Painkiller tied to children’s asthma

Babies given acetaminophen for fevers and aches may have a heightened risk of asthma symptoms in their preschool years, a new study suggests.

The findings are from a study of 411 Danish children reported in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. They add to a mixed bag of research into whether there’s a link between acetaminophen — better known by the brand-name Tylenol — and kids’ asthma risk.

Researchers found that the more acetaminophen kids were given as infants, the more likely they were to develop asthma-like symptoms in early childhood.

That link does not prove that acetaminophen causes airway trouble, according to senior researcher Dr. Hans Bisgaard, professor of pediatrics at Denmark’s University of Copenhagen.

The findings, he says, should encourage further research into the issue.

NEXT-DAY DISCHARGE AFTER C-SECTIONS MAY BE OK

Some women who have Caesarean sections may be able to check out of the hospital the next day without raising their risk of problems, a small new study suggests.

The findings come from a clinical trial in Malaysia, where 360 women were randomly assigned to go home either one or two days after having a C-section. Both groups were equally satisfied with their care, and the women who were discharged sooner seemed to have no more problems with breastfeeding or mental health.

Those results, reported in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, don’t mean hospitals should start kicking women out the day after a C-section, researchers say.

But they do suggest next-day discharge is something women can talk about with their doctors, according to the study’s lead author Dr. Peng Chiong Tan, of the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.

MALARIA VACCINE SETBACK

The world’s first potential malaria vaccine proved only 30 per cent effective in African babies in a crucial trial, calling into question whether it can be a useful weapon in the fight against the deadly disease. The surprisingly poor result for the vaccine, which GlaxoSmithKline has been developing for three decades, leaves several years of work ahead before a protective malaria shot could be ready for countries that desperately need one.

Philanthropist Bill Gates, who helped fund the vaccine, said further research was now needed to see if and how it might be used.

“The efficacy came back lower than we had hoped, but developing a vaccine against a parasite is a very hard thing to do,” he said in a statement.