Identification and Incidence of Child Maltreatment During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has raised serious concerns about child maltreatment, which is known to increase in frequency and severity during times of high stress. The present study used diverse datasets to concurrently examine changes in identification and medical evaluation of maltreatment allegations from before to during COVID-19. Four sources of data were collected from two counties for the months of March-December in 2019 and 2020, including reports to social services and child maltreatment evaluation clinic medical evaluations (CMECs).

Fatal Transdermal Fentanyl Patch Overdose in a Child.

A previously healthy three-year-old girl was brought into the emergency department by ambulance after being found unresponsive with a family member's fentanyl patch found adherent to her lower back. A head CT scan showed global cerebral edema and the patient progressed to brain death. An initial standard urine drug screen was negative for opiates, however, subsequent specific urine assay testing was found to be positive for fentanyl and norfentanyl.

A novel mutation in the proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene of a Hispanic child: metformin treatment shows a beneficial impact on the body mass index.

Background Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is a complex polypeptide that produces a variety of biologically active substances via cleavage in a tissue-specific manner [Challis BG, Millington GW. Proopiomelanocortin deficiency. GeneReviews® [Internet].