In launching one of the Section’s major strategic goals -- a commitment to work to improve global perinatal health -- the Section on Perinatal Pediatrics has joined with the Section on International Child Health and the AAP Office of International Health.
In early 2007, a new Section strategic planning process was initiated. Guided by Section members’ input, the Strategic Planning Committee identified four new areas for the Section’s strategic focus in the next 5 years:
education, leadership, quality and global health.
In 2008, the Section's Research Committee, led by Ron Ariagno, MD, FAAP, awarded three Marshall Klaus Trainee Research Awards. This program of annual awards was established through an endowment from Johnson & Johnson.
Martha Victoria Douglas-Escobar, University of Florida College of Medicine
Mentor: Michael D. Weiss, M.D.
"Effects of Neutrophins and Homing Factors on Migration of Multipotent Astrocyte Stem Cells"
Francheyska Silfa Mazara, Tufts University School of Medicine
Mentor: MaryAnn V. Volpe, M.D.
"Effect of Hyperoxia on Developmentally Regulated Hox Genes in Key Stages of Lung Morphogenesis and Alveologenesis"
Stefanie Peterson Rogers, Baylor College of Medicine
Mentor: Steven Abrams, M.D.
"Vitamin D Status and Impact on Bone Mineralization in Hispanic and Caucasian Infants"
Whooping Cough is Making a Comeback, Risking Serious illness or Death Among Newborns
Whooping cough, also known by the medical term pertussis, is a vaccine-preventable disease that is caused by a bacterium (germ). It is highly contagious and newborns are at highest risk of being seriously ill with the infection. A baby begins to develop immunity to whooping cough (also called pertussis) after his or her first set of immunizations but is not fully immune to whooping cough until the immunization series is complete (at 6 months of age or more). This low immunity that is normal in early infancy, in addition to a baby's very small lung and airways, make babies with the infection very vulnerable to its most serious effects. Whooping cough lasts for many weeks, causing spasms of severe coughing, often with a whooping sound at the end of the cough. In newborns, the breathing problems caused by whooping cough can be very severe and can even interfere with breathing in air and cause blue spells,
pauses in breathing, vomiting, fainting (passing out), or even death. It can be spread from child to child or from an adult who typically is only mildly sick and seems only to have a cold or bronchitis. The number of cases of whooping cough in the United States has been steadily increasing since the 1980s, making more babies each year vulnerable to this life-threatening infection.
Global Perinatal Health Takes Center Stage
Martha Victoria Douglas-Escobar, University of Florida College of Medicine
Francheyska Silfa Mazara, Tufts University School of Medicine