggered by the pandemic was tied to “an immediate and significant increase” in overdose encounters, and a subsequent change in trend (P=0.008) from significantly increasing to not significantly changing (-11.1 per month, 95% CI -27.1 to 4.9), with monthly encounters remaining higher than prepandemic levels (1,824 and 1,503 encounters in April 2020 and December 2022, respectively).
These trends were mainly driven by increases in overdoses among youths ages 18 to 24, Lim and team noted.
Intermittent Fasting for Teens? Obesity Study Finds Benefits but Only Under Careful Supervision
In 2012, British journalist Michael Mosley sparked a global trend with his BBC documentary, “Eat, Fast and Live Longer.”
Seeking a simple way to get healthy without growing his to-do list, Mosley discovered fasting.
“What I discovered was truly surprising — it involves no pills, no injections and no hidden costs. It’s all a matter of what you eat. Or rather, what you don’t eat,” Mosley says in the introduction, over a video of meat searing on a Korean-style grill.
His 5:2 diet — two days of limited eating (600 calories or less) and five unrestricted days — became widely popular.
By 2017, the 5:2 diet was still trending when Natalie Lister encountered adolescents with obesity at her Sydney clinic. Some of her patients at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead Clinical School were already trying intermittent fasting. Others were asking her if they could. “But nothing had really been tested in young people,” she said.
Breastfed Babies Have Better Lung and Gut Health, Study Says
Breastfeeding helps develop a healthy gut and reduce the risk of asthma in babies less than a year old, according to a study published today.
U.S. and Canadian scientists found that breastfeeding beyond three months affected the gut, immune system and asthma risk of babies by building a healthy gut microbiome — meaning a community of microorganisms.
“Just as a pacemaker regulates the rhythm of the heart, breastfeeding and human milk set the pace and sequence for microbial colonization in the infant’s gut and nasal cavity, ensuring that this process occurs in an orderly and timely manner,” said computational biologist Liat Shenhav, one of the senior study authors, in a statement.
“Our research highlights the profound impact of breastfeeding on the infant microbiome and breastfeeding’s essential role in supporting respiratory health,” she said.
Baby Powder Sold on Amazon Recalled Due to Potential Asbestos Contamination
Dynarex Corp. is recalling cases of its Dynacare Baby Powder due to potential asbestos contamination.
According to the warning notice posted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 62 cases of Dynacare Baby Powder — Batch Number B 051 — were recalled after sample testing revealed that some finished products contained asbestos, a known carcinogen.
The testing was conducted by the FDA.
The product was sold on Amazon and distributed to Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida, Washington and Wisconsin.
FOX Business reached out to Amazon for comment.
Mild Initial Clinical Course Seen for COVID-19 Vaccine-Linked Myocarditis
COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis (C-VAM) has a mild initial clinical course, but myocardial injury is common, according to a study published online in the October issue of eClinicalMedicine.
Supriya S. Jain, M.D., from New York Medical College-Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, and colleagues examined the clinical characteristics, myocardial injury, and longitudinal outcomes of C-VAM.
A total of 333 patients aged 30 years or younger with C-VAM were compared to 100 patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).
The presence of myocardial injury as evidenced by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging was the primary outcome.
Patients with C-VAM were mainly White (67%), adolescent (age, 15.7 ±2.8 years) males (91%).
The researchers found that compared with MIS-C, the initial clinical course of C-VAM was significantly more likely to be mild (80 versus 23%) and cardiac dysfunction was less common (17 versus 68%).
LGE on CMR was significantly more prevalent in C-VAM than MIS-C (82 versus 16%).
Teen Brains Are Wired to Take Risks, but That Can Be a Good Thing, Says Expert
From movies to TV and parental anecdotes, teenagers are often characterized as risk-taking and impulsive with poor decision-making skills.
In most popular depictions, these qualities of teen behavior are considered problematic — both for the teens themselves and those around them.
But these stereotypes aren’t the full story.
In fact, teen behaviors — like good risk-taking — can help achieve key goals during this developmental period.
Because the prefrontal cortex helps us control our behavior and emotions, before its development is complete, teens are swayed by other neural systems that mature earlier — like the amygdala and striatum.
These structures reside deep in the middle of the brain and are responsible for emotion and sensory processing, as well as motivating us to seek out rewards.
The rewards teens seek vary, but are often social in nature; social acceptance in particular is a core motivator of adolescent decision-making.
A teen’s seeming obsession with social acceptance is normal for this stage of development and allows them to figure out which behaviors are most likely to result in social status.
In fact, recent work argues social status is actually key to the survival of human and primates, allowing individuals to access resources that benefit both their immediate and future selves.
Mapping the Potential Harms of Pesticide Spraying Near Thousands of Schools Across America
This summer, the Environmental Protection Agency took historic action to protect the public from a dangerous pesticide, issuing an emergency halt to the sale of a weed killer shown to cause irreversible damage to fetuses in the womb.
Emerging science shows the potential health risks tied to a laundry list of pesticides that are routinely sprayed on U.S. land.
Sometimes that spraying happens near schools where children, who are particularly vulnerable to those risks, spend their days.
Landscapes across America, from neighborhoods to playgrounds and school sports fields are often coated in toxic chemicals.
By some estimates, more than 1 billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed on U.S. lands every year, and float beyond their intended targets.
Ling Tan knows it well. She remembers smelling pesticides outside of her Gaithersburg, Md. home, and worrying about her children, who have asthma.
Here’s How We Give Influencers Less Influence Over Our Kids | Opinion
On Sept. 10, 42 state attorneys general endorsed a plan backed by the U.S. surgeon general to add warning labels to social media platforms.
While this plan is well-intentioned, it’s unlikely to make a significant impact. “In general, warning labels by themselves [are] just not effective,” said Oriene Shin, policy counsel at Consumer Reports. Shin explained that warning labels “really need to be coupled with safe design. [They’re] the icing on the cake rather than the end all be all.”
Fast forward to Sept. 16, when a U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments over whether the federal government’s potential ban of TikTok is lawful.
A third of TikTok’s 170 million users in the U.S. are aged 14 or younger.
This means that TikTok is gathering data on and influencing the minds of 50-60 million American children.
That data (including biometrics) and the propaganda being fed into their newsfeeds, appears to be influenced by the Chinese government.
Regardless of the court’s decision (due by Dec. 6), strong protections are needed for kids and teens across all social media platforms, right now.
Texas Official Calls for Cellphone Ban in Schools, Citing ‘Harmful’ Effects
A Texas official has urged the ban of cellphones in schools, citing the devices’ “harmful” effects on students.
On Wednesday, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath spoke at a Senate Education Committee Hearing, calling on lawmakers to take action against the use of cellphones in schools next year.
During his testimony, Morath said that using cellphones in schools has an “extremely harmful” impact on students and their learning process.
“If it were in my power, I would have already banned them in all schools in the state,” Morath said. “So I would encourage you to consider that as a matter of public policy going forward for our students and our teachers.”
The Genes Tell a Story: New Research Offers Much-Needed Certainty for Autistic New Zealanders
A global rise in autism diagnoses is putting the spotlight on this relatively common neurodevelopmental difference.
A recent study identified autism in 1.3% of four- to five-year-olds in Aotearoa New Zealand. This matches estimates overseas of 1% to 2% of eight-year-olds.
In our new research, we looked at how genetic testing could support how people in New Zealand are diagnosed.
Genetic screening of 201 autistic individuals, as well as 101 non-autistic family members, found almost 13% of autistic participants had a clearly identified genetic variant. An additional 16% had a DNA change that likely explained their autism.
