Children’s amped-up immune systems allow them to beat back COVID-19 easily, producing a strong initial response that quickly slaps away the virus. But there might be a price to be paid for that sharp reaction, a new study from Australia says. Because the initial response provides such a swift takedown, kids’ immune systems don’t remember the virus and don’t adapt to be prepared for future infections, according to scientists with the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. As a result, their body still treats COVID as a new threat, opening them to becoming sick from future COVID infections. “The price that children pay for being so good at getting rid of the virus in the first place is that they don’t have the opportunity to develop ‘adaptive’ memory to protect them the second time they are exposed to the virus,” lead author Tri Phan said in an institute news release. He’s head of the Intravital Microscopy and Gene Expression (IMAGE) Lab at Garvan. Everyone’s immune system has two modes — the innate and the adaptive systems. The innate immune system is mainly comprised of barriers like skin and mucosal surfaces that physically block viruses from entering the body. It also can generate general immune responses when it detects a foreign invader like a virus or a bacterium, although it can’t distinguish between specific pathogens.…  read on >  read on >

When it comes to tobacco control, some states do a far better job than others of preventing and reducing smoking. A new report from the American Lung Association (ALA) notes that California, Maine, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., are doing the best job of putting proven tobacco control policies in place. Conversely, those who have the most need to enact policies are Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas. Policies vary widely from state to state. Some states still allow workplace smoking, including in restaurants and bars. Others have had smoke-free laws in place for decades. “The policies examined in our report have a direct impact on the health of state residents,” said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association. “Since no state received all ‘A’ grades, every state has the opportunity to improve their tobacco control policies and improve public health. This is also why federal tobacco control action is so important. Every person in America deserves the same protections.” The report grades states on the strength of their smoke-free workplace laws, ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products, funding for state tobacco prevention programs, the level of state tobacco taxes, and coverage and access to services to quit tobacco. Grades varied, with 23 states and Washington, D.C., getting A grades for strength of their smoke-free workplace laws and 45 states receiving…  read on >  read on >

Many people who have surgery for chronic pancreatitis continue to have health struggles in the years afterward — with some dying at a young age, a new study finds. The study, done at one U.S. medical center, is the largest to look at overall survival in the years after people have surgery for chronic pancreatitis — a condition in which the pancreas becomes permanently damaged by inflammation. And it found that while short-term survival was high, more than one-third of patients died within 10 years of surgery, often at a young age. Among patients who died, the median age at death was about 50. That means half were younger than that. Experts said the findings underscore how serious chronic pancreatitis can be, and how important it is for patients to have long-term care after surgery. “It can’t just be go to your primary care provider once a year,” said lead researcher Dr. Gregory Wilson, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, in Ohio. Instead, he said, patients need continuing care for physical health conditions like diabetes, and in many cases, psychological counseling and care for addiction — whether to alcohol, smoking or the opioids many patients are prescribed to manage their pain. The pancreas is a vital organ that produces enzymes that aid digestion and hormones that regulate blood…  read on >  read on >

A cosmetic laser treatment that promises to erase wrinkles, scars, age spots and sun damage may also prevent the return of some skin cancers, a new, small study suggests. Researchers found that in patients who had basal or squamous cell skin cancers, nonablative fractional laser treatment lowered the chances of the cancer recurrence by about half. “We actually don’t know why this procedure has this result,” said senior researcher Dr. Mathew Avram, director of the Dermatology Laser and Cosmetic Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “We have to go to the lab and try to figure out why this is the case. There are theories about whether or not the treatment causes your immune function and skin to change, but we have no evidence of that,” he said. “Fractional lasers treat a fraction of the skin and leave the majority of the skin untreated,” Avram said. “But even though we’re only treating a part of the skin, the entire skin benefits from it.” Basal and squamous cell skin cancers are the most common type of skin cancer and are usually curable when caught early. For the study, Avram’s team reviewed the records of patients who had basal or squamous cell cancer. These patients typically have a 35% risk of developing new cancer within three years and a 50% risk of recurrence within five years.…  read on >  read on >

When kids suffer a concussion, an extended period of rest at home is always the best course, right? Perhaps not. In fact, a new study suggests that — despite what many people may presume — getting kids back to school quickly is the best way to boost their chance for a rapid recovery and better outcomes. The finding stems from a look at post-concussion outcomes of more than 1,600 children between the ages of 5 and 18. “There has been minimal research to date that provides guidance to clinicians, parents and schools regarding an appropriate time for youth to return to school after a concussion,” said study leader Christopher Vaughan, a pediatric neuropsychologist at Children’s National Hospital in Rockville, Md. The current guidance, he said, is more general about activities and less specific to returning to schools. Usually, a rest period of 24 to 48 hours is encouraged, with a gradual return to activities, including school, based on symptom tolerance. “We found that [the] typical time away from school ranged from three to five days, but that an earlier return to school — defined as missing two or fewer days of school, excluding weekends — was associated with a lower symptom burden at two weeks post-injury,” Vaughan said. For the study, his team focused on the post-concussion experience of 1,630 children who were treated at…  read on >  read on >