Dear Students –
Some of you may have noticed that a couple of the Chapter 1 problems are already a little out of date:
#2. Since this problem was written some randomized trials have suggested benefits from probiotics (especially Lactobacillus reuteri) for infantile colic. (But studies are mixed.) So feel free to change the problem to ask about whether you might try probiotics instead of a formula change if you prefer.
#4. I am happy to report that the AAP now recommends AGAINST routine VCUGs after UTI. I posted a commentary by me on that new guideline on the course website. Last year the committee reaffirmed this recommendation in spite of evidence that prophylactic antibiotics do, in fact, reduce the risk of UTI in children with vesicoureteral reflux. I have posted a link to that re-affirmation and other letters to the editor of the NEJM about a recent trial showing efficacy of prophylactic antibiotics. (A letter by Dr. Alan Schroeder and me that did not get published but made some of the same points as one of the letters that did – guess which!)
I am looking forward to our first class Thursday!
Tom