Cancer Experts Push Pediatricians To Help Boost Use Of HPV Vaccine

The Washington Post: Cancer Doctors Leading Campaign To Boost Use Of HPV Vaccine
The nation’s leading cancer doctors are pushing pediatricians and other providers to help increase use of the HPV vaccine, which studies show could help avert tens of thousands of cancer cases during young Americans’ lives. Yet a decade after its controversial introduction, the vaccine remains stubbornly underused even as some of those diseases surge. The vaccine’s low uptake among preteens and adolescents belies its universally acknowledged effectiveness in preventing the most common sexually transmitted infections linked to the human papillomavirus. (McGinley, 6/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Employers Cut Down On Wellness Benefits
A big new survey of benefits from the Society for Human Resource Management found that employers are cooling toward certain wellness benefits. Originally designed to cut employers’ health costs, benefits like on-site flu shots, 24-hour nurse hot lines, health coaching and insurance-premium discounts for weight loss all have declined over the past year, the study found. As employers begin to analyze return-on-investment and participation data, they “may be taking a step back,” said Evren Esen, director of survey programs at SHRM, the world’s largest society for human-resources professionals. (Silverman, 6/20)

NBC News: Decades Into Crisis, Kids Still Suffer From Shortage Of Psychiatrists
Seventeen years ago, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala sounded the alarm on a crisis that was leaving millions of ill children without proper care. The problem, outlined in a report on the country's mental health system, was a "dearth" of child psychiatrists that forced primary care doctors to treat mentally ill youngsters, a "triage" environment that it said needed to change. It hasn't. (Brown, Zhang and Schuppe, 6/18)

The Associated Press: US Kids Get 2 Million Concussions A Year From Sports, Play
As many as 2 million concussions from sports or play activities occur in U.S. children and teens each year and many receive no treatment, a new study suggests. The estimate is based on 2013 data from emergency room visits, hospitalizations, doctor visits, concussion reports made to high school athletic trainers, and information from previous concussion studies. (Tanner, 6/20)

Also, the latest on hemophilia, tuberculosis and polycystic ovary syndrome -

NPR/KQED: Baby Boomers With Hemophilia Didn't Expect To Grow Old
Randy Curtis was in second grade when he and his parents got devastating news from a specialist in blood disorders. Curtis had merely fallen and bumped his knee, but he remembers the doctor's words: " 'You know, these kids don't really live past 13.' " "So, I went back to school the next day," Curtis remembers, "and told my math teacher, 'I don't have to learn this stuff. I'm going to be dead!' " But, he was wrong. (McClurg, 6/20)

Houston Chronicle: Doctor Inspired By Personal Loss To Fight Tuberculosis
The up-and-coming pediatrician kept persisting for her brother. He got sick with pulmonary tuberculosis in college and died in China after the disease progressed to TB meningitis, attacking his brain. (Mellon, 6/19)

Houston Chronicle: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Common, Often Unrecognized
[Polycystic Ovary Syndrome] is linked to heart disease, diabetes and other health problems. As many as 5 million women in the United States may have it, including girls as young as 11. But many women don’t know they have PCOS, for a variety of reasons. There is no single diagnostic test for the condition and some of its symptoms — such as high cholesterol and acne — can be mistaken for signs of something else. (Cuda, 6/19)