Children

West Virginia lawmakers OK bill drawing back one of the country's strictest child vaccination laws West Virginia’s GOP-controlled state Legislature has voted to allow some students who don’t attend traditional public schools to be exempt from state vaccination requirements. AP News

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West Virginia, with some of the lowest life expectancy rates in the U.S. and a quarter of all children living in poverty, is one of only two states, along with California, that don’t permit nonmedical exemptions to vaccinations as a condition for school entry.

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Study of 1 million US kids shows vaccines tied to lower risk of long COVID A study of 1,037,936 US children seen in 17 healthcare systems across the country shows that COVID-19 vaccines are moderately protective against long COVID: 35% to 45%, with higher rates in adolescents. The study was published today in Pediatrics. CIDRAP

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The researchers estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against long COVID in children aged 5 to 17 years. Though severe COVID-19 cases are less common in children than in adults, persistent symptoms in children do occur.

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COVID-19 infection in pregnancy may raise baby's risk of respiratory illness - UPI.com Babies born to COVID-infected mothers have triple the risk of developing a breathing disorder that normally affects preemies, a new study shows. UPI

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Researchers found that exposure to the coronavirus while in the womb increased a newborn's risk of respiratory distress syndrome by sparking an "inflammatory cascade" in the infants that affected their breathing. 

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