TY  - JOUR
AB  - As recently as the 1980s, it was not uncommon for paediatric surgeons to operate on infants without anaesthesia. Today, the same omission would be considered criminal malpractice, and there is an increased concern with the possibility of consciousness in the earliest stage of human infancy. This concern reflects a more general trend that has characterised science since the early 1990s of taking consciousness seriously. While this attitude shift has opened minds towards the possibility that our earliest experiences predate our first memories, convincing demonstrations of infant consciousness remain challenging given that infants cannot report on their experiences. Furthermore, while many behavioural and neural markers of consciousness that do not rely on language have been validated in adults, no one specific marker can be confidently translated to infancy. For this reason, we have proposed the 'cluster-based' approach, in which a consensus of evidence across many markers, all pointing towards the same developmental period, could be used to argue convincingly for the presence of consciousness. CONCLUSION: We review the most promising markers for early consciousness, arguing that consciousness is likely to be in place by 5 months of age if not earlier.
AU  - Frohlich
AU  - Bayne, T.*
C1  - 72001
C2  - 56660
CY  - 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, Nj Usa
TI  - Markers of consciousness in infants: Towards a 'cluster-based' approach.
JO  - Acta Paediatr.
PB  - Wiley
PY  - 2024
SN  - 0001-656X
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Aim Recommendations for maximum blood draw in children range from 1 to 5% despite limited evidence. The aim of the study was to assess the safety of blood draws in children aged six months to 12 years targeting volumes of 3% of total blood volume. Methods Children who experienced three-monthly blood draws during participation in one of three investigators initiated clinical trials conducted in our institution were examined. In total, 629 venous blood draws were performed in 141 children. Adverse events and blood counts were assessed. Results Overall, 608 adverse events were reported. None of these included symptoms that reflected concerns on blood draw volumes or frequency. Anaemia and red cell or haemoglobin measurements outside the normal age range were not observed. A reduction in haemoglobin, haematocrit, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular volume was noted in children participating in one of the three trials analysed. Conclusion Regular blood draws of up to 3% of total blood volume were not associated with signs of anaemia or hypovolaemia in young children. We suggest that the European recommendations be revised for clinical studies in which children are not exposed to treatments that are associated with anaemia risk.
AU  - Peplow, C.
AU  - Assfalg, R.
AU  - Beyerlein, A.
AU  - Hasford, J.*
AU  - Bonifacio, E.*
AU  - Ziegler, A.-G.
C1  - 54474
C2  - 45612
CY  - 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, Nj Usa
SP  - 940-944
TI  - Blood draws up to 3% of blood volume in clinical trials are safe in children.
JO  - Acta Paediatr.
VL  - 108
IS  - 5
PB  - Wiley
PY  - 2019
SN  - 0001-656X
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - To describe day care attendance in Germany today (in former East and former West Germany). To investigate longitudinally whether children attending day care centres have an increased risk of acquiring common cold, bronchitis, pneumonia, otitis media or diarrhea. METHODS: Questionnaire information was collected when the children in the cohort were 6, 12, 18, 24 months, and 4 and 6 years old. Day care within the first and first 2 years of life was investigated longitudinally with GEE (generalised estimating equations) methods in relation to common cold, bronchitis, pneumonia, otitis media and diarrhea within the first 6 years of life. RESULTS: Day care centre attendance is more common in former East than in former West Germany; this difference is evident even 10-12 years after German reunification. Children attending a day care centre were more likely to have common cold, bronchitis, pneumonia, otitis media and diarrhea within the first 2-3 years of life. With the exception of common cold, from year 4 onwards these associations were not statistically significant anymore and even reversed for some of the infections. CONCLUSIONS: Children attending day care centres were at an increased risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections within the first years of life. However, around school age these differences disappeared or even partly reversed.
AU  - Zutavern, A.
AU  - Rzehak, P.
AU  - Brockow, I.
AU  - Schaaf, B.*
AU  - Bollrath, C.*
AU  - von Berg, A.*
AU  - Link, E.*
AU  - Kraemer, U.*
AU  - Borte, M.*
AU  - Herbarth, O.*
AU  - Wichmann, H.-E.
AU  - Heinrich, J.
AU  - LISAplus Study Group (Wichmann, H.-E.
AU  - Heinrich, J.
AU  - Bolte, G.
AU  - Belcredi, P.
AU  - Jacob, B.
AU  - Schoetzau, A.
AU  - Mosetter, M.
AU  - Schindler, J.
AU  - Höhnke, A.
AU  - Franke, K.
AU  - Laubereau, B.
AU  - Sausenthaler, S.
AU  - Thaqi, A.
AU  - Zirngibl, A.
AU  - Zutavern, A.)
C1  - 2687
C2  - 24925
SP  - 1494-1499
TI  - Day care in relation to respiratory-tract and gastrointestinal infections in a German birth cohort study.
JO  - Acta Paediatr.
VL  - 96
IS  - 10
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
PY  - 2007
SN  - 0001-656X
ER  -