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between the ages of 1 and 11 have vitamin D levels below what's considered healthy, and that black and Hispanic children are at particularly high risk. Vitamin D improves bone health and prevents rickets in children, and recent studies suggest that it also may prevent a host of common childhood illnesses, including respiratory infections, wheezing and winter-related eczema. While the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends at least 400 units of vitamin D a day, Mansbach believes further research is needed to determine the appropriate levels for children. For now, he recommends that all children take multi-vitamins with vitamin D, eat foods that are high in vitamin D and get sensible amounts of exposure to the sun.
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A 12-year study of patients in Children's Emergency Department shows that glass thermometers are still an ongoing problem, both in terms of the risk of mercury exposure and injuries from broken glass. The number of injuries related to mercury-containing glass thermometers has gone down only minimally, despite the fact that their sale has been banned in Massachusetts since 2002. "Just because glass thermometers aren't sold doesn't mean people don't have them in their homes," says study co-author Lois Lee, MD, MPH. The study suggests that pediatricians discuss safer, non-glass thermometers with parents as part of well visits or while talking about fever management.
An analysis of patients in Children's Emergency Department (ED) over five consecutive flu seasons reveals that children age 7 and younger had more than twice as many ED visits for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) than for the seasonal flu. RSV can cause respiratory tract infections, and is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children under age 1. The study, led by Florence Bourgeois, MD, MPH, and Kenneth Mandl, MD, MPH, both of Children's Division of Emergency Medicine, shows that 23.6 percent of patients who underwent viral testing had RSV, while only 11.2 percent had influenza. "RSV has been underappreciated," says Bourgeois. "Based on our data, much more should be done in terms of prevention." Bourgeois recommends the same preventive measures for RSV that she does for influenza: frequent hand washing, using alcohol-based hand sanitizers and keeping children home when they're sick.
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A review of injuries caused by glass tables, performed by Children's in March 2009, has resulted in a consortium of industry leaders publishing new standards that recommend the use of tempered glass. The original study showed that half of the glass-table injuries logged by Children's Emergency Department would have been preventable or less severe with tempered safety glass. "To have industry standards be changed so soon after we published the study is a blessing and a testament to the importance of research," says Amir Kimia, MD, of the Children's Division of Emergency Medicine, who led the study. "It's my hope that the next glass-table injury I see in the ED will be my last."
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