Pediatrics

Infant botulism occurs in infants younger than one year and can cause a potentially life-threatening, progressive paralysis that typically requires hospitalization.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services review of evidence and best practices for pediatric gender dysphoria characterized the existing research base as generally low quality, noting that studies often have methodological flaws and potential bias.

The published literature on pediatric gender medicine contains no randomized controlled trials, according to assessments cited in a review of evidence and best practices for pediatric gender dysphoria.

Medical interventions for pediatric gender dysphoria—commonly described as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender-affirming surgeries—are associated in the literature with potential risks including infertility/sterility, sexual dysfunction, impaired bone density accrual, adverse cognitive impacts, cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders, psychiatric disorders, surgical complications, and regret.

Infants aged 12 months and under are at highest risk for severe pertussis complications and hospitalization; infants may not produce the classic 'whoop' and can instead experience breathing difficulty or pauses in breathing (apnea).

Infant botulism is a rare and serious illness that occurs in babies under age 1 when immature gut microbiomes allow ingestion of bacteria whose spores produce botulinum toxin in the intestine.

Common clinical features of infant botulism include constipation, poor feeding, drooping eyelids (ptosis), weak muscle tone (hypotonia), difficulty swallowing, and breathing problems, and infants exhibiting these signs require immediate medical attention.

Whooping cough is especially dangerous for infants under one year of age; among infants who require hospitalization for pertussis, about 20% develop pneumonia and about 1% die.

The 2015 Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) randomized trial led by Gideon Lack at King's College London found that introducing peanut products in infancy reduced the future risk of developing peanut allergy by more than 80%.

Symptoms of infant botulism can take weeks to develop and can include poor feeding, loss of head control, drooping eyelids, a flat facial expression, floppiness, and difficulties swallowing or breathing.