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What’s alarming pediatricians about surge in children’s respiratory infections, the flu & COVID-19

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Oscar G. Gómez-Duarte, M.D., is chief of the division of infectious diseases, department of pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, and director of the PediUBatric Infectious Diseases Service at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital. (University at Buffalo photo)

Tue, Nov 29th 2022 01:10 pm

Oscar G. Gómez-Duarte, Jacobs School’s pediatric infectious diseases division chief, discusses why physicians are so concerned – and how to keep kids healthy

Submitted by the University at Buffalo 

The request by children’s hospitals nationwide this month that the federal government declare a formal state of emergency given the surge in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and flu cases was no surprise to Oscar G. Gómez-Duarte, M.D.

As chief of the division of infectious diseases, department of pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, and director of the pediatric infectious diseases service at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, Gómez has seen firsthand the jump in cases of both RSV and flu, and the resulting increase in hospitalizations of children.

By September, Oishei Children’s Hospital reported having seen more patients admitted to the hospital with RSV than it had seen during the entire 2019-20 respiratory season, along with higher rates of flu infections, some requiring hospitalization.

Gómez says the surge this early in the season is unusual and especially concerning since there are very low vaccination rates for COVID-19 and flu in children. Cases may rise this winter, especially among unvaccinated children in addition to the rise in RSV cases.

How would you characterize this season so far for RSV and flu in kids?

“What’s concerning to us are not only the number of infections, but the severity of these infections leading to a high number of emergency room visits and hospitalizations. The surge in cases is putting pressure on hospitals nationwide. This is a very dramatic increase over what we normally see, especially at this point in the season. This year, we have been seeing significant increases in cases and this is even before the winter season has begun. We saw RSV cases peak over the summer this year and then another peak was reported in October. This RSV infections pattern is quite different from what we normally saw pre-COVID-19 pandemic.”

How do you think COVID-19 has influenced this increase in other respiratory viruses?

“It’s very possible that this jump in respiratory viruses that we are seeing now is related to the dramatic changes in community behavior during the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Those behaviors significantly limited the normal exchange of viruses that people typically have through interactions with each other. That’s especially true of young children, who exchange different viruses with each other at day care, at school and public gatherings. That exposure allows children to develop a natural immunity to common respiratory viruses at a young age.

“During much of the pandemic, that exchange of viruses wasn’t happening, and there was a gap in natural protective immunity. Now that children are again attending day care and school and other gatherings, getting exposed to these viruses that they haven’t been exposed to in the past two years has resulted in a high peak of infections and an overwhelming number of ER visits and hospital admissions. We are seeing increases especially in RSV, and some of these cases are severe.”

What factors make children especially susceptible to developing RSV?

“RSV tends to affect the very young, those under 2 years of age. Infants at the highest risk are those who were born prematurely or who are immune-compromised.”

Is it mostly children with underlying conditions who are being hospitalized with RSV and/or flu?

“We are seeing hospital admissions for RSV and/or flu among previously healthy children with RSV who have no comorbidities; but we are also seeing it in children with underlying conditions, such as asthma, cardiac conditions, neurological disorders, among other chronic conditions.”

Are you seeing cases where a child gets infected with two viruses at once?

“Yes, some children are getting what we call coinfections, where they become infected with more than one virus at a time. In some instances, a child becomes initially infected with flu, begins to recover and subsequently comes down with rhinovirus (a common cold virus), RSV or any other respiratory virus. These coinfections tend to be more severe than when the child just has one infection. Different viruses can attack different receptors and use different mechanisms to damage respiratory cells, and this can worsen the disease and, in some cases, may require that the child be admitted to the intensive care unit for management.”

What kinds of treatments are available for children hospitalized with either RSV or the flu?

“While we do have specific treatments for flu and COVID-19, there is no specific treatment for RSV or other respiratory viruses. The mainstay management of respiratory infections is supportive care, such as hydration, control of fever and supplemental oxygen if needed. When the child’s breathing is very compromised, we will put the child on oxygen and, depending on the severity of the respiratory compromise, they may even require more intense measures such as mechanical ventilation.”

Can children be immunized against RSV?

“Passive immunity in the form of monoclonal antibodies is available for premature infants during RSV season. This FDA-approved monoclonal antibody named palivizumab has the ability to block RSV and decrease the severity of the RSV infections.

“There is no approved active vaccine against RSV in the U.S. for children or adults. There is evidence, however, that pregnant mothers do transmit antibodies against RSV to their babies. It was recently reported that pregnant mothers who received an experimental vaccine against RSV did pass those antibodies onto their babies and these infants were at lower risk of developing RSV infections. These developments are very good news for the future, so that maybe pregnant women who are immunized can pass this protection to their babies.”

How concerned are you that along with RSV and the flu, children may begin to get sick from COVID-19 this winter?

“COVID-19 will stay among us in the same way as RSV, influenza and any other respiratory virus. Accordingly, we expect to continue to have COVID-19 infections in children, along with RSV and the flu. Current variants of the COVID-19 virus are becoming resistant to preventive measures such as monoclonal antibodies, although vaccines remain protective.

“It is concerning that the vaccine coverage for COVID-19 and flu vaccine among children in our community is low. Nationally, only 4% of children younger than 5 and fewer than a third of children ages 5 to 11 have had any COVID vaccine series. There is strong evidence that vaccines prevent infection, prevent hospitalizations, and prevent deaths due to COVID-19.

What should parents watch for?

“The first and most important way to protect children is to make sure they get vaccinated against the diseases where vaccines are available, among them the flu and COVID-19.

“If a child acquires a respiratory infection, the child will likely experience upper respiratory symptoms, such as fever, sore throat, cough and nasal congestion.

“Parents should be vigilant for more concerning symptoms, such as shortness of breath. If a parent notices that the child’s breathing is labored and difficult, this is an emergency situation that requires immediate attention, such as taking the child to the closest emergency room or calling 911.

“Most respiratory infections in children, though, are self-limited, and are not associated with shortness of breath. In most cases, a call to the pediatrician for advice is the best measure to take.”

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The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are based on the opinions and/or research of the faculty member(s) or researcher(s) quoted, and do not represent the official positions of the University at Buffalo or Niagara Frontier Publications.

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What’s the greatest holiday gift: lips, hair, skin? Give the gift of great skin this holiday season

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Give the gift of great skin this holiday season

Skinstitut Holiday Gift Kits take the stress out of gifting

Toronto, October 31, 2024 – Beauty gifts are at the top of holiday wish lists this year, and Laser Clinics Canada, a leader in advanced beauty treatments and skincare, is taking the pressure out of seasonal shopping. Today, Laser Clincs Canada announces the arrival of its 2024 Holiday Gift Kits, courtesy of Skinstitut, the exclusive skincare line of Laser Clinics Group.

In time for the busy shopping season, the limited-edition Holiday Gifts Kits are available in Laser Clinics locations in the GTA and Ottawa. Clinics are conveniently located in popular shopping centers, including Hillcrest Mall, Square One, CF Sherway Gardens, Scarborough Town Centre, Rideau Centre, Union Station and CF Markville. These limited-edition Kits are available on a first come, first served basis.

“These kits combine our best-selling products, bundled to address the most relevant skin concerns we’re seeing among our clients,” says Christina Ho, Senior Brand & LAM Manager at Laser Clinics Canada. “With several price points available, the kits offer excellent value and suit a variety of gift-giving needs, from those new to cosmeceuticals to those looking to level up their skincare routine. What’s more, these kits are priced with a savings of up to 33 per cent so gift givers can save during the holiday season.

There are two kits to select from, each designed to address key skin concerns and each with a unique theme — Brightening Basics and Hydration Heroes.

Brightening Basics is a mix of everyday essentials for glowing skin for all skin types. The bundle comes in a sleek pink, reusable case and includes three full-sized products: 200ml gentle cleanser, 50ml Moisture Defence (normal skin) and 30ml1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum. The Brightening Basics kit is available at $129, a saving of 33 per cent.

Hydration Heroes is a mix of hydration essentials and active heroes that cater to a wide variety of clients. A perfect stocking stuffer, this bundle includes four deluxe products: Moisture 15 15 ml Defence for normal skin, 10 ml 1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum, 10 ml Retinol Serum and 50 ml Expert Squalane Cleansing Oil. The kit retails at $59.

In addition to the 2024 Holiday Gifts Kits, gift givers can easily add a Laser Clinic Canada gift card to the mix. Offering flexibility, recipients can choose from a wide range of treatments offered by Laser Clinics Canada, or they can expand their collection of exclusive Skinstitut products.

 

Brightening Basics 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut, available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.

Hydration Heroes 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut – available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Pediatric group says doctors should regularly screen kids for reading difficulties

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The Canadian Paediatric Society says doctors should regularly screen children for reading difficulties and dyslexia, calling low literacy a “serious public health concern” that can increase the risk of other problems including anxiety, low self-esteem and behavioural issues, with lifelong consequences.

New guidance issued Wednesday says family doctors, nurses, pediatricians and other medical professionals who care for school-aged kids are in a unique position to help struggling readers access educational and specialty supports, noting that identifying problems early couldhelp kids sooner — when it’s more effective — as well as reveal other possible learning or developmental issues.

The 10 recommendations include regular screening for kids aged four to seven, especially if they belong to groups at higher risk of low literacy, including newcomers to Canada, racialized Canadians and Indigenous Peoples. The society says this can be done in a two-to-three-minute office-based assessment.

Other tips encourage doctors to look for conditions often seen among poor readers such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; to advocate for early literacy training for pediatric and family medicine residents; to liaise with schools on behalf of families seeking help; and to push provincial and territorial education ministries to integrate evidence-based phonics instruction into curriculums, starting in kindergarten.

Dr. Scott McLeod, one of the authors and chair of the society’s mental health and developmental disabilities committee, said a key goal is to catch kids who may be falling through the cracks and to better connect families to resources, including quicker targeted help from schools.

“Collaboration in this area is so key because we need to move away from the silos of: everything educational must exist within the educational portfolio,” McLeod said in an interview from Calgary, where he is a developmental pediatrician at Alberta Children’s Hospital.

“Reading, yes, it’s education, but it’s also health because we know that literacy impacts health. So I think that a statement like this opens the window to say: Yes, parents can come to their health-care provider to get advice, get recommendations, hopefully start a collaboration with school teachers.”

McLeod noted that pediatricians already look for signs of low literacy in young children by way of a commonly used tool known as the Rourke Baby Record, which offers a checklist of key topics, such as nutrition and developmental benchmarks, to cover in a well-child appointment.

But he said questions about reading could be “a standing item” in checkups and he hoped the society’s statement to medical professionals who care for children “enhances their confidence in being a strong advocate for the child” while spurring partnerships with others involved in a child’s life such as teachers and psychologists.

The guidance said pediatricians also play a key role in detecting and monitoring conditions that often coexist with difficulty reading such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, but McLeod noted that getting such specific diagnoses typically involves a referral to a specialist, during which time a child continues to struggle.

He also acknowledged that some schools can be slow to act without a specific diagnosis from a specialist, and even then a child may end up on a wait list for school interventions.

“Evidence-based reading instruction shouldn’t have to wait for some of that access to specialized assessments to occur,” he said.

“My hope is that (by) having an existing statement or document written by the Canadian Paediatric Society … we’re able to skip a few steps or have some of the early interventions present,” he said.

McLeod added that obtaining specific assessments from medical specialists is “definitely beneficial and advantageous” to know where a child is at, “but having that sort of clear, thorough assessment shouldn’t be a barrier to intervention starting.”

McLeod said the society was partly spurred to act by 2022’s “Right to Read Inquiry Report” from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which made 157 recommendations to address inequities related to reading instruction in that province.

He called the new guidelines “a big reminder” to pediatric providers, family doctors, school teachers and psychologists of the importance of literacy.

“Early identification of reading difficulty can truly change the trajectory of a child’s life.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

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