https://medicalxpress.com/pediatrics-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Pediatrics Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that influences how people communicate and process information. A significant proportion of autistic children do not speak or speak only a few words. Many find it difficult to communicate face to face, especially when interaction is fast-moving or dependent on interpreting bodily cues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-social-media-valued-community-spaces.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 21:20:01 EDT news710671974 A team from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the University of Valencia (UV) has developed and validated an artificial intelligence (AI) system capable of distinguishing Ewing sarcoma from other morphologically similar tumors with high accuracy. The model, which also enables optimal use of biopsy tissue, achieves 91.6% accuracy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-ai-tool-distinguishes-ewing-sarcoma.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 19:40:02 EDT news710694182 Europe must act now to strengthen maternal vaccination during pregnancy and ensure all women and babies can benefit from a new generation of vaccines to protect against serious infections. That is according to a new Lancet Regional Health - Europe series led by Professor Asma Khalil at City St George's, University of London, which is being launched and presented at the 2026 Global Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Congress in Utrecht. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-maternal-vaccines-babies-infections-unequal.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 19:00:09 EDT news710692321 Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumor found outside the brain in children, yet why some children respond well to treatment while others do not has remained poorly understood. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists and their collaborators built one of the most comprehensive datasets of neuroblastoma cells to date, using it to define the tumor's cell types and identify a gene signature marking a malignant cell population tied to poor prognosis. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-scientists-neuroblastoma-cells-poor-outcomes.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 19:00:05 EDT news710697961 A study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine identified shared molecular patterns in human milk that link maternal nutrition, mammary gland biology and infant growth. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-human-window-mammary-gland-function.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 14:01:02 EDT news710600678 It took the better part of a century for maternal mortality to be recognized, forgotten and finally recognized again as an urgent public health crisis in the United States. In contrast, research shows fathers—particularly men in their 20s through early 40s—die disproportionately from preventable causes such as suicide, overdose, homicide and accidental injury. Yet paternal mortality is rarely examined in connection with the transition to parenthood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-dads-dying-kids-born-tracking.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 11:40:07 EDT news710670660 Shared family factors, such as genes and upbringing, are likely to explain a large part of the link between high screen use and mental health problems in young people. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in Nature Human Behaviour. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-twin-screen-link-mental-health.html Thu, 08 Oct 2026 05:00:20 EDT news710611502 Intranasal sufentanil-ketamine is fast-acting and appears to be well tolerated and effective at curbing acute pain for pediatric patients in the emergency department, according to a study presented at the annual European Emergency Medicine Congress, held Sept. 23–27 in Paris. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-intranasal-sufentanil-ketamine-safe-effective.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:40:09 EDT news710574505 New research shows the efficacy and safety of hydroxyurea treatment for sickle cell anemia at four low-income sites in Africa, with no increase in clinically diagnosed infections. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-children-sickle-cell-safely-hydroxyurea.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:30:11 EDT news710587862 A donor heart recovery technique developed at Vanderbilt Health has been successfully adapted for children by pediatric heart transplant surgeons at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, potentially expanding access to lifesaving heart transplants for children. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-heart-recovery-technique-pediatric-transplants.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:00:01 EDT news710602501 Imagine if you were sitting in a concert hall and, with the wave of a hand or press of a button, you could cue an instrument to begin playing onstage. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-community-engagement-children-autism-enjoy.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 09:20:06 EDT news710582694 Testing newborn babies for sepsis could become faster and more accurate, reducing complications and deaths, thanks to the development of a Western Australia–led point-of-care neonatal sepsis test. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-faster-accurate-newborn-sepsis.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:20:06 EDT news710571542 Researchers have identified patterns of gene activity associated with severe COVID-19 in children that are shared with other serious respiratory infections. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-scientists-gene-signatures-children-severe.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:00:05 EDT news710571362 Medicine and surgery are not the answer for overweight children, the World Health Organization said Thursday. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-obesity-drugs-surgery-10s.html Wed, 07 Oct 2026 06:38:41 EDT news710573849 For millions of children suffering from severe malnutrition, an effective treatment already exists. The problem is that many of them never receive it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-locally-grown-crops-access-childhood.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 19:00:10 EDT news710523961 A multicenter study led by researchers at Sultan Qaboos University has found that patients with a rare inherited form of lupus may continue to accumulate organ damage even when conventional measures indicate that their disease activity has declined. According to the research team, this represents the largest longitudinal cohort of DNASE1L3 deficiency reported to date. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-inherited-lupus-early-silently.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:00:05 EDT news710515802 Detecting impaired motor function as early as possible after birth with the help of a standard camera linked to intelligent systems can help diagnose infantile conditions characterized by hypotonia: reduced muscle tone, which can limit active movement. A research team is investigating this approach based on work carried out on babies with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare genetic neuromuscular disorder. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-camera-combined-ai-diagnosis-movement.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 13:00:10 EDT news710505361 Our birthdays tell us how long we have lived, but not necessarily how our bodies are aging. Biological age reflects the condition and function of our cells and tissues, shaped by genetics, lifestyle, environment and disease. In people with chronic conditions such as cancer, kidney disease and heart disease, researchers have observed signs of aging that appear earlier than expected for a person's age. This is known as accelerated biological aging. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-biological-aging-clues-term-health.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:40:01 EDT news710499301 A new global definition of clinical obesity classifies far fewer children as obese than widely used body mass index (BMI) thresholds, according to a large international study. The findings could lead to changes in how childhood obesity is identified and managed. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-childhood-obesity-common-health-based.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:10:01 EDT news710494201 Pennsylvania has surpassed 1,000 measles cases this year, state health officials said Monday, making it the largest state outbreak in more than three decades. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-pennsylvania-measles-outbreak-largest-decades.html Tue, 06 Oct 2026 02:50:01 EDT news710469848 Idiopathic short stature (ISS) describes children whose height is substantially below the expected range for their age and sex without any identifiable medical cause. Recombinant growth hormone (GH) therapy is often used to support growth, but responses vary widely. While some children experience meaningful catch-up growth, others show more limited improvement, making it difficult for clinicians and families to anticipate treatment benefits and set realistic expectations. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-growth-hormone-therapy-responses-children.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:40:12 EDT news710430181 Two new studies highlight how communication gaps can complicate efforts to protect vulnerable users of technologies such as social media and AI chatbots. Researchers will present the work at the 29th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2026), held Oct. 1–14 in Salt Lake City. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-social-media-safety-messaging-ai.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:40:02 EDT news710430901 Imagine a child who has been hospitalized numerous times. Perhaps they were also diagnosed with a mental health condition as a teenager. At the same time, they grew up in a family affected by unemployment, poverty or alcohol abuse. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-children-multiple-adversities-die-younger.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:20:01 EDT news710430241 High-risk neuroblastoma is one of the most aggressive forms of solid tumors affecting children, originating in the nervous system. While a newer class of targeted immunotherapy drugs has improved survival rates, according to the American Cancer Society, cancer can hide from the immune system, causing patients to relapse or develop resistance to treatment. Now, a team of researchers from Penn State College of Medicine has discovered a novel strategy to unmask cancer cells, improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy in cell experiments and mouse models. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-pediatric-cancer-visible-boosts-immunotherapy.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:00:02 EDT news710426282 The school bell may signal the end of lessons, but for more than half a million Australian children each week, it doesn't mean the end of opportunities to be active. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-school-hours-kids-stay-screens.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 13:40:06 EDT news710422501 Have you ever been telling someone a story when their phone lights up, and their eyes flicker toward their device? Maybe they check the notification or send a quick reply. Although the interruption only lasts a few seconds, the conversation and your connection have been disrupted. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-technoference-disrupt-parentchild.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:20:03 EDT news710417342 What if checking medication levels were as simple as enjoying a lollipop? A candy-coated device called Lollylab could provide the answer. In ACS Sensors, researchers describe how the lollipop's stem transfers saliva to a sensor that measures acetaminophen levels. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-candy-coated-lollylab-saliva-medication.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:20:13 EDT news710410561 Even when we are not speaking aloud, we often talk to ourselves in our heads, using language to guide our thoughts and actions. This is known as "inner speech" and is involved in cognitive functions such as attention and self-control. However, studying how inner speech develops is challenging, particularly in young children, who may not yet be able to clearly describe what is happening in their minds. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-reveals-children-speech.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:00:09 EDT news710408522 Unpasteurized milk, cheese and other "raw" dairy products are unsafe to drink or eat, especially for young children and those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, according to updated guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-experts-dangers-consuming-raw-dairy.html Mon, 05 Oct 2026 09:00:04 EDT news710161441 Indigenous children across the globe are experiencing significant climate-related health impacts, ranging from malnutrition and infectious diseases to effects on mental health and cultural well-being and problems before birth, according to a new study. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-10-climate-affects-indigenous-children-health.html Sat, 03 Oct 2026 11:00:06 EDT news710146160