child health

The WHO African Region had 81 million people with chronic hepatitis B in 2019, which remains a silent killer. Hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis delta virus (HDV), and HIV can be transmitted from the mother to child. If the HBV infection is acquired at infancy, it may lead to chronic hepatitis B in 90% of the cases. WHO reports that 6.4 million children under 5 years live with chronic hepatitis B infection worldwide. The prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HBV is therefore critical in the global elimination strategy of viral hepatitis as we take lessons from PMTCT of HIV programs in Africa...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a condition that can affect any woman regardless of ethnicity, age, party, marital status, income, and type of delivery. This condition is highly prevalent worldwide. PPD, if not treated timely, can affect the maternal-child bond and can have a detrimental impact on the future cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development of the child. Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) has been reported as an effective treatment of PPD in previous studies as this focuses on relationship and social support issues...

BACKGROUND: Malaria is a leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. The malaria vaccine is an important preventive measure introduced by the World Health Organization to reduce malaria and its associated mortality and morbidity. We aimed to assess the acceptance of the malaria vaccine among next of kin of children under 5 years of age in Gulu City, Northern Uganda. METHODS: Between October and December 2023, we conducted a cross-sectional study in Pece-Laroo division, Gulu City, Uganda...

UNLABELLED: Composition of the vaginal microbiome in pregnancy is associated with adverse maternal, obstetric, and child health outcomes. Identifying the sources of individual differences in the vaginal microbiome is therefore of considerable clinical and public health interest. The current study tested the hypothesis that vaginal microbiome composition during pregnancy is associated with an individual's experience of affective symptoms and stress exposure. Data were based on a prospective longitudinal study of a diverse and medically healthy community sample of 275 mother-infant pairs...

PURPOSE: Among men, violence is pervasive and associated with poor mental health, but little is known about which men are most vulnerable. Our purpose is to address this gap by exploring mental health and social determinants of health (SDOH) including gender role conflict (GRC) in heterogenous groups of men with distinct patterns of cumulative lifetime violence (CLV) as target and perpetrator. METHODS: Latent class analysis was conducted using means of 64 indicators of CLV severity collected from a community sample of 685 eastern Canadian men, ages 19 to 65 years...

PURPOSE: To examine associations of service use (housing, mental health, substance use, education, and employment) with depression and substance use disorder (SUD) trajectories among young adults experiencing homelessness. METHOD: Secondary data come from 276 young adults who participated in an intervention to reduce substance use and sexual risk behaviors. Participants were recruited from three drop-in centers in Los Angeles County from 2018 to 2020, and completed surveys at baseline, 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-months post-baseline...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of our study is to examine the emotional, behavioral problems, and psychiatric symptoms of children diagnosed with Graves' disease (GD), to assess their quality of life, and to compare with control group. METHODS: The research was planned as a cross-sectional study and included 16 patients with GD (13 female and three male) and 29 healthy children for control group (19 female and 10 male). Sociodemographic form, Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-Child Version (RCADS-CV), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Turgay DSM-IV-Based Child and Adolescent Behavior Disorders Screening and Rating Scale (T-DSM-IV-S), and Affective Reactivity Index scale were applied to the children and their families...

OBJECTIVES: Fetal and neonatal hyperthyroidism are most commonly seen in patients whose mothers have Graves' disease. Rarely, it can be caused by non-autoimmune conditions. As these conditions are rare, the workup and treatment is not uniform and can lead to persistent symptoms and long-term negative health effects. CASE PRESENTATION: This report describes a patient with congenital hyperthyroidism from a toxic adenoma presenting with fetal tachycardia. The patient was initially managed medically after birth, but was eventually treated with thyroidectomy...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE: To explore the perspectives of primary caregivers of children with cerebral palsy (CP) who had spinal surgery for scoliosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews and guided by qualitative description methodology. Participants were caregivers of children with CP aged 5-18, who had undergone spinal surgery for scoliosis in Australia. The research team included a parent with lived experience. RESULTS: Fourteen participants (8 biological mothers), aged 40-49 years, completed online semi-structured interviews...

BACKGROUND: The improved outcome of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) over the last decades has increased the importance of assessing late effects and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), particularly when evaluating and comparing outcomes in clinical trials. This study aimed to assess HRQoL in children treated for ALL according to the NOPHO ALL2008 protocol. PROCEDURE: Children, aged 1 to less than 18 years at diagnosis, alive in first remission, and their parents, were asked to complete PedsQL 4...

BACKGROUND: While most research has largely focused on medical risks associated with reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in survivors, sociodemographic and family factors may also play a role. Thus, we longitudinally examined sociodemographic factors and family factors associated with survivor HRQOL, including adolescent's cancer-specific stress, mother's general stress, and mother-adolescent communication. METHODS: Mothers (N = 80) and survivors (ages 10-23, N = 50) were assessed 5 years following initial diagnosis...

This study aims to assess how commonly 15 parental practices, known to have positive effects on child and adult health, are carried out by families in Italy, if they are related, and which characteristics are associated with implementation. Children participating in the NASCITA Cohort, a prospective study in which family pediatricians in Italy collect data on children and their families, were included if they had sufficient data. Data on practice implementation, socio-demographic characteristics, and interrelatedness between practices were analyzed...

OBJECTIVES: Given the escalating demand for care services, understanding the impact of informal caregiving, providing unpaid care for family members, on own health is essential. This study longitudinally analyzed the association of caregiving (and different caregiver types) with mental, physical, and self-rated health. Urban-rural, gender, and employment heterogeneity were further investigated. METHOD: Based on three-wave data (2011, 2013, and 2018) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we used growth curve models to assess the impact of informal caregiving (providing care to family members) and caregiver types (caregivers to grandchildren, parents, spouses, or multiple family members) on three health outcomes (depressive symptoms, self-rated health, and activities of daily living limitations)...

Objective: To analyze serum bile acid profiles in pregnant women with normal pregnancy, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) and asymptomatic hypercholanemia of pregnancy (AHP), and to evaluate the application value of serum bile acid profiles in the diagnosis of ICP and AHP. Methods: The clinical data of 122 pregnant women who underwent prenatal examination in Xuzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from June 2022 to May 2023 were collected, including 54 cases of normal pregnancy group, 28 cases of ICP group and 40 cases of AHP group...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Exposome studies are advancing in high-income countries to understand how multiple environmental exposures impact health. However, there is a significant research gap in low- and middle-income and tropical countries. We aimed to describe the spatiotemporal variation of the external exposome, its correlation structure between and within exposure groups, and its dimensionality. A one-year follow-up cohort study of 506 children under 5 in two cities in Colombia was conducted to evaluate asthma, acute respiratory infections, and DNA damage...

China is home to the second largest population of children and adolescents in the world. Yet demographic shifts mean that the government must manage the challenge of fewer children with the needs of an ageing population, while considering the delicate tension between economic growth and environmental sustainability. We mapped the health problems and risks of contemporary school-aged children and adolescents in China against current national health policies. We involved multidisciplinary experts, including young people, with the aim of identifying actionable strategies and specific recommendations to promote child and adolescent health and wellbeing...

PURPOSE: The potential of combining teledentistry and engaging parents as underutilised resources to monitor paediatric dental health was emphasised during the COVID-19 pandemic and remains underexplored. This study aims to assess parental acceptance and use of a commercially available intraoral camera (IOC) for effective remote monitoring. METHODS: 47 child-parent dyads, where the parent was the main caregiver and the child was treated under general anaesthesia for early childhood caries, were recruited...