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 >

The Biden administration on Thursday offered assistance to communities and hospitals dealing with a surge in cases of pediatric respiratory illnesses, but it did not declare a national public health emergency. The Children’s Hospital Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics had asked President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra for…  read on >  read on >

Something — or rather, someone — may be standing between moms and a regular exercise routine: their children. New research from the universities of Cambridge and Southampton in the United Kingdom suggests that fewer than half of mothers met recommended activity levels, a number that was even lower when the children were younger or there…  read on >  read on >

It’s sort of like the Goldilocks principle — a room that’s either too dry or too humid can influence transmission of COVID-19 and cause more illness or death, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers say. Maintaining an indoor relative humidity between 40% and 60% is associated with lower rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths, they reported…  read on >  read on >

More than 1 in every 10 births in the United States now occur prematurely, and the number of these more dangerous deliveries jumped by 4% during 2021, a new report from the March of Dimes shows. The premature birth rate has now reached 10.5% of all births — the highest level since 2007, according to…  read on >  read on >

More pregnant women in the United States are choosing to deliver their babies at home rather than in hospitals, a trend that may have been influenced by the pandemic. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Thursday showed that 52,000 women gave birth at home in 2021, an increase of 12% over…  read on >  read on >