Latest news with #Children'sHospital
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Arapahoe County toddler infected with measles after recent international travel
DENVER (KDVR) — An unvaccinated child under the age of 5 who recently traveled to multiple international locations has a confirmed case of measles. The child is still hospitalized, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Arapahoe County Public Health Department, the Adams County Health Department and Children's Hospital Colorado. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox 'The patient is placed on appropriate isolation so there's no ongoing exposure risk to other patients and families at the hospital,' CDPHE said in a release. 'CDPHE continues to urge Coloradans to get vaccinated.' The officials said there are potential exposures to the public at: Location Date/time Children's Hospital Colorado Emergency Department13123 E. 16th CO 80045 Thursday, May 226 – 10 p.m. Walgreens18461 E. Hampden CO 80012 Friday, May 2310 a.m. – 12:10 p.m. Walgreens18461 E. Hampden CO 80012 Sunday, May 2510 a.m. – 12:10 p.m. Sam's Club880 S. Abilene CO 80012 Sunday, May 25Noon – 3:30 p.m. Natural Grocers3440 S. Tower CO 80013 Sunday, May 256 – 8:10 p.m. Children's Hospital Colorado Emergency Department13123 E. 16th CO 80045 Monday, May 261:10 – 7:15 a.m. Children's Hospital Colorado Emergency Department13123 E. 16th CO 80045 Monday, May 26 – Tuesday, May 279:25 p.m. – 4:15 a.m. Anyone who is concerned or who was at the locations on the dates and times listed is asked to monitor for symptoms for 21 days — or through June 17. If you develop symptoms, health officials are telling members of the public to contact your health care provider by phone immediately. If you do not have a provider, call an urgent care center or emergency department and explain that you may have been exposed to measles. Calling ahead can help prevent additional exposures to the highly contagious disease. CDPHE told FOX31 in February that prior to 2025, the last confirmed case of measles in the state was reported in December 2023, and that most of the time, measles cases occur in Colorado after travel or in under-vaccinated communities. About 93.7% of Colorado children have the MMR vaccination, which protects against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella. That's below the goal threshold of 95% for community immunity. Coloradans can check their own or their child's immunization records through the state's Immunization Information System public portal. If your provider has not reported vaccines, some records may be incomplete. There are vaccination clinics scheduled in Adams and Arapahoe counties that are free and do not require an appointment for anyone exposed to measles. Adams County Public Health Clinic Location: 1401 W. 122nd Ave. #200 Westminster, 80234 Wednesday, May 28: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thursday, May 29: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Arapahoe County Public Health Clinics Location: Altura Plaza, 15400 E. 14th Place, Aurora, 80011 Thursday, May 29, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. The CDPHE website includes additional information on how to handle a measles exposure, measles information and up-to-date information on measles cases as they are confirmed in Colorado. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
4-year-old girl's life-saving treatment at risk after family's legal immigration status is revoked
A Mexican girl is at risk of losing access to the life-saving treatment she has been receiving in Los Angeles after her family's legal immigration status was abruptly revoked. Her family is now fighting to have their status reinstated. 'If they deport us and take away my daughter's access to her specialized care, she will die,' Deysi Vargas, the girl's mother, said Wednesday in her native Spanish during a news conference. Her 4-year-old daughter, who is being identified only by the initials S.G.V., was born with a defect in her small intestines known as short bowel syndrome. The condition does not allow her body to absorb nutrients from regular food. Instead, the girl receives all the nutrients she needs intravenously through a treatment known as Total Parenteral Nutrition, or TPN. "The doctors that are treating her have stated very clearly that if her treatment is interrupted, she will die within days," Gina Amato, an attorney for the family, told NBC News. "This is a classic example where deportation would equal death for this child. It is a very desperate situation.' To prevent malnutrition, S.G.V. receives her TPN treatment each night at home for at least 14 hours, the mother and her attorneys said. During the day, when the girl goes to pre-school or accompanies her mother to the supermarket, S.G.V. wears a portable version of the treatment in a backpack. At least four times a day, Vargas spends one hour connecting her daughter to gastric tubes that attach to the backpack containing the nutrients she needs. The company that manufactures the equipment that delivers the intravenous nutrition the girl needs does "not allow the equipment to travel outside the United States," Amato said at the news conference, adding that few places outside the U.S. can safely and effectively administer this treatment. Before coming to the United States nearly two years ago, S.G.V. 'was in really terrible shape and was having a very difficult time surviving,' Amato said. The girl had been receiving medical care in Mexico, spending many hours in a hospital bed receiving her nutrients intravenously, according to Amato and Vargas. S.G.V. was "not growing or getting any better," Vargas said. Desperate to get better medical care for their daughter, Vargas and her partner used the now-defunct CBP One app on July 2023 to legally enter the U.S. through the southern border. The family was then granted humanitarian parole for the purpose of seeking medical treatment for S.G.V. The girl was quickly taken to a hospital in San Diego upon their arrival because she was in such poor health, the family and their attorneys said. A year later, she was referred to the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, which has one of the nation's best gastroenterology programs. Doctors there have been caring for S.G.V. for the past year, also monitoring the TPN treatment she receives. "Now, with the help my daughter receives in the United States, my daughter has the opportunity to leave the hospital, see the world, and live like a child her age," Vargas said. S.G.V. was at the news conference with her TPN backpack. She spent most of the time playing cards and making some arts and crafts to show how the treatment has helped improve her quality of life. According to the family's legal team, the family's humanitarian parole was set to expire at the end of July and Vargas was fighting to get it extended. But last month, the family received a notice via email from the Department of Homeland Security terminating their parole and work authorization. "If you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States — unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here," the notice, which was obtained by NBC News, reads. 'Clearly they did not give individualized consideration to this case, because had they done so,' Amato told NBC News, 'we believe that they would not have made this decision given the really poor condition of this child.' The notice also said, "DHS encourages you to leave immediately on your own," using the CBP Home mobile app, which has a self-deportation feature. The notice did not state a reason for revoking the family's parole other than DHS "exercising its discretion." According to attorneys at Public Counsel, the legal firm representing the family, no one in the family has any convictions. But the girl's father, who is not married to Vargas, has a pending charge stemming from "a misunderstanding at the San Diego hospital when he raised his voice" when discussing his daughter's care in an area "where he did not understand he could not be loud." Attorneys believe the charge will likely "be dismissed because he's complying with the anger management classes the courts requested of him," they said. "This does not influence the legality of Deysi's case." Believing the DHS notice was perhaps sent by mistake, attorneys for the family wrote a letter to federal immigration authorities on May 9. "They have not violated the terms of their parole," the letter, which was obtained by NBC News, reads. "We believe this notice was issued in error. Please correct this error." Still, the family continued receiving notices about their parole's termination, Amato said during the press conference. So, they filed a new application for humanitarian parole through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The agency did not respond to a request for comment. A senior DHS official insisted to NBC News via email that reports about the family "actively being deported are FALSE. This family applied with USCIS for humanitarian parole on May 14, 2025, and the application is still being considered.' In the meantime, 'the family is very much in limbo, and they're terrified,' Amato said. 'They're no longer in status and they're no longer authorized to work in the U.S. So, they face many fears.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- NBC News
4-year-old girl's life-saving treatment at risk after family's legal immigration status is revoked
A Mexican girl is at risk of losing access to the life-saving treatment she has been receiving in Los Angeles after her family's legal immigration status was abruptly revoked. Her family is now fighting to have their status reinstated. 'If they deport us and take away my daughter's access to her specialized care, she will die,' Deysi Vargas, the girl's mother, said Wednesday in her native Spanish during a news conference. Her 4-year-old daughter, who is being identified only by the initials S.G.V., was born with a defect in her small intestines known as short bowel syndrome. The condition does not allow her body to absorb nutrients from regular food. Instead, the girl receives all the nutrients she needs intravenously through a treatment known as Total Parenteral Nutrition, or TPN. "The doctors that are treating her have stated very clearly that if her treatment is interrupted, she will die within days," Gina Amato, an attorney for the family, told NBC News. "This is a classic example where deportation would equal death for this child. It is a very desperate situation.' To prevent malnutrition, S.G.V. receives her TPN treatment each night at home for at least 14 hours, the mother and her attorneys said. During the day, when the girl goes to pre-school or accompanies her mother to the supermarket, S.G.V. wears a portable version of the treatment in a backpack. At least four times a day, Vargas spends one hour connecting her daughter to gastric tubes that attach to the backpack containing the nutrients she needs. The company that manufactures the equipment that delivers the intravenous nutrition the girl needs does "not allow the equipment to travel outside the United States," Amato said at the news conference, adding that few places outside the U.S. can safely and effectively administer this treatment. Before coming to the United States nearly two years ago, S.G.V. 'was in really terrible shape and was having a very difficult time surviving,' Amato said. The girl had been receiving medical care in Mexico, spending many hours in a hospital bed receiving her nutrients intravenously, according to Amato and Vargas. S.G.V. was "not growing or getting any better," Vargas said. Desperate to get better medical care for their daughter, Vargas and her partner used the now-defunct CBP One app on July 2023 to legally enter the U.S. through the southern border. The family was then granted humanitarian parole for the purpose of seeking medical treatment for S.G.V. The girl was quickly taken to a hospital in San Diego upon their arrival because she was in such poor health, the family and their attorneys said. A year later, she was referred to the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, which has one of the nation's best gastroenterology programs. Doctors there have been caring for S.G.V. for the past year, also monitoring the TPN treatment she receives. "Now, with the help my daughter receives in the United States, my daughter has the opportunity to leave the hospital, see the world, and live like a child her age," Vargas said. S.G.V. was at the news conference with her TPN backpack. She spent most of the time playing cards and making some arts and crafts to show how the treatment has helped improve her quality of life. According to the family's legal team, the family's humanitarian parole was set to expire at the end of July and Vargas was fighting to get it extended. But last month, the family received a notice via email from the Department of Homeland Security terminating their parole and work authorization. "If you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States — unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here," the notice, which was obtained by NBC News, reads. 'Clearly they did not give individualized consideration to this case, because had they done so,' Amato told NBC News, 'we believe that they would not have made this decision given the really poor condition of this child.' The notice also said, "DHS encourages you to leave immediately on your own," using the CBP Home mobile app, which has a self-deportation feature. The notice did not state a reason for revoking the family's parole other than DHS "exercising its discretion." According to attorneys at Public Counsel, the legal firm representing the family, no one in the family has any convictions. But the girl's father, who is not married to Vargas, has a pending charge stemming from "a misunderstanding at the San Diego hospital when he raised his voice" when discussing his daughter's care in an area "where he did not understand he could not be loud." Attorneys believe the charge will likely "be dismissed because he's complying with the anger management classes the courts requested of him," they said. "This does not influence the legality of Deysi's case." Believing the DHS notice was perhaps sent by mistake, attorneys for the family wrote a letter to federal immigration authorities on May 9. "They have not violated the terms of their parole," the letter, which was obtained by NBC News, reads. "We believe this notice was issued in error. Please correct this error." Still, the family continued receiving notices about their parole's termination, Amato said during the press conference. So, they filed a new application for humanitarian parole through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The agency did not respond to a request for comment. A senior DHS official insisted to NBC News via email that reports about the family "actively being deported are FALSE. This family applied with USCIS for humanitarian parole on May 14, 2025, and the application is still being considered.' In the meantime, 'the family is very much in limbo, and they're terrified,' Amato said. 'They're no longer in status and they're no longer authorized to work in the U.S. So, they face many fears.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Mother dragged by car at Liverpool parade feared baby son had died after pram was flung 15ft down road
A mother dragged on the bonnet of a car at the Liverpool parade has shared the horrifying moment she spotted her six-month-old baby's pram lying upside down in the road after the pair were hit by the vehicle. Sheree Aldridge feared she and her son, Teddy, would die after the Ford Galaxy vehicle ploughed into them in Water Street on Monday evening. The 36-year-old was pushing the pram alongside her partner Dan Eveson when they saw an ambulance making its way down the road, followed by a sudden noise that sounded like a brawl. 'I don't like fighting and get really anxious, so I turned around and wanted to get the baby out of the way,' she told The Independent from her hospital bed on Wednesday morning. 'Then I remember someone shouting 'car' and then I was literally on the bonnet, travelling for what felt like a while before I got thrown off and the car went over my leg. 'I had been pushing the pram and I had no idea where it went, so I looked around while on the floor and could see the pushchair upside down a little bit further up the road. 'I was just screaming that my baby was up there, but when I tried to move, I couldn't and then everyone rushed over, including Dan, who then went straight to Ted and took him to the ambulance.'Teddy and his father were taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, where a check-up revealed no injuries to the baby. It later emerged that the impact of the car had sent the pram about 15 feet down the street. Ms Aldridge was taken into a restaurant used as a temporary help centre, before being moved to Aintree University Hospital. The mother suffered severe bruising to one leg, but hopes to return to her family home in Cannock, Staffordshire, soon. She said: 'I've never really been a religious person, to be honest, but something was looking down at us that day, I'm telling you. It's a miracle we're all alive. 'When I landed, I knew I was in pain, but I was more concerned about the baby and [his] dad. I've never had an accident like that before... I didn't know where the pushchair was, but I thought that was it. I thought that was my time.' A total of 65 people were injured when the vehicle ploughed into a crowd of people during Liverpool's Premier League victory parade. More than 50, including children, were treated in different hospitals and 11 remained there on Tuesday in a stable condition. Investigating officers believe the car slipped through the roadblock into Water Street by tailgating an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack. Police were continuing to question a a 53-year-old man from West Derby in Liverpool on Wednesday morning after his arrest on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug-driving. Speaking on the police investigation, Ms Aldridge said: 'I think I just want to know why; because it was so direct towards me.' But she said the response to the incident illustrated the community spirit in the city, from businesses opening up spaces for the injured to strangers offering lifts and places to stay for those affected. Ms Aldridge said: 'I just want to thank everyone; all the ambulance staff, the restaurant, the public, because you never will get to see these people again. They could have ran, to be honest, they could have got out of the way as quickly as possible because you didn't know what was coming next, but they chose to stay with injured people. 'It says so much about the spirit of Liverpool.'
ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
World-first CRISPR therapy could 'transform' treatment for rare genetic diseases, but key challenges lie ahead
It's been described as a revolutionary technology — and won its inventors a Nobel Prize. CRISPR gene-editing, often simply dubbed CRISPR, is a tool that allows scientists to precisely target and modify the human genome, making it possible to correct mutations and potentially treat genetic causes of disease. Earlier this month, scientists used CRISPR technology to achieve a significant milestone: re-write the DNA of a baby with a rare genetic disease. The patient, a now-10-month-old boy named KJ, is the first person in the world to successfully receive a personalised gene-editing therapy. The landmark case, led by scientists and doctors at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Not long after he was born, KJ was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening genetic disorder called CPS1 deficiency, which affects just one in 1.3 million babies. The disorder is caused by a mutation in a gene that affects a person's ability to properly metabolise protein, and results in toxic levels of ammonia to build up in the body. Unlike other CRISPR treatments, which were designed to be used in multiple people with the same disorder, KJ's therapy was customised to correct his specific disease-causing mutation. "This is a significant advance in our ability to modify human genes," said haematologist and gene therapy researcher John Rasko, who was not involved in the study. While it's too early to know whether the CRISPR treatment will work long-term, researchers say it could provide a blueprint for developing customised gene-editing therapies for others with rare diseases. "While KJ is just one patient, we hope he is the first of many to benefit from a methodology that can be scaled to fit an individual patient's needs,' said lead researcher Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The high levels of ammonia caused by KJ's CPS1 deficiency can cause severe damage to the brain and liver and even prove to be fatal. The best available treatment for the condition is a liver transplant, but only about half of babies with CPS1 deficiency live long enough to receive one. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania had been investigating gene-editing therapies for similar genetic disorders and when KJ was diagnosed, they quickly mobilised to create a treatment to fix his specific mutation. To do this, they used a "genetic engineering trick" called CRISPR base editing, a second-generation CRISPR tool, said Marco Herold, CEO and head of the Blood Cancer and Immunotherapy Lab at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute. "The researchers identified through [genome] sequencing that this mutation was the result of a change in DNA bases," Professor Herold, who was not involved in the study, told The Health Report. DNA sequences are made up of four different "letters" which represent different chemical bases. The order of these letters or bases determines the genetic information carried in the DNA. "[CRISPR technology] scans the DNA and runs over all the letters until it encounters the wrong letter — it can be programmed to find this," Professor Herold said. Unlike traditional CRISPR medicines, which bind to the target DNA, cut it, and silence or repair a problematic gene, base editors convert target DNA from one letter into another. "In this case, the letter was an A and it had to be changed into a C … and that leads to the repair," said Professor Herold, whose own research focuses on CRISPR screening and editing. KJ, who had been on a highly restrictive diet since birth, as well as medication to remove ammonia from his blood, was given a small first dose of the novel gene-editing therapy at seven months of age. Over the next two months, he received two more infusions at higher levels. Since the treatment, he's been able to eat a full protein diet and take just half his usual medication — a sign the therapy has, at least partially, reversed his disease. 'While KJ will need to be monitored carefully for the rest of his life, our initial findings are quite promising,' Dr Ahrens-Nicklas said. Professor Rasko, chair of the federal government's advisory committee on gene technology, said the speed at which the drug was developed was "extraordinary". But he stressed that longer follow up was needed to assess its safety and efficacy, and determine whether additional doses would be necessary. "These are very early days," Professor Rasko said. "Everything is looking great but let's wait a year and see what's going on." It's estimated there are more than 5,000 genetic diseases, which, while rare individually, affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide. In Australia, around two million people — or 8 per cent of the population — live with a rare disease, 80 per cent of which have a genetic cause. But the lack of economic incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for extremely rare conditions has led to a scarcity of effective treatments, Professor Rasko said. "Of the 5,000 plus rare genetic diseases, we have a treatment that's specific for less than 5 per cent," he said. Peter Marks, who until recently was responsible for overseeing gene-therapy regulation at the US Food and Drug Administration, described KJ's therapy as potentially "transformational" for the treatment of rare genetic diseases. "Although not all rare diseases may be eligible for a gene-editing approach … there could be hundreds to thousands of diseases that could be treated through an approach similar to the one described," he wrote in an editorial for the New England Journal of Medicine. While KJ's treatment was targeted to his specific mutation, Dr Marks said the same technology could be adapted and "customised" to correct other rare genetic mutations, reducing the cost and complexity of developing new drugs. Professor Herold agreed the same approach could be taken to treat other illnesses caused by a single mutation, with only the CRISPR instructions needing to be changed. "But if you have multiple mutations … there are a lot of diseases that are made up of four, five, six different mutations, then it becomes difficult," he said. "We are not there yet, but we're working at this." Despite the promising results seen in KJ's case, there are several key challenges that need to be addressed before personalised gene-editing could be scaled up and expanded. For one, developing treatments that can successfully reach parts of the body other than the liver — where KJ's mutation occurred — is more difficult, and will require further research. "Because the liver is like a big sieve that processes poisons, toxins, and manufactures hormones and other proteins … the lipid nanoparticles [which encase the gene-editing products] get taken up there," Professor Rasko said. Even though KJ's treatment was a "breathtakingly impressive" proof of concept, replicating and adapting it for other patients would still be resource intensive, he added. "Every time we do this, we have to alter the guide DNA and the technology has to change. It has to be quality-controlled, it has to pass some form of regulatory approval … it's not just a one size fits all." A more established therapeutic approach called gene addition therapy, which involves introducing a working copy of a gene (rather than correcting one), had been a "scientific and medical success" but "an economic failure" to date, Professor Rasko said. "Companies that have been valued at billions of dollars have had to walk away because they can't recoup their costs without charging millions of dollars a pop for these genetic therapies," he said. But, he said, the rate of development and innovation in the field of gene editing — which may help to solve some of the challenges — was "awesome". "You just can't keep up." Listen to the full story on Radio National and subscribe to the Health Report podcast for more.
