Gastrointestinal Conditions News

Contaminated food sickens an estimated 48 million people in the United States each year, leading to 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, according to the CDC.

Rotavirus vaccination in southern China reduces the likelihood of rotavirus gastroenteritis among children 4 years and younger, with herd effects observed in some areas, according to research published in JAMA Network Open. However, this vaccine is not included in the country’s national immunization programs.

Yesterday, officials raised concern that several passengers who flew from Algeria to Perpignan, France, may have been exposed to cholera through an 8-year-old child with active vomiting and diarrhea, according to a report from Reuters. Although cholera has been ruled out as a source of the child’s illness, the event emphasizes the importance of maintaining infectious disease prevention strategies while traveling.

Mass administrations of azithromycin in Niger resulted in significant changes in the bacterial gut microbiome composition in children aged up to 5 years, according to study results published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. However, changes in the microbiome stemming from antibiotic use did not suggest the presence of disease but were instead associated with improvements in childhood mortality, researchers said.

Children with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, achieved greater improvement of constipation and insomnia symptoms when families were involved in setting treatment goals compared with prescriptive treatment goals set by clinicians, according to study results published in Pediatrics.

Rotavirus vaccination reduced diarrhea-associated deaths due to rotavirus infection in infants and young children in Africa, according to the results of two recently published studies.

More than half of U.S. states reported outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis among children attending youth camps during a recent study period, according to research published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. Outbreaks were most frequently related to norovirus exposure after food preparation or recreational water activities, researchers said.

Children who have an immunoglobulin E-mediated allergy are less likely to have complicated appendicitis than children without allergies, with less time spent in the hospital following surgery, according to findings published in JAMA Pediatrics.

The introduction of rotavirus vaccination in the United States significantly reduced the rates of rotavirus-specific gastroenteritis in all age groups, with the most substantial decreases observed in children between the ages of 0 and 4 years.

Infants residing within Dhaka, Bangladesh, who received the live oral rotavirus vaccine Rotarix had weak rotavirus immunoglobulin responses, which were significantly impaired by maternal antibodies, according to study results.