CHOC leads the first ED study on how food, housing insecurity impacts children’s health
A collaboration between CHOC, UC Irvine and Chapman University, the project involves surveying 7,000 CHOC emergency department patients by September 2021. With results expected by the end of the year, it will assess adverse childhood experiences – with particular attention on abuse, neglect and/or household challenges. Learn more about the study – which is the only known hospital research project of its kind in the United States.
UCI Health and CHOC open one of the first fetal care centers in So. Cal.
A partnership between UCI Health and CHOC, the Fetal Care Center of Southern California has begun seeing its first patients: expectant parents experiencing the unexpected news of a high-risk pregnancy with a baby facing complex medical conditions. This unique collaboration, filling an unmet need in the region, brings together world-class experts in both maternal-fetal medicine and pediatrics so both parents and baby are cared for in one patient-centered location. Learn more.
Reminders of outbreaks past: CHOC providers publish manuscript on an invasive Mycobacterium abscessus outbreak at a pediatric dental clinic
Back in 2016, Orange County experienced the largest outbreak of MAB odontogenic infections from a pediatric dental clinic, sending over 70 children to the hospital. Five years later, CHOC providers detail what was then one of the most significant outbreaks they had seen, eventually leading to a change in water standards in California. You can read their published manuscript in full here.
Related, two CHOC infectious disease specialists have earned the designation of Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society fellows – making them two of just 12 clinicians around the world to receive this distinction. Learn more about the PIDS designation here.
Pediatric urology study illustrates how COVID-19 pandemic caused patients to delay seeking emergency care
CHOC’s pediatric urology team has published the largest study of its kind on an emergency condition that afflicts young males, adding to the emerging body of data on how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused patients to delay seeking emergency treatment. The study’s key finding: Patients significantly delayed seeking treatment in the ED following the onset of symptoms of a testicular torsion during the early months of the pandemic, and, as a result, more of them had to have a testicle removed. Read more here.
Batten disease patients throughout United States seek care at CHOC, highlighting its reputation as a destination for kids with rare conditions
There is no cure for CLN2 disease – one of the most common forms of the inherited disorder known as Batten disease – but, thanks to genetic scientists, neurosurgeons and nurses at CHOC, there is hope for delaying its progression through Brineura infusion therapy. CHOC has grown into the largest Brineura infusion center in the country and the second largest in the world, with children from all over the United States traveling to Orange County for treatment. Read more about CHOC’s progress against rare diseases.
U.S. News & World Report ranks CHOC among nation’s best children’s hospitals
CHOC has once again been recognized as a Best Children’s Hospital in U.S. News & World Report’s 2021-22 rankings. CHOC ranked in seven specialties: cancer; diabetes and endocrinology; neonatology; neurology and neurosurgery; orthopedics; pulmonology and lung surgery; and urology. Learn more.
Studies show that non-English speakers had greater chance of death from COVID-19
Over one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become clear that Black and Latinx patients have been disproportionately affected. But recently, an additional inequity has emerged for patients who don’t speak much or any English: They had a 35 percent greater chance of death. Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, which first noted the disparity, has responded by adding more interpreters and purchasing more technology to bridge the language barrier, but says there is more work to be done. Read the full story from Kaiser Health News.
Mark your calendars
CHOC offers a host of continuing medical education events to help clinicians stay on the cutting edge of practice.
View all upcoming CME events here.
