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The following reflects new findings and outcomes in medical research as presented at major medical meetings and published peer-reviewed medical journals. In this section members can view reports from important congresses as well as summaries of some recently published journal articles. Please let us know if you have a particular area of interest you would like to see covered. RESOURCE LINE - Pediatric Nutrition Simple Strategies and Solutions for Common Nutritional Deficiencies in Infants and ChildrenSummer 2010 Vancouver - Here at the Canadian Paediatric Society Conference, the nutritional needs at different stages of infants’ and young children’s lives were discussed. Firstly, very low birth-weight preterm infants require fortified feeding to ensure growth matches growth rates of in utero infants of the same gestational age. Secondly, for all infants, both term and preterm, breastfeeding is recommended for up to 6 months of age. With the exception of vitamin D, breast milk is nutritionally complete (...) Read more... PRIORITY PRESS - 5th International Primary Care Respiratory Group World Conference Pediatric Asthma: Strategies for Improving Adherence to TherapyToronto, Ontario / June 2-5, 2010 Toronto - In young children presumed to have asthma due to persistent wheezing and breathlessness, there are two major challenges. The first is ruling out the many causes of the presenting symptoms other than asthma. If asthma is confirmed, the second is keeping patients adherent to a management plan that will control the underlying disease. For children with mild-to-moderate persistent symptoms, this treatment plan should include inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), which address the underlying (...) Read more... HEALTH ODYSSEY - Pediatric Nutrition Identification and Management of Feeding Difficulties in ChildrenMay 2010 Miami – Various treatments are implemented for treatment of feeding disorders, including behaviour modifi cation, parental education, drug therapy and nutritional supplementation. A program has been designed to help pediatricians identify and manage feeding diffi culties in infants and young children. The program involves a parental questionnaire used for evaluation and helps physicians with diagnosis and parental education. Outcomes data are still needed to test the underlying causal (...) Read more... RESOURCE LINE - Pediatric Nutrition From Breast Milk to Weaning and BeyondMay 2010 Mothers’ perception that their infant is not satisfied by breast milk alone is consistently cited as one of the top three reasons why mothers decide to stop breast-feeding, regardless of the age at which the infant is weaned, according to a US study.
MEDICAL FRONTIERS - 163rd Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association Treatment of ADHD Across the Lifespan: Effective Therapies in Children Demonstrate Benefits in Adolescents and AdultsNew Orleans, Louisiana / May 22-26, 2010 New Orleans - Efforts to better characterize the dimensions of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are also generating a more rational approach to symptom control. Once considered to be a developmental issue, potentially exacerbated by environmental triggers, ADHD is now well established as the product of a biochemical, typically genetically-induced, alteration in neurotransmitter signalling that is often a sustained and lifelong condition. In childhood, effective treatment is (...) Read more... PRIORITY PRESS - 28th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) Countering Increased Vulnerability to Meningococcal DiseaseNice, France / May 4-8, 2010 Nice - The incidence of invasive meningococcal disease has dropped dramatically in Canada and most Western countries as a result of mass immunization campaigns in the 1990s. However, declining immunological protection is occurring as children age and the potential for disease transmission increases as protective antibody levels decline. Meningococcal disease caused by historically unimportant serogroups is also becoming more prevalent. To counteract waning antibody levels against (...) Read more... PRIORITY PRESS - 28th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) Broadening Protection Against Pneumococcal Disease with Multivalent VaccinesNice, France / May 4-8, 2010 Nice - Streptococcus pneumoniae remains the leading cause of vaccine-preventable death worldwide, with an annual mortality of up to 1 million in young children and up to 1.6 million including the elderly. Children under 5 years of age are at greatest risk for contracting invasive pneumococcal disease and infection, which is accompanied by high morbidity, cost and familial distress. Mass immunization campaigns against pneumococcal disease using the 7-valent pneumococcal vaccine (PCV7) have (...) Read more... PRIORITY PRESS - EUROGIN 2010 9th International Multidisciplinary Congress Vaccination Against HPV Reduces Burden of Disease in Its Earliest ManifestationsMonte Carlo, Monaco / February 17-20, 2010 Monte Carlo - Many theoretical arguments have been raised in support of vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV). Now, for the first time, compelling evidence that vaccination does reduce the earliest manifestations of infection in the form of genital warts was reported here this week. End-of-study results continue to support the efficacy of the quadrivalent vaccine against high-grade cervical lesions in older women, which has important implications for the prevention of cervical (...) Read more... RESOURCE LINE MRSAWinter 2009 Distinct increase in MRSA over the past 20 years in eastern Ontario
MEDICAL FRONTIERS - 29th Annual Conference of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Managing ADHD: From Proper Diagnosis to Improved Treatment EffectToronto, Ontario / November 12-14, 2009 Toronto - Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the major mental health problem affecting children today with symptoms frequently persisting into adulthood. In Canada, it is estimated that approximately 800,000 adults and 360,000 children have ADHD. North American guidelines recommend a long-acting stimulant as first-line therapy. However, maintaining treatment effect throughout the day is still problematic. Previously successfully applied to medications, the prodrug delivery (...) Read more... PHYSICIANS PERSPECTIVE - Viewpoint based on the following article: Clin Infect Dis 2009;49(1):e1-10 Vaccines Against Invasive Meningococcal Disease: Weighing the OptionsOctober 2009 INTRODUCTION
RESOURCE LINE VACCINESeptember/October 2009 Protecting Canadian adults from vaccine-preventable diseases: NACI recommendations
PRIORITY PRESS - 5th International Conference on Vaccines for Enteric Diseases Global Health Implications of the Rotavirus VaccineMálaga, Spain / September 9-11, 2009 Málaga - Two rotavirus (RV) vaccines are currently available worldwide. In clinical trials using European, North American and South American populations, both have demonstrated 90% to 100% efficacy in preventing severe RV gastroenteritis and 74% to 85% efficacy in preventing RV infection of any severity. Clinical trial data have shown both vaccines to have acceptable safety profiles, with no increased risk of intussusception. However, continuous monitoring of vaccine impact and safety is (...) Read more... RESOURCE LINE Pediatric NutritionSeptember 2009 Reasons for failure to initiate, persist with breast-feeding
RESOURCE LINE VACCINEJuly/August 2009 Vaccination against high-risk HPV types to reduce lesions and cervical cancer
HEALTH ODYSSEY Feeding Difficulties in Infants and Young Children: Tailor Interventions to Match Child BehavioursJune 2009 Miami Summit, June 2009 – Feeding difficulties in infants and young children are highly prevalent and pediatricians need to pay close attention to parental complaints in order to identify and categorize the chief problem and tailor interventions accordingly. This report presents an expert categorization of feeding difficulties and appropriate consequent treatments. Parental education and reassurance is often sufficient to resolve many feeding issues; however, providing a nutritionally (...) Read more... RESOURCE LINE VACCINEMay/June 2009 Avian flu vaccine shown to be safe, immunogenic in phase II study
PRIORITY PRESS - 86th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Paediatric Society Monitoring for HPA Suppression in Children with Asthma: Treatment ConsiderationsOttawa, Ontario / June 23-27, 2009 Ottawa - Several principles of practice can permit children with asthma who require high doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) to achieve disease control with minimal risk of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) suppression. This includes using the lowest effective dose of ICS, ICS preparations with a low relative risk of systemic side effects, and periodic monitoring of morning cortisol levels. ICS should never be withheld from children when this therapy is required for adequate asthma (...) Read more... PRIORITY PRESS - 27th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases Towards Broader Protection Against Meningococcal DiseaseBrussels, Belgium / June 9-13, 2009 Brussels - Worldwide, Neisseria meningitidis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Of the five serogroups that cause most cases of meningococcal disease—A, B, C, W-135 and Y—serogroups B and C predominate in most countries, while the incidence of serotype Y is increasing in many. As researchers discussed here this week, implementation of programs to prevent meningococcal disease using serotype C conjugate vaccines has helped dramatically decrease the incidence of this strain. (...) Read more... PRIORITY PRESS - 27th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases Extended Duration of Protection Against Rotavirus Gastroenteritis and VaricellaBrussels, Belgium / June 9-13, 2009 Brussels - Vaccines for the prevention of rotavirus gastroenteritis have been available for use in children in Canada since 2006. Since showing safety, immunogenicity and efficacy in clinical trials, their ability to provide early or long-term protection has not been demonstrated. New data were presented here during the scientific sessions on an oral pentavalent human-bovine reassortant vaccine expressing human G1, G2, G3, G4 and P1A[8] antigens. When administered as three separate doses, (...) Read more... |