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Problem/Condition: In 2021, approximately 75,000 persons died of violence-related injuries in the United States. This report summarizes data from CDC's National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) on violent deaths that occurred in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in 2021. Results are reported by sex, age group, race and ethnicity, method of injury, type of location where the injury occurred, circumstances of injury, and other selected characteristics. This report introduces additional incident and circumstance variables, which now include child victim--specific circumstance information. This report also incorporates new U.S. Census Bureau race and ethnicity categories, which now account for more than one race and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander categories and include updated denominators to calculate rates for these populations. Period Covered: 2021. Description of System: NVDRS collects data regarding violent deaths from death certificates, coroner and medical examiner records, and law enforcement reports. This report includes data collected for violent deaths that occurred in 2021. Data were collected from 48 states (all states with exception of Florida and Hawaii), the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Forty-six states had statewide data, two additional states had data from counties representing a subset of their population (31 California counties, representing 64% of its population, and 13 Texas counties, representing 63% of its population), and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico had jurisdiction-wide data. NVDRS collates information for each violent death and links deaths that are related (e.g., multiple homicides, homicide followed by suicide, or multiple suicides) into a single incident. Results: For 2021, NVDRS collected information on 68,866 fatal incidents involving 70,688 deaths that occurred in 48 states (46 states collecting statewide data, 31 California counties, and 13 Texas counties), and the District of Columbia. The deaths captured in NVDRS accounted for 86.5% of all homicides, legal intervention deaths, suicides, unintentional firearm injury deaths, and deaths of undetermined intent in the United States in 2021. In addition, information was collected for 816 fatal incidents involving 880 deaths in Puerto Rico. Data for Puerto Rico were analyzed separately. Of the 70,688 deaths, the majority (58.2%) were suicides, followed by homicides (31.5%), deaths of undetermined intent that might be due to violence (8.2%), legal intervention deaths (1.3%) (i.e., deaths caused by law enforcement and other persons with legal authority to use deadly force acting in the line of duty, excluding legal executions), and unintentional firearm injury deaths (<1.0%). The term "legal intervention" is a classification incorporated into the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, and does not denote the lawfulness or legality of the circumstances surrounding a death caused by law enforcement. Demographic patterns and circumstances varied by manner of death. The suicide rate was higher for males than for females. Across all age groups, the suicide rate was highest among adults aged ≥85 years. In addition, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons had the highest suicide rates among all racial and ethnic groups. Among both males and females, the most common method of injury for suicide was a firearm. Among all suicide victims, when circumstances were known (84.4%), suicide was most often preceded by a mental health, intimate partner, or physical health problem or by a recent or impending crisis during the previous or upcoming 2 weeks. The homicide rate was higher for males than for females. Among all homicide victims, the homicide rate was highest among persons aged 20-24 years compared with other age groups. Non-Hispanic Black or African American (Black) males experienced the highest homicide rate of any racial or ethnic group. Among all homicide victims, the most common method of injury was a firearm. When the relationship between a homicide victim and a suspect was known, the suspect was most frequently an acquaintance or friend for male victims and a current or former intimate partner for female victims. Homicide most often was precipitated by an argument or conflict, occurred in conjunction with another crime, or, for female victims, was related to intimate partner violence. Nearly all victims of legal intervention deaths were male, and the legal intervention death rate was highest among men aged 30-34 years. The legal intervention death rate was highest among AI/AN males, followed by Black males. A firearm was used in the majority of legal intervention deaths. When circumstances were known, the most frequent circumstances reported for legal intervention deaths were as follows: the victim used a weapon in the incident and the victim had a substance use problem (other than alcohol use). Other causes of death included unintentional firearm injury deaths and deaths of undetermined intent. Unintentional firearm injury deaths were most frequently experienced by males, non-Hispanic White (White) persons, and persons aged 15-24 years. These deaths most frequently occurred while the shooter was playing with a firearm and were precipitated by a person unintentionally pulling the trigger. The rate of deaths of undetermined intent was highest among males, particularly among AI/AN and Black males, and among adults aged 30-54 years. Poisoning was the most common method of injury in deaths of undetermined intent, and opioids were detected in nearly 80% of decedents tested for those substances. Interpretation: This report provides a detailed summary of data from NVDRS on violent deaths that occurred in 2021. The suicide rate was highest among AI/AN and White males, whereas the homicide rate was highest among Black males. Intimate partner violence precipitated a large proportion of homicides for females. Mental health problems, intimate partner problems, interpersonal conflicts, and acute life stressors were primary precipitating circumstances for multiple types of deaths examined. Public Health Action: Violence is preventable, and data can guide public health action. NVDRS data are used to monitor the occurrence of violence-related fatal injuries and assist public health authorities in developing, implementing, and evaluating programs, policies, and practices to reduce and prevent violent deaths. NVDRS data can be used to enhance prevention efforts into actionable strategies. States or jurisdictions have used their Violent Death Reporting System (VDRS) data to guide suicide prevention efforts and highlight where additional focus is needed. For example, North Carolina VDRS program data have played a significant role in expanding activities related to firearm safety and injury prevention. The program served as a primary data source for partners, which led to the creation of the Office of Violence Prevention in the state, focusing on combatting firearmrelated deaths. In Maine, the VDRS provided data on law enforcement officer suicides that were used to help support a bill mandating mental health resiliency and awareness training in the state's law enforcement training academy, along with plans for similar training addressing mental health, substance use, and alcohol problems among corrections officers. In addition, states and jurisdictions have also used their VDRS data to examine factors related to homicide in their state or jurisdiction. For example, Georgia VDRS collaborated with the City of Atlanta Mayor's Office of Violence Reduction to develop two public dashboards that not only offer comprehensive data on violent deaths but also present data on the geographic distribution of populations disproportionately affected by violence to help inform violence prevention interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on dealing with the decreased sound tolerance (DST) in children. Topics discussed include ways to help these children succeed after a diagnosis, three types of DST disorders, and recommendations for children with DST including educational accommodations to reduce disruption of the child's school day.

Why you should read this article: • To recognise the effects of climate change on children and young people’s physical and mental health • To understand the importance of involving children and young people in climate change discussions • To identify some practical actions that nurses could take to support children and young people in the context of climate change. The effects of climate change, such as air pollution and extreme heat events, can adversely affect the physical and mental health of children and young people at all ages. This article explores the effects of climate change on children and young people’s development and explains the effects of air pollution and heatwaves on their health. The article also discusses how children and young people are knowledgeable and concerned about the effects of climate change and can offer new perspectives on addressing these effects. Finally, the authors consider the role of nurses in raising awareness of the adverse effects of climate change on children’s health, incorporating climate change in their practice and promoting opportunities for children’s involvement in healthcare decision-making, strategies and policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X-ray imaging of the lungs is one of the most common types of imaging, even in children. It is a particular challenge for radiology departments, where children are rarely among the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article recommends screening for social determinants of health (SDOH), or the conditions in environments that affect a range of health, functioning and quality of life outcomes and risks, to help in the speech-language treatment of children. It highlights the population health initiatives launched by the Nationwide Children's Hospital to address inequities in health. It suggests strategies to tackle SDOH barriers and techniques that speech-language pathologists can use to measure SDOH.

Reports from China about severe pneumonia in children and overcrowded hospitals in October 2023 reminded of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the request of the World Health Organization (WHO), China provided epidemiological and clinical data in November 2023, according to which the current increase in illnesses is due to an increased circulation of known pathogens. By far the most frequently detected pathogen, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, is known to cause pneumonia in children. The course is usually mild, nonetheless a high number of serious cases have been reported from China [1]. In severe cases or extrapulmonary manifestations, antibiotic therapy should be considered. For macrolide antibiotics, the substance group of first choice, resistance rates in Asia are up to 90 %, which could explain the severe courses caused by inadequate antibiotic therapy [2]. Alternative antibiotics are associated with severe side effects and are rarely administered. If there is no response to treatment, pathogens such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), SARS-CoV-2 or influenza should be consider ed in the differential diagnosis. In Germany, resistance to macro lides is currently < 10 %, which means that treatment is sufficiently safe [3]. Currently there are no indications of increased virulence of the pathogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explains the roots of regression in talking and language learning in children. Possible contributors to regression in communication skills include autism, hearing loss, selective mutism, pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections/pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndromes, traumatic brain injury and seizure disorders. It suggests public and private educational service options available to families and parenting support services.

The article recommends the Family Infant Toddler (FIT) program in New Mexico that aims to boost families' access to publicly supported early intervention with expanded awareness-raising and cultural responsiveness. It identifies factors posing challenges to early intervention and describes how the FIT system tackles these challenges. It explains the ethnographic interviewing approach, the LEARN model for bolstering intercultural communication, and skilled dialogue employed in FIT.

The article documents the visual effects of cerebral visual impairment (CVI). Topics discussed include collaboration on the detection of CVI in children and socioeconomic bias of healthcare in the U.S., differences in how children with CVI perceived images with their classroom materials and distribution of the eye gaze patterns during eye tracking, and importance of listening to the observations of the community on the visual difficulties of students and children.

ntrahepatic portosystemic venous shunts are rare vascular malformations. They may be intra- or extrahepatic, can be asymptomatic or present with various symptoms including encephalopathy. Because of the risk of developing vascular malformations children with hereditary telangiectasia should have regular medical checkups. The most frequent locations being the nasal mucosa, the lungs and the gastrointestinal tract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author calls on autistic speech-language pathologist (SLP) to creating different dimensions of autism for clients and families. Cited are the co-occurring conditions of autism that can have negative impacts on a person's independence and quality of life, the advantages of adopting a person-centered practice by SLP, and what the future of the disability and neurodiversity movements for speech-language pathology looks like.

The article discusses findings from the CHAMP phase 3 study which showed that NVK002 atropine 0.01% from Vyluma, Inc. meaningfully slowed myopia progression in pediatric patients with myopia, presented by Dr. Rupa K. Wong at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. Topics include advantages of the formulation of low-dose atropine, explanation by Wong about the treatment of myopia with low-dose atropine in the U.S., and results of the study.

The article outlines a speech-language therapy process to teach children the language of self-regulation and help them find the words to communicate events, tell stories and express thoughts and emotions needed for solving problem and resolving conflicts. It describes the language parts of regulation, that include telling and organizing a story about a challenging experience using narrative picture visuals, identifying the problems by naming facts and events, and social problem-solving.

The article reports on the announcement by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's Investor Education Foundation on January 29, 2024 that 300 public libraries will receive a Thinking Money for Kids program kit.

The article discusses two cases of myopia management in children shared by pediatric ophthalmologist Noha Ekdawi and highlights her treatment approach to prevent myopia progression from a case-based roundtable discussion. The first patient is an 8-year-old girl with a family history of myopia while the second case is a 7-year-old boy with a history of Kawasaki disease. Also mentioned are Ekdawi's first step in myopia management and positive outcomes with MiSight lenses.

The article reports on the revised communication and developmental milestones for hearing, speech and language checklist and a resource on feeding and swallowing milestones created by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to help parents and caregivers track their child's development. It discusses the usefulness of the child developmental milestones checklists for educating parents, caregivers and related professionals.

The article reveals that speech language pathologists (SLP) in outpatient clinics and pediatric hospitals use telepractice most, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Speech Language Pathology (SLP) Health Care Survey. Data shows the percentage of SLPs in pediatric hospitals who provide services via telepractice to infants-toddler, percentage of those that provide services to preschoolers, and those that provide services to school-age children or adolescents.