Closer Look
A commonly used test to diagnose UTIs in kids can leave a traumatic legacy
Maria Fabrizio for STAT
The decades-old practice is a mainstay in diagnosing and treating recurrent urinary tract infections in kids. But it's not hard to imagine how it might have a profound and traumatic effect on a child to be restrained, without sedation, while a physician threads a catheter up the urinary tract. The child then must urinate while lying on a table while imaging captures the process. "Until I got my medical records, I had always just remembered it in the form of a nightmare," said Shelby Smith, now 28, who launched a grassroots group that raises awareness about the test and hosts support groups.
The procedure works well to diagnose vesicoureteral reflux, which affects 1 in 4 children with UTIs and can lead to kidney failure if untreated. Some physicians do offer sedation, and newer tools include one that at least allows parents to hold their children, who urinate sitting down. STAT contributor Max Bennett has more, including where research is heading.
infectious disease
Turmoil at ProMED continues, with its future in doubt
STAT's Helen Branswell brings this report: Today was meant to be the day ProMED resumed normal operations after a five-week strike by the experts who operate the global infectious diseases surveillance system. But the future of the venerated program remains in doubt. Over the weekend a number of moderators wrote to Paul Tambyah, chair of the executive committee of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, to say they will not return to work until a decision taken late last week to fire three moderators is reversed. (STAT learned Sunday that two additional moderators have been told their contracts have been terminated.)
In going to Tambyah, the still-striking moderators went over the head of the society's CEO, Linda MacKinnon, who fired the moderators, the leaders of the strike. "Actions and decisions like the termination jeopardize the future of the ProMED that we all care about," Tom Yuill, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a 16-year ProMED veteran who was not fired, wrote to Tambyah in explaining his decision to remain on strike. Yuill called the firings "vengeful retribution."
There are efforts afoot to try to find ProMED a new home and secure funding, something the ISID has struggled to provide over the past couple of years. But it is unclear how the continuing turmoil will affect ongoing talks. STAT has reached out to Tambyah, a professor of medicine at the National University of Singapore, for comment on the firings. He has not responded.
infectious disease
Midwinter report: Flu shots are performing well in South America
Here's some promising news: It looks like the 2023 flu vaccine formulation might perform better this winter than it has in some others. Early data from South America say flu-related hospitalizations were 52% lower for children and adults who got their flu shots than for those who didn't. The CDC warns us not to count on our flu season to exactly mimic what's happening midwinter in the Southern Hemisphere, but if similar flu viruses spread and predominate in the U.S. during our flu season, our vaccines could provide similar protection against severe illness that requires hospital care this fall and winter.
In still other vaccine news, a study in JAMA Network Open more says getting a flu shot and a bivalent Covid booster at the same time didn't lower immune response or cause troubling side effects any more than getting either shot alone.
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