Kawasaki disease is a condition that can affect many parts of a child’s body, including the mucous membranes (lining of the mouth and breathing passages), skin, eyes, and lymph nodes, which are part of the immune system. The disease is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children in the U.S, and it […]
On the Pulse
Several studies conducted in Los Angeles and New York City have identified high concentrations of air pollution as harmful to a developing fetus, but there have been few studies of traffic-related air pollution and birth outcomes in areas that have low to moderate air pollution. Now, a team led by Sheela Sathyanarayana, MD, MPH, of […]
Most children watch TV before age two, typically starting at about five to nine months. That’s despite the fact that recent guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics discourage television or video viewing by infants before the age of two. Encouraged by disputed claims that videos can benefit an infant or toddler’s educational development, the […]
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended in 2009 that primary care clinicians should screen adolescents for depression. But a positive result or screen does not mean that every young person needs active treatment—including psychotherapy and medication—for depression, based on a new study led by Laura Richardson, MD, MPH, of Seattle Children’s Research Institute. The […]
We’re approaching flu season, a time when you hear a lot about the importance of getting a flu shot, and parents get nervous about children catching the flu. Heck, even parents get nervous about being sick. Speedy testing for the flu can help ease anxiety for parents – it might be just a common cold, […]
In October 2010, Heather Landis received a phone call no expectant mother ever wants to receive. At five months pregnant with their second child, the doctor told Heather and her husband Dale that the baby girl they were expecting would be born with a cleft lip and palate, birth defects that occur early in pregnancy. […]
In one five-day span this September, four patients – one teenager and three critically ill infants – received life-saving heart transplants at Seattle Children’s. For four families, the week meant the end of an agonizing wait and the start of a new life. To perform four transplants in five days is very unusual, says Dr. […]
This post has been retired.
10-year-old Jenna Gibson, a Maple Valley, Wash. resident, has been a patient at Seattle Children’s since she was initially diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia earlier this year. While staying at the hospital’s cancer care inpatient unit recently, she had the idea to create for her friends and family a video entitled: “Haunting: A Head” – […]
Imagine a prowler casing a neighborhood, looking for a way into a home. That’s essentially what HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus, does: It moves through the bloodstream trying to gain entry to T-cells — the primary warrior of the immune system. A special receptor on the T-cell’s surface (called CCR5) is the open door it […]