The Diagnostic Challenge of the Pediatric Brain Abscess.

Pediatric brain abscess (PBA) is a rare condition that portends a high mortality rate if not recognized and treated early. The spectrum of clinical manifestations of this disease process is wide and can often be vague, making it difficult for timely diagnosis in the emergency department. We detail the presentation of a four-year-old male with autism and a four-day history of decreased activity after a fall with a critical and rapidly worsening clinical course.

Health care provider beliefs concerning the adverse health effects of environmental and ecosystem degradation.

Objective: Little is known about health care provider interest, knowledge, and beliefs regarding the health effects of human-induced environmental degradation (HIED). A survey was created and distributed to better characterize health provider beliefs about the adverse health effects of HIED.

Methods: An invitation to participate in an online 24-question survey was e-mailed to 2177 members of the Wilderness Medical Society to characterize experience with health effects of HIED, types of health effects attributed to HIED, attitudes toward HIED, and educational sources about HIED.

Climate change and allergic disease.

Climate change is potentially the largest global threat to human health ever encountered. The earth is warming, the warming is accelerating, and human actions are largely responsible. If current emissions and land use trends continue unchecked, the next generations will face more injury, disease, and death related to natural disasters and heat waves, higher rates of climate-related infections, and wide-spread malnutrition, as well as more allergic and air pollution-related morbidity and mortality.