Medical Bulletin 10/January/2024

Here are the top medical news of the day:

TV's impact on toddlers and how it influences the processing abilities

Babies and toddlers exposed to television or video viewing may be more likely to exhibit atypical sensory behaviors, such as being disengaged and disinterested in activities, seeking more intense stimulation in an environment, or being overwhelmed by sensations like loud sounds or bright lights, according to data from researchers at Drexel’s College of Medicine published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

According to the researchers, children exposed to greater TV viewing by their second birthday were more likely to develop atypical sensory processing behaviors, such as “sensation seeking” and “sensation avoiding,” as well as “low registration” — being less sensitive or slower to respond to stimuli, such as their name being called, by 33 months old.

Reference: Putting your toddler in front of the TV? You might hurt their ability to process the world around them new data suggest; JAMA Pediatrics, DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.5923

SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 is less resistant to vaccine, but may be a problem in the lung

New research shows that the recently emerged BA.2.86 omicron subvariant of the virus that causes COVID-19 can be neutralized by bivalent mRNA vaccine-induced antibodies in the blood, which explains why this variant did not cause a widespread surge as previously feared.

However, the study in cell cultures showed this SARS-CoV-2 variant can infect human cells that line the lower lung and engage in virus-host cell membrane fusion more efficiently, two features linked to severe disease symptoms.

The study is published (Jan. 8, 2024) in the journal Cell.

Reference: SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 is less resistant to vaccine, but may be a problem in the lung; Cell

COVID-19 vaccine strongly effective for children and adolescents during delta and omicron

Children and adolescents who received one of the main COVID-19 vaccines were significantly protected from the illness and showed no increased signs of cardiac complications compared to young people who were not vaccinated, according to a new real-world study led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

When the Delta variant rose to prominence, the study showed that vaccinated young people were 98 percent less likely to be infected than their unvaccinated peers, and data indicated that the vaccine’s effectiveness decline slightly when the Omicron variant became dominant. The paper was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Reference: Real-world analysis: COVID-19 vaccine strongly effective for children and adolescents during delta an omicron; Annals of Internal Medicine