It’s a common dilemma when your child seems sick: Do you call the doctor, make a trip to urgent care or head straight to the emergency room? If it’s not an emergency, a call to your child’s pediatrician may help guide you. The doctor’s staff may recommend bringing your child in for a visit or… read on > read on >
The whole family — even the youngest members — can take part in Thanksgiving’s hours of food preparation by following some safety tips. The nation’s leading pediatrics organization offers some holiday advice for families with young children. “There’s a lot of excitement and joy surrounding meal preparation at this time of year, but it also… read on > read on >
Research in wild bats is reinforcing a notion crucial to stopping future pandemics: When wildlife populations stay healthy, the odds of “crossover” viruses infecting humans subsides. In Australia, deforestation has caused a deadly respiratory virus to pass from fruit bats to humans, by forcing the two species into closer contact, a new study reports. Robbed… read on > read on >
Many women feel a lump in their breast or receive an abnormal result on a screening mammogram that turns out to be a cyst or other type of non-cancerous growth. With this news comes a huge sigh of relief, but it may not be the end of the story, new research suggests. While these growths… read on > read on >
Exposure to even low levels of alcohol while in the womb can change the structure of the fetus’ brain, according to Austrian researchers. The study results suggest that pregnant women should strictly avoid alcohol, one author said. “Unfortunately, many pregnant women are unaware of the influence of alcohol on the fetus during pregnancy,” said lead… read on > read on >
Bacterial infections are to blame for 1 in 8 deaths and are second only to heart disease as the world’s leading cause of death, a new report reveals. About 7.7 million people died in 2019 from infection with one of 33 common types of bacteria, according to the report published Nov. 21 in The Lancet.… read on > read on >
With U.S. health officials calling childhood obesity a public health crisis, conversations about weight are important. But what you say to your kids can be challenging, and even counterproductive, a new study found. “Body weight is a sensitive issue and the way we talk about it matters,” said lead author Rebecca Puhl, deputy director of… read on > read on >
Flu season has struck the United States hard and early, burdening hospitals that are also coping with a surge in other respiratory viruses, including RSV and COVID-19. The nation has seen at least 4.4 million cases of flu so far this season, with 38,000 hospitalizations and 2,100 deaths from flu, the U.S. Centers for Disease… read on > read on >
Vaccines have become a hot topic in the past few years, but a new survey finds many parents aren’t discussing immunization with their child’s doctor. Though a child’s pediatrician has often been the go-to resource on vaccines, the University of Michigan Medicine poll found that 1 in 7 parents have not discussed vaccines with their… read on > read on >
Fungi found in the soil are causing lung infections nationwide, even in places that doctors aren’t aware are at risk. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not revised maps for environmental fungi since 1969, according to a new study that found one disease-causing fungus — histoplasma, or histo — to be more… read on > read on >
