Archives of Disease in Childhood articles from August 2001

Archives of Disease in Childhood archives from August 2001

Archives this month.
August 1, 2001... Current Evidence For Offering Treatment with Antibiotics Xclusively In Meningococcal Exanthems We publish few "personal practice" papers. Partly, this is because once they have been through peer review they become more impersonal. In February...

Varicella vaccination--a critical review of the evidence.
August 1, 2001... Varicella (chickenpox) is an universal, highly infectious disease characterised by a pruritic vesicular eruption associated with fever and malaise caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV). In children, the illness is usually self limiting,...

Physiotherapy for cerebral palsy.
August 1, 2001... Therapies can make people feel better and/or they can have specific measurable effects on the condition treated. The two effects do much to explain the conventional versus complementary or alternative medicine schism. A problem for...

Behaviour and developmental effects of otitis media with effusion into the teens.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Objective--To examine whether behavioural or cognitive sequelae of otitis media with effusion (OME) continue into late childhood and the early teens (11-18 years). Setting--Data from a large multipurpose birth cohort study:...

Does early detection of otitis media with effusion prevent delayed language development?
August 1, 2001... Abstract Objective--To consider whether earlier detection of otitis media with effusion (OME) in asymptomatic children in the first 4 years of life prevents delayed language development. Methods--MEDLINE and other databases were...

Glue ear, grommets, and adenoids.
August 1, 2001... In the USA in 1996 about 280 000 children under the age of 3 years had tympanostomy tubes inserted but there is still debate about the effects of these procedures. Two papers in the New England Journal of Medicine have addressed the timing of...

Accidents and resulting injuries in premobile infants: data from the ALSPAC study.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Background and aims--Little is known about injuries resulting from accidents in premobile infants. We aimed to describe the pattern of minor accidents in infants and their resulting injuries. Methods--The ALSPAC study...

Changes in the epidemiological pattern of sudden infant death syndrome in southeast Norway, 1984-1998: implications for future prevention and research.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Aim--To look for changes in risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) after decrease and stabilisation of the SIDS rate. Methods--Questionnaires were distributed to parents of 174 SIDS infants, dying between 1984...

Nasal and intrapulmonary haemorrhage in sudden infant death syndrome.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Background--Fresh intrapulmonary and oronasal haemorrhages in cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) might be markers for accidental or intentional smothering inappropriately diagnosed as SIDS. Aim--To compare the...

Liquid paraffin: a reappraisal of its role in the treatment of constipation.
August 1, 2001... Liquid paraffin or mineral oil is a transparent, colourless, odourless, or almost odourless, oily liquid composed of saturated hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum. [1] Petroleum was used as a medicine at least 400 years before Christ. [2]...

Nationwide study of haemolytic uraemic syndrome: clinical, microbiological, and epidemiological features.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Aims--To establish the incidence and aetiology of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) in Australia and compare clinical and microbial characteristics of sporadic and outbreak cases. Methods--National active surveillance...

An evidence and consensus based guideline for acute diarrhoea management.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Objective--To develop an evidence and consensus based guideline for the management of the child who presents to hospital with diarrhoea (with or without vomiting), a common problem representing 16% of all paediatric medical...

Persistent wheezing in infants with an atopic tendency responds to inhaled fluticasone.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Background--The role of inhaled cortico-steroids for the treatment of wheeze in infancy remains unclear. Aim--To investigate the effect of inhaled fluticasone on symptoms in a group of wheezy infants who had a high risk of...

Photopheresis at onset of type 1 diabetes: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Background--In recent years photopheresis, an extracorporeal form of photochemotherapy using psoralen and ultraviolet A irradiation of leucocytes, has been claimed to be an effective form of immunomodulation. Aim--To...

Dipstick measurements of urine specific gravity are unreliable.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Aim--To evaluate the reliability of dipstick measurements of urine specific gravity (U-SG). Methods--Fresh urine specimens were tested for urine pH and osmolality (U-pH, U-Osm) by a pH meter and an osmometer, and for U-SG by...

Increased urinary leukotriene [E.sub.4] during febrile attacks in the hyperimmunoglobulinaemia D and periodic fever syndrome.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Background--The hyperimmunoglobulinaemia D and periodic fever syndrome is a hereditary periodic fever, caused by deficiency of the enzyme mevalonate kinase. It is unclear how this defect leads to recurrent fever episodes. ...

Diagnostic assessment of haemorrhagic rash and fever.(meningococcal disease in children)
August 1, 2001... Abstract Aims--To establish criteria for early distinction between meningococcal disease and other conditions with similar clinical features, and to identify other causes for haemorrhagic rashes accompanied by fever. Methods--In a...

Correlates of prepubertal bone mineral density in cystic fibrosis.
August 1, 2001... Abstract Aim--To examine early factors in bone mineral accretion in cystic fibrosis (CF). Methods--In 22 prepubertal children with CF and mild lung disease, the relation between total body bone mineral density (BMD) and measures of body...

The Chailey Approach to Postural Management.(Review)
August 1, 2001... The Chailey approach to postural management. Pountney TE, Mulcahy CM, Clarke SM, Green EM. (Pp 157, spiral bound, [pound]25.00) Active Design Ltd. ISBN 09538262 0 1. When teaching about children with neurological disability or when...

Variceila-Zoster Virus.(Review)
August 1, 2001... Variceila-zoster virus. Arvin AM, Gershon AE. (Pp 531) UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0-521-66024-6 If I were a betting man, and one could bet on such matters, I would stake the price of a new stethoscope that chicken pox will soon...

Lucina finds data about birth defects of limited value unless each specific defect is considered separately.
August 1, 2001... Lucina finds data about birth defects of limited value unless each specific defect is considered separately. In Norway (Journal of the American Medical Association 2001;285:761-8), 2.5% of the 486 207 boys born between 1967 and 1982 had a...

During the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta measures were taken to reduce traffic congestion in the city.(number of childhood asthma acute events dropped due to reduction of atmospheric ozone concentrations)
August 1, 2001... During the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta measures were taken to reduce traffic congestion in the city. These included 24 hour public transport, much expanded park-and-ride services, the banning of private cars from the city centre, and...

DIABAUD2 was a study of the glycaemic control of 1755 children under 15 years.
August 1, 2001... DIABAUD2 was a study of the glycaemic control of 1755 children under 15 years with type 1 diabetes at 18 centres in Scotland between August 1997 and February 1999 (Diabetes Care 2001;24:239-44). An unexpected finding was the degree of...

In Glasgow between 1970 and 1997 (Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 2001;83B:99-102) the incidence of haematogenous osteomyelitis in children under 13 years.
August 1, 2001... In Glasgow between 1970 and 1997 (Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 2001;83B:99-102) the incidence of haematogenous osteomyelitis in children under 13 years of age fell at a rate of 0.185 cases per 100 000 population per year, mostly because...

In the past, tinea capitis in Britain was usually caused by Microsporum canis and children were infected from cats or dogs.
August 1, 2001... In the past, tinea capitis in Britain was usually caused by Microsporum canis and children were infected from cats or dogs. Now child-to-child spread is the rule and the responsible fungi are Trichophyton tonsurans, Microsporum rivalieri, and...

Here's an odd finding for you to ponder.(a positive cephalocaudal gradient in fetal tissue growth may impair longevity)
August 1, 2001... Here's an odd finding for you to ponder. In American military recruits (American Journal of Epidemiology 2001;153:338-44) the ratio of waist to thigh circumference was positively correlated with the difference in the number of fingerprint...

Pleconaril is a new antiviral drug active against picornaviruses.
August 1, 2001... Pleconaril is a new antiviral drug active against picornaviruses, including enteroviruses. It blocks enteroviral attachment to host cell receptors and inhibits viral uncoating. Of 36 patients with apparently life threatening enterovirus...

Talking of enteroviruses, in Perth, Australia in 1999 during an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease.(enterovirus 71 infection in 14 children)
August 1, 2001... Talking of enteroviruses, in Perth, Australia in 1999 during an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease, 14 children were admitted to hospital with neurological disease associated with enterovirus 71 infection (Clinical Infectious Diseases...

The inflammatory and procoagulant responses to severe sepsis.
August 1, 2001... The inflammatory and procoagulant responses to severe sepsis are mediated by inflammatory cytokines which are procoagulant and procoagulant factors which also promote inflammation. Activated protein C downregulates both responses and in...

The evidence that MMR immunisation and autism are not related continues to mount.(measles-mumps-rubella)
August 1, 2001... The evidence that MMR immunisation and autism are not related continues to mount. In California (JAMA 2001;285:1183-5) the incidence of autism rose from 44 per 100 000 children born in 1980 to 208 per 100 000 children born in 1994 (a 373%...

Children with a household cat may be less likely to develop asthma than those without a cat.
August 1, 2001... Children with a household cat may be less likely to develop asthma than those without a cat. A study in New Mexico and Virginia, USA (Lancer 2001;357:752-6) has shown that, whereas high concentrations of house dust mites in the home lead to...

Live attenuated varicella vaccine was approved for use in the USA in 1995.
August 1, 2001... Live attenuated varicella vaccine was approved for use in the USA in 1995. A case control study in New Haven, Connecticut (New England Journal of Medicine 2001;344:955-60) has suggested an overall vaccine effectiveness of 85% and an...