Patient Care

Sue Chantorn, laboratory supervisor in Seattle Children’s Research Services Lab, demonstrates sample aliquoting

In a major moment for combatting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), today the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommended an RSV vaccine for pregnant persons that researchers have determined is safe and effective in preventing RSV disease in infants through immunization during pregnancy.

The new Pfizer RSV vaccine joins the recently approved monoclonal antibody, nirsevimab, as the first products offered broadly to provide protection against RSV for all babies.

Seattle Children’s researchers studied both the RSV vaccine and the RSV antibody.

Studies for the RSV vaccine at Seattle Children’s were led by Dr. Janet Englund, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and researcher at Seattle Children’s, principal investigator in the Center for Clinical Translational Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington (UW).

RSV is the number one cause of hospitalizations each year at Seattle Children’s Hospital for young children and is the most common cause for hospitalization of all infants in the country, says Dr. Englund.

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It’s estimated nearly 86,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) will be diagnosed with cancer this year; in fact, one-third of patients treated for cancer at Seattle Children’s are AYAs.

These 15- to 39-year-olds face the unique challenges of their life stage — finishing high school or college, starting a career, establishing independence, finding a romantic partner and more — with the added pressure of cancer thrown into the mix.

Unfortunately, AYAs have the lowest clinical trial participation rate of all age groups and slower progress in survival improvement than younger and older patients.

Clinical trials are controlled, scientific studies that test the safety and effectiveness of specific therapeutic interventions. They could involve a new drug, a different way of administering chemotherapy or a new surgical technique.

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Today, leaders from Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) announced the location of its new clinic site in Seattle’s Central District.

The future home of OBCC, situated on the corner of 18^th Ave. S. and S. Jackson St., will serve area patients and families with robust mental health and behavioral health services, nutrition, acute and well-child medical visits, labs, violence and injury prevention support and addiction related resources, which are unique to OBCC and not offered elsewhere.

“The Central District neighborhood is OBCC’s original home, and we are overjoyed to share this news,” said Dr. Shaquita Bell, OBCC’s senior medical director. “This location is in the heart of the Central District and allows us to continue caring for our patients and families in the neighborhood, as we have for over 50 years.”

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As a second-year grad student working toward a doctorate degree in the field of health sciences, Emma is as busy as ever.

But for this 23-year-old, originally of Snohomish, WA, facing extraordinary challenges with determination and resilience is a skill she mastered early on.

In 2017, after experiencing extreme bouts of itchiness from head to toe, Emma went to see a dermatologist to get checked out, thinking she might be developing some form of eczema.

During the appointment, the doctor recommended a chest X-ray to potentially check for anything more serious. Unfortunately, the results were everything they hoped it wouldn’t be.

“I had tumors on my heart, lungs and under my clavicles – basically I had them all throughout my chest region,” Emma explained. “I was diagnosed with Stage II Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and it was like everything in the world around me slowed down. My body gave out and I just fell into my brother’s arms. At 17, my world completely changed.”

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Each year, Seattle Children’s Craniofacial Center treats hundreds of children with craniosynostosis, a condition most families have never heard of, yet can affect approximately 1 in every 2,500 babies in the United States.

That was the case for Kali Dempsey’s family, of Camano Island, WA, in early 2017.

“We were sent to Seattle Children’s when my son Ronan was about a month old and they diagnosed him there,” explained Dempsey. “It was all brand new. You hear about all kinds of things, but I had never come across craniosynostosis before.”

At birth, the seams between the bone plates in a baby’s skull are not fused together, allowing a child’s head to move through the birth canal and permitting the skull to grow bigger over time. Craniosynostosis is when one or more of these seams closes too early.

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Seattle Children’s providers are leaders in brain tumor care and research, offering some of the most advanced treatments, neurosurgeries and clinical trials of any children’s hospital.

Its Brain Tumor Program is the largest in the Northwest and one of the largest in the world.

In this edition of On the Pulse, one Seattle Children’s patient shares their personal experience traveling across the world for medical care, navigating language and education barriers, and finding strength in transition.

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As a part of the festivities leading up to the MLB All-Star game, hosted in Seattle on July 11, two Seattle Children’s patients, Isaac Williams and Tiago Viernes, got once-in-a-lifetime experiences thanks to MLB and MLB All-Star partners Dairy Queen (DQ) and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN).

Each year, MLB invites a guest that has demonstrated incredible courage in overcoming a challenge to announce an MLB Draft pick.

This year, the Seattle Mariners recommended they select Tiago to read out the name of the first-round pick for the Seattle Mariners, on stage in front of a live audience, and nationally televised.

Additionally, MLB All-Star Game sponsor Dairy Queen hosted the DQ All-Star Experience for Seattle Children’s patient, Isaac Williams, in partnership with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. In addition to attending the All Star-Game, Isaac and his family got to experience on-field batting practice, meet and greets with MLB players and more before the game. 

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Luna, a Seattle Children’s patient smiles while hearing her favorite song ‘Let it Go’

Seattle Children’s patients, families and staff were surprised by a pop-up performance from students in Yale University’s a cappella group, Mixed Company.

The undergraduate students traveled over 2,000 miles for a series of performances in the Seattle area and made a stop at Seattle Children’s with the hope of bringing joy to those staying and working in the hospital.

A cappella is a style of music that does not use instruments, and instead uses a range of vocal skills to harmonize and perform songs in a variety of genres including pop, rock, folk, jazz and R&B.

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At just 19 years old, Faye, an avid swimmer and college freshman at Northeastern University, found her life plans on hold when she began experiencing fevers and flu-like symptoms.

When her temperature reached 104 degrees, Faye called an Uber and headed to the nearest emergency department.

While at Boston Medical Center, providers discovered Faye had an abnormally low white blood cell count and kept her overnight.

“The minute they walked in, I knew something was deeply wrong,” recalled Faye.

The doctors explained to Faye and her mom, Molly, that her blood was filled with abnormal, immature white blood cells called blasts; they believed she had leukemia.

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After a family trip to Finland last summer, Jasmine’s family became increasingly concerned about some unusual symptoms she was experiencing.

What started as occasional numbness in her lip or left side of her face last spring had progressed to twitching, which the family later learned were increasingly strong seizures.

Her family had been proactive in seeking help for Jasmine, who is now 13 years old. In Finland, they took her to a specialist, had lab tests performed and tried to adjust her diet and vitamin intake. They also took her to a chiropractor when she returned to their home in Alaska, but the symptoms did not let up.

Then, in September 2022, Jasmine’s father, Erik, found her having the most intense and longest seizure he had ever seen.

“Up to this point, she had never lost any of her awareness of what was going on,” Erik said. “That time, her eyes were open but it was like nobody’s home.”

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