Articles labeled: children

A judge in Australia has ruled that a 12-year-old girl may begin the first step in getting a sex change. That’s quite a drastic life altering decision to make for someone who hasn’t even entered puberty. How old do you have to be to get a tattoo in Australia, 5?

It was reported yesterday that during a hearing in December, the court heard that the girl from Victoria had thought of herself as a boy since the age of four. Several medical experts, including a psychiatrist, backed her application for a sex change.

The judge said that while the initial treatment was reversible, it needed to be seen as the first step in a process which, if continued, would allow the girl to live as a man.

“In my view, and on all the evidence, the treatment is in [the child’s] best interests,” the judgment said.

Further court applications will have to be made if the child wants to take the process further. Surgery to remove her womb and ovaries or construct a penis cannot be performed before the age of 18.

Wow, the flu seems to be hitting hard this year, claiming twice the number of children in Massachusetts than usual, and the season isn’t even over yet. Is it too late to get a flu shot? Is there a doctor in the house? Scary stuff.

A 12-year-old Worcester County girl died Sunday from influenza, the fourth Massachusetts child to succumb this year to the respiratory illness, state public health authorities announced this afternoon.

Officials also disclosed that a 15-year-old boy from Newton died Friday of pneumonia triggered by the flu. Neither of the children was identified because of patient confidentiality laws.

Most years, no more than two children die from the flu in Massachusetts. This flu season, though, has proved especially severe, with significantly more cases of the viral disease reported among adults and children than the previous two winters. Disease specialists estimate that during a typical winter, 36,000 people — mainly the elderly and patients with chronic illnesses — die nationally from the flu.

A devastating fire on Sunday at a row house in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania killed 4 children and severely burned at least one other person. A woman and 5 children lived in the house — the oldest managed to escape by jumping out a second story window.

The 4:30 a.m. fire destroyed the middle of three row houses, though the others were also damaged. Each home was occupied, but officials did not immediately know how many people were inside or how many escaped.

The four dead children included two boys, ages 11 and 13, and two girls, ages 5 and 7, Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said. Lysek did not release the names of the victims.

Hector Lugo, 27, who lives three doors away, was awakened by the sound of the woman screaming “Help! Help! My kids are inside.” He saw the teenager on fire jump from the window and watched as firefighters doused the flames from him, he said.

Memphis, Tennessee police responded to a call at a home on Monday night and found a massacre scene — 2 children and 4 adults were found dead, and 3 children were injured. It appears as if the crime had taken place as early as Saturday. One can only imagine the horror of those children having to fight to survive for 2 days amongst all the carnage.

“I heard about six or seven shots [Saturday night],” said Wayne Bolden, a landscaper who said he lives across the street from the home where the killings occurred. “I did not call the police because you always hear shooting in this neighborhood. Now I wish I would have called.”

He said he did not see any movement at the home the next day — the two cars, a van and a passenger car, never moved.

Monday he saw many police cars at the home and heard about the killings, he said.

Memphis Fire Department spokeswoman Melanie Young said firefighters responded to a 911 call at a home at 6:11 p.m. Monday and found the bodies and wounded children.

A 7-year-old boy, a 10-month-old girl and a 4-year-old whose gender wasn’t immediately known were taken to Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center.

Police in Brea, California last night made a grisly discovery in an Orange County home — three children and two adults were found dead in what appears to be a murder/suicide.

Brea police Sgt. Peter Rodriguez said a 14-year-old boy called 911 about 11 p.m. Saturday to report that his father had shot him and his brother at their condominium.

Police went to the home and found the body of a woman on the doorstep. Inside were the bodies of a 5-year-old boy and two girls, ages 8 and 9.

Rodriguez said officers also found the body of a man, with a shotgun beneath him.

A study turned into the FDA for consideration, suggests that decongestants for children under 2 and antihistamines for children under 6 could pose a danger. Unfortunately, many parents may lament the decision as the remedies really do work, but apparently ignoramus parents are overdosing their children because labels are like math — “they’re hard”.

READ the labels people!:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — Safety experts for the Food and Drug Administration urged the agency on Friday to consider an outright ban on over-the-counter, multisymptom cough and cold medicines for children under 6.

The recommendation, in a 356-page safety review, is the strongest signal yet that the agency may take strong action against the roughly 800 popular medicines marketed in the United States under names like Toddler’s Dimetapp, Triaminic Infant and Little Colds.