The Leadership in Epidemiology, Antimicrobial Stewardship, and Public Health (LEAP) Fellowship has received renewed funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The LEAP Fellowship is a one-year program created by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society aimed at training future…
Since June, nearly 1 in 3 Americans have been impacted by a weather disaster, according to data compiled and published by the Washington Post earlier this month. As this newsletter goes to press, colleagues from Louisiana to the northeast are still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Ida. In many communities, especially those in the…
Among children and adolescents with cancer and COVID-19 globally, one fifth experienced severe and critical illness, and a higher proportion of patients died than reported in the general pediatric population. The findings come from a recently published Lancet Oncology study that used data from 1,500 patients from 131 institutions in 45 countries including the U.S….
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently cautioned against off-label use of COVID-19 vaccines in children younger than 12 years old. In an Aug. 23 statement, the organization recommended against giving the vaccine to children under 12 until authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for this age group and noted that clinical trials…
Pediatric cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have now reached levels seen during the 2020-2021 winter surge. About 204,000 cases were recorded in the week ending Aug. 26, the second week with child cases at the level of the previous winter surge, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is collaborating with the Children’s…
The PIDS Board of Directors and Program and Meetings Committee is seeking nominations for the PIDS Vice Chair-elect to the IDWeek Planning Committee. If you are interested in being considered for this role, please read the selection criteria below. Email notification indicating interest should be forwarded directly to Christy Phillips by Friday, October 8. Feel free to contact Dr….
On Sunday, August 8, at the age of 91, Dr. Walter Hughes passed away. Dr. Hughes was a founding member and first president of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and a giant in our field. A native Tennessean, Dr. Hughes completed training at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in 1957. After serving at Walter Reed Army…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval on Aug. 23 to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in those 16 years of age and older. The action makes the vaccine the first fully licensed vaccine against COVID-19 in the U.S. and is expected to lead to additional vaccination mandates by employers and others….
Younger children may be more likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 infection at home compared with older children, with the highest odds of transmission observed for children 0 to 3 years old, according to a new study in JAMA Pediatrics. In 6,280 households with pediatric index cases in Ontario, Canada, the adjusted odds of household transmission of…
An offseason spike in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections recently prompted the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to recommend that clinicians consider using palivizumab for high-risk infants in affected areas. A typical RSV season runs from fall through spring with a peak in February, but RSV activity was lower from May of 2020 to early…
José R. Romero, MD, is the Arkansas Secretary of Health and Director of the Department of Health (ADH). He is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has board certification in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Dr. Romero earned…
Drum roll, please. The PIDS/IDSA Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Acute Hematogenous Osteomyelitis in Pediatrics were published in JPIDS this week. I want to acknowledge all the members of the writing team, led by Dr. Charles Woods, and our partners at IDSA. Advancing clinical care in infectious diseases (and supporting our…