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Influenza vaccination rates for adolescents who suffer from asthma and other illnesses are still far too low, according to a recent study. The research, published in the November 2008 issue of Pediatrics, was based at the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim health Care.

A very difficult-to-treat child leukemia may benefit from the discovery of a small but potent epigenetic change that launches the cancer - but could potentially be reversed relatively easily, preventing cancer-promoting genes from being turned on. The study, led by researchers at Children's hospital Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is the cover article in the November 4 issue of Cancer Cell.

Children born with a condition that can prevent them from growing to a normal height now have a new treatment option available with the approval of Norditropin(R) (somatropin [rDNA origin] injection) for the treatment of short stature in children born Small for Gestational Age (SGA) with no catch-up growth by age 2-4 years. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Norditropin(R) based on data from a 13-year clinical trial in children SGA.

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Do you want to become a Pediatrician? Take our Becoming a Pediatrician Quiz to see if you have done your homework and know everything you should about becoming a doctor and a career in Pediatrics.

The damaging effects of smoking and smoke exposure can be seen at any age. Pediatricians have even noted these negative effects in various stages of infant development. The consequences of maternal smoke exposure during pregnancy can range from higher rates of prematurity to increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Alcohol and attitudes are two of the key factors that health professionals need to be aware of when they are dealing with sexually active teenagers. Researchers from the University of Sheffield, UK, found considerable differences between the way that boys and girls aged 14 to 16 viewed a series of sexual scenarios.

Boston Medical Center has received a one-year grant for $50,000 from The Avon Foundation to support the Child Witness to Violence Project (CWVP) a counseling, advocacy and outreach program that focuses on young children who are bystanders to community and domestic violence. CWVP will use the grant to create a partnership to train police officers to better recognize and respond to children affected by violence.

Longer wait times for surgical repair of inguinal hernias in infants and young children under the age of 2 were associated with more emergency department visits and a greater risk of incarcerated hernia, found a study published in CMAJ. There are few studies on wait times for surgery in children as most focus on adults. The study found that the risk of incarceration doubles with a wait time of 35 days compared with a wait time of 14 days, and that 11.

A recent Field Poll of 966 California voters found that 45% of likely voters support Proposition 4 -- a Nov.