Mental Health

I knew from the earliest stages that if I pursued medicine as a career, infectious disease was the only choice for me. As a child, my favorite storybook was The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur, which recounts the discovery of the rabies vaccine. The idea that there were these mysterious entities called viruses and the human immune system had ways to combat them was completely captivating. As I grew older and learned about infectious diseases such as HIV, this fascination only increased. By the time I decided to go to medical school, I had already consumed scores of books on Ebola, Lassa fever, antimicrobial resistance and anything else I could get my hands on. In residency, I was mocked for carrying C.J. Peters’ Virus Hunter in my lab coat pocket, whereas the pockets of my fellow residents were teaming with reference books that allowed them to function on the wards.

Study findings published recently in Child Development showed that single motherhood is still associated with negative consequences on the cognitive ability of children, but not because of parenting issues. Instead, deficits can largely be attributed to the worse economic circumstances that come with single parenthood, which may reduce the resources available to families, researchers said. The findings may help clinicians understand the circumstances of children in single mother families, said Susan Harkness, PhD, professor of public policy at the University of Bristol in England.

An estimated 86% of parents agree or strongly agree that their teens spend too much time gaming, but many may be mistaken regarding the extent of their child’s gaming habits, according to a recent poll.

Today is International Epilepsy Day. According to WHO, approximately 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and about 70% of these individuals could live seizure-free if they were properly diagnosed and treated.

Most children experiencing myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, are not diagnosed with the disease, according to research published in Child & Youth Care Forum.

Some decisions in life are quite difficult and complex; others come more easily and naturally. For me, the latter was the case with my decision to pursue a career in infectious diseases. From early first year pharmacology classes, to learning at the feet of ID giants like Harold Neu, Glenda Garvey, Mark Goldberger and many others in my 3rd and 4th years, going into ID was an easy choice.

WHO published a list of 10 global health challenges for the next decade that it said “reflects a deep concern that leaders are failing to invest enough resources in core health priorities and systems.”

HHS Secretary Alex Azar announced that companies that do not stop manufacturing, distributing and selling unauthorized flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes — except for tobacco and menthol flavors — could face FDA enforcement action.

To kick off the new year, IDC has assembled a list of the 10 most-read stories of 2019. Please follow the links to access the full stories.

Boys who are born small for their gestational age, or SGA, have a higher risk for being diagnosed with infertility in adulthood, according to a Danish study published in Human Reproduction.