Acta paediatrica
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Comment
Caring for the health and medical and emotional needs of children of migrants and asylum seekers.
Political turmoil, military conflicts and other international sociological upheavals are causing significant immigration of large numbers of people, including infants and children, in Europe. Many of these young migrants are refugees. These youngsters have significant health needs, and medical conditions (such as infectious diseases) and mental health problems due to their previous stressful situations and the difficulties that they often experience while settling, even temporarily, into their new environments. Government authorities must screen for transmissible diseases and ensure that vaccine-preventable infections are adequately covered. Paediatricians must give the best possible care for these children and act as their advocates. This can be enhanced by collaborating with national and international paediatric societies and with international non-government agencies. This problem is not confined to Europe; world-wide, it occurs on a massive scale and causes huge burdens for poorer countries that have serious difficulties in coping with the extra financial, personnel and infrastructure needs imposed by massive, uncontrolled migration of populations that are often unhealthy and inadequately nourished. However, this should not be used as a pretext to deny safe refuge to children and their families who need it. ⋯ Massive movements of infant and child immigrants and refugees across European borders over recent years have brought challenges to paediatricians because of the needs for the health and medical and mental health care of these young people. Paediatricians have an important role in their care and by acting, wherever possible, as their advocates. This is a massive problem, world-wide, in which paediatricians can have a potentially significant positive impact.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Randomized controlled trial of intrapleural streptokinase in empyema thoracis in children.
To compare intrapleural streptokinase and placebo in paediatric empyema. ⋯ There is no short-term clinical benefit of intrapleural streptokinase in paediatric empyema; this therapy may be reserved for those with stage 7 empyema to prevent pleural thickening in the long term.
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Thanks to a successful voluntary vaccination programme, measles, mumps and rubella are rare diseases in Sweden. Coverage among children 18 mo of age has been 99%, but the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination (MMR) has increasingly been questioned among parents. ⋯ Our study indicates that official statistics on MMR vaccination uptake underestimate the number of vaccinated children. Vaccine safety is a major concern for many parents and needs to be addressed by healthcare professionals at institutions offering paediatric vaccinations.
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To identify differences in baseline characteristics and outcome between long-stay and other patients admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit with the same diagnosis. ⋯ Long-stay patients in the paediatric intensive care unit had more complications, but baseline characteristics, mortality and functional outcome were not different from a control group admitted with the same diagnosis.
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To provide descriptive data on women who delivered at 23-25 wk of gestation, and to relate foetal and neonatal outcomes to maternal factors, obstetric management and the principal reasons for preterm birth. ⋯ Women who deliver at 23-25 wk comprise a risk group characterized by a high risk of reproductive failure and pregnancy complications. Survival rates were similar regardless of the reason for preterm birth. Policies of active perinatal management virtually eliminated intrapartum stillbirths.