Five recent developments in pediatric dermatology

Research finding that a multifaceted sun protection program, including text message reminders and swim shirts, improved sun protection behaviors and helped to prevent skin damage in children was among developments recently reported on Healio.com/Dermatology.

Other recent developments included findings that Rumpel-Leede phenomenon was the possible cause of petechiae and purpura in infants after the result of tourniquet-like forces from baby carriers:

Pediatrician-provided reminders, other interventions improve sun protection behaviors among children

According to recent research in JAMA Pediatrics, a multifaceted sun protection program, including text message reminders and swim shirts, improved sun protection behaviors and helped to prevent skin damage in children.

June K. Robinson

“Pediatricians’ seasonal age-specific sun protection recommendations will be more effective if supported by an effective, easily accessible, multicomponent program that can be reinforced at home,” June K. Robinson, MD, research professor of the department of dermatology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. Read more

Tourniquet-like forces associated with baby carrier purpura

Tourniquet-like forces from baby carriers resulted in petechiae and purpura of the lower extremities of healthy infants, which could be caused by the Rumpel-Leede phenomenon, according to study results recently published in JAMA Dermatology.

Researchers studied three otherwise healthy infants who developed acute-onset localized petechiae and purpura of the lower extremities following recent exposure to baby carriers. Read more

Quality improvements shorten antibiotic therapy duration for uncomplicated skin infections

Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center implemented four quality improvement methods that shortened the duration of antibiotic therapy for uncomplicated skin and soft tissue infections, according to recent findings in Pediatrics.

“Given that children at our institution sometimes receive longer courses of antimicrobial therapy for [skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs)] than may be necessary … our objective was to decrease duration of antibiotics prescribed in children hospitalized for uncomplicated SSTIs [uSSTIs] by using quality improvement (QI) methods,” Christine L. Schuler, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati, and colleagues wrote. Read more

Early onset wheeze, eczema predicts pediatric atopic disorders

Factors such as eczema and wheeze appeared to increase the overall risk for atopic disorders in pediatric patients, according to study results published in World Allergy Organization Journal.

However, allergic sensitization alone did not increase the risk, according to the research. Read more

Health Canada approves Stelara for treating psoriasis in adolescents

Health Canada has approved Stelara for treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adolescents who are intolerant to or have been inadequately controlled by other systemic therapies or phototherapies, according to a press release from Janssen.

The approval of Stelara (ustekinumab) is based on data from the phase 3 CADMUS study that measured the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in patients aged 12 to 17 years with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, according to the release. Read more