Study Finds Fewer C-Sections in Hospitals With Adequate Nurse Staffing
Ensuring sufficient staffing levels in birthing units could help hospitals lower cesarean section rates, according to a study published Jan. 28 in Nursing Outlook. ... “Concern about cesarean section rates in the U.S. has been high for many years, and there has been little progress toward improvement. This study points us toward one important solution: aligning labor and delivery nurse staffing with consensus- and expert-developed guidelines," study author Joanne Spetz, PhD, director of the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a new release. (Bean, 1/30)
UNC Health and Duke Health Partner to Build Children's Hospital
UNC Health and Duke Health will build a freestanding children’s hospital in the Piedmont, North Carolina, area. The academic health systems plan to build a 500-bed children’s hospital, a pediatric outpatient center and a children’s behavioral health facility. The project, fueled by a $320 million investment by the state, is set to break ground in 2027 and take six years to complete, the organizations said in a Tuesday news release. (Kacik, 1/28)
Children's Hospital Los Angeles Expands Sickle Cell Treatment Services
Children's Hospital Los Angeles added a 10th cell and gene therapy treatment for children, adolescents and young adults with serious medical conditions. The newest gene therapy treatment, Casgevy, treats sick cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia. Its addition means that CHLA provides the most cell and gene therapy treatments for pediatrics on the West Coast, according to a Jan. 27 system news release. (Taylor, 1/27)
The Childhood Vaccine Schedule: Examining the Evidence
Before their immune systems mature, young children are especially vulnerable to infections — and to falling far more ill than adults might with certain common illnesses. That’s why childhood vaccination programs have been such a boon for public health. In the past 30 years, recommended childhood vaccines have prevented an estimated 1.1 million deaths and 32 million hospitalizations in the United States. (Whitcomb, 1/25)
Autism Rates Are Rising, But Vaccines Aren’t the Cause
President Trump has said that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee to run HHS, would investigate why autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses are rising. ... "There have been extensive studies researching potential links to routine childhood vaccinations and autism diagnoses, and the results have shown that no such link exists," said Eric Burnett, MD, of Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. (George, 1/24)
The Childhood Vaccine Schedule: Examining the Evidence
Before their immune systems mature, young children are especially vulnerable to infections — and to falling far more ill than adults might with certain common illnesses. That’s why childhood vaccination programs have been such a boon for public health. In the past 30 years, recommended childhood vaccines have prevented an estimated 1.1 million deaths and 32 million hospitalizations in the United States. (Whitcomb, 1/25)
State Lawmakers Push for Vaccine Exemptions Amid Declining Childhood Vaccination Rates
Vaccination bills are popping up in more than 15 states as lawmakers aim to potentially resurrect or create new religious exemptions from immunization mandates, establish state-level vaccine injury databases or dictate what providers must tell patients about the shots. Many see a political opportunity to rewrite policies in their states after President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s nomination as the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. (Haigh and Shastri, 1/27)
Schools Near Fire Zones Deemed Safe By Districts, But Parents Remain Concerned
At public meetings, on social media and in interviews with The Times, parents at schools near the Palisades and Eaton fire zones have expressed deep health and safety concerns, and questioned whether their children should return to class. But officials have assured parents that schools have been cleaned and are safe. Some campuses close to the devastation have already welcomed students back, including Canyon Charter Elementary School and Paul Revere Charter Middle School in Pacific Palisades, which together enroll more than 2,000 students. (Miller and Blume, 1/31)
Parents Say Schools Lag In Adapting To Kids' Diabetes Technology
Just a few years ago, children with Type 1 diabetes reported to the school nurse several times a day to get a finger pricked to check whether their blood sugar was dangerously high or low. The introduction of the continuous glucose monitor (CGM) made that unnecessary. The small device, typically attached to the arm, has a sensor under the skin that sends readings to an app on a phone or other wireless device. The app shows blood sugar levels at a glance and sounds an alarm when they move out of a normal range. (Galewitz, 1/28)
Hospitals Suspend Gender-Affirming Care Following Executive Order
President Donald Trump ratcheted up his administration’s reversal of transgender rights on Tuesday with an executive order that seeks to intervene in parents’ medical decisions by prohibiting government-funded insurance coverage of puberty blockers or surgery for people under 19. Trump’s order, titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” is certain to face legal challenges and would require congressional or regulatory actions to be fully enacted. But transgender people and their advocates are concerned it will nonetheless discourage prescriptions and medical procedures they consider to be lifesaving in some cases, while complicating insurance coverage for gender-affirming care. (Appleby, 1/31)
Study Finds Mental Health Crisis Services Struggling Since 988 Launch
In July 2022, 988 launched as the number anyone across the country could dial in a mental health crisis. It’s one entryway to a sprawling system of mental health care options, but new research shows that since then, critical crisis services have not become more available — a key objective of the nationwide rollout, designed to strengthen an underfunded, patchwork system that left many people alone in times of crisis. (Gaffney, 1/29)
Internal Audit Reveals Kaiser Ignored Patient Protections In Northern California Study, Leading To Halted Research And Disciplinary Actions
Many of modern medicine’s most remarkable achievements have been accomplished through the trust of volunteers, who test new drugs, procedures and medical devices to determine if they are safe and effective. A major study by Kaiser Permanente of Northern California, however, violated this trust by breaking multiple rules designed to protect volunteers, and the two researchers in charge tried to cover up the lapses by withholding critical information from study participants and those who oversee them, according to hundreds of pages of documents obtained by the Bay Area News Group. (Krieger, 1/29)
Impact Of CDC Communication Freeze On Public Health
The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States. One of the studies would reveal whether veterinarians who treat cattle have been unknowingly infected by the bird flu virus. Another report documents cases in which people carrying the virus might have infected their pet cats. The studies were slated to appear in the official journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The distinguished journal has been published without interruption since 1952. (Maxmen, 1/30)
CDC Ordered To Cease Collaboration With WHO Immediately
U.S. public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, John Nkengasong, sent a memo to senior leaders at the agency on Sunday night telling them that all staff who work with the WHO must immediately stop their collaborations and “await further guidance.” Experts said the sudden stoppage was a surprise and would set back work on investigating and trying to stop outbreaks of Marburg virus and mpox in Africa, as well as brewing global threats. It also comes as health authorities around the world are monitoring bird flu outbreaks among U.S. livestock. (Stobbe, 1/27)
Impact Of U.S. Foreign Aid Freeze On Global Health
The Trump administration has instructed organizations in other countries to stop disbursing H.I.V. medications purchased with U.S. aid, even if the drugs have already been obtained and are sitting in local clinics. The directive is part of a broader freeze on foreign aid initiated last week. It includes the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the global health program started by George W. Bush that is credited with saving more than 25 million lives worldwide. (Mandavilli, 1/27)
Study Finds Increase In Sleep-Related Infant Death Rates
Rates of sudden unexpected infant death in the United States increased by nearly 12 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to new research published on Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Though the study offered some good news — overall infant mortality rates dropped by 24 percent from 1999 to 2022 — it also raised questions about why more babies appear to be dying during sleep, and why rates of sleep-related death remain notably higher among Black, Native American and Pacific Islander babies than among white and Asian infants. (Pearson, 1/27)
L.A. Fires Shake Child-Care Industry, Leaving Families And Providers In Crisis
Hundreds of child-care providers affected by the L.A. fires have been forced to shut their facilities and dozens of sites were destroyed, leaving scores of working families scrambling for care and dealing a blow to an already fragile sector in the region. As of Thursday, 37 child-care facilities were reported destroyed in the fires; 21 were child-care centers, and 16 were family child-care homes. An additional 284 were non-operational because of ash, debris, power outages or a lack of potable water, according the California Department of Social Services. (Sequeira and Gold, 1/25)