The much-anticipated movie Precious opens on November 6. The film, whose executive producers include Oprah Winfrey, tells the bleak story of an obese, illiterate 16-year-old Harlem girl who is pregnant with her second child (the result both times of sexual assaults by her father) and who suffers daily verbal and physical abuse at the hands [...] Read more »

Influenza viruses evade infection-fighting antibodies by constantly changing the shape of their major surface protein. This shape-shifting, called antigenic drift, is why influenza vaccines – which are designed to elicit antibodies matched to each year’s circulating virus strains – must be reformulated annually.

Read The Full Article…New Explanation For Flu Virus Antigenic Drift Proposed By NIAID [...] Read more »

An innovative four-year project to help families, service providers and policy makers understand the effectiveness of the different types of support available for young deaf children has come to an end, with some interesting [...] Read more »

Abstinence-only sex education programs that received substantial federal grants under the Bush administration are turning to private donors as an attempt to keep their programs running, Newsweek reports. Since 1997, the abstinence-only industry has received a total of $1.9 billion in government funding, including $1.5 billion from the federal government.

Read The Full Article…Future Of Abstinence-Only [...] Read more »

Infection with “seasonal” influenza A could actually benefit children by giving them improved immunity against pandemic strains such as the swine flu H1N1 strain now circulating. Thus, vaccinating children aged 6 months to 5 years against seasonal flu, as is recommended in some countries, could be disadvantageous to these children.

Read The Full Article…Could Vaccination For [...] Read more »

A Comment in this week’s edition of The Lancet highlights the first ever World Pneumonia day, and the forthcoming strategy of WHO and UNICEF to tackle this forgotten killer of children. The Comment is written by Dr Bill Frist, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA, and Dr Richard Sezibera, Minister of Health for Rwanda. Dr Frist [...] Read more »

Lack of health insurance might have led or contributed to nearly 17,000 deaths among hospitalized children in the United States in the span of less than two decades, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. According to the Hopkins researchers, the study, to be published Oct.

Read The Full Article…Study [...] Read more »

Lack of health insurance might have led or contributed to nearly 17,000 deaths among hospitalized children in the United States in the span of less than two decades, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. According to the Hopkins researchers, the study, to be published Oct.

Read The Full Article…Study [...] Read more »

Researchers studying the health effects of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) gathered in North Carolina to launch an integrated research initiative to produce data that will allow for a comprehensive assessment of its possible human health effects. Researchers who just received funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to study BPA [...] Read more »

Chandra Wilson, a mother of three and star of ABC’s Emmy Award-winning Grey’s Anatomy, and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) are pleased to unveil today a series of public service announcements (PSAs) on the safe use of children’s over-the-counter (OTC) oral cough and cold medicines. These PSAs provide parents and caregivers with important tips [...] Read more »