Tip sheet: Studies on behavioral concerns tied to a commonly used chemical and youth COVID-19 vaccination rates among Johns Hopkins research to be featured at National Pediatrics Meeting

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What: Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2023 Meeting

When: April 27 to May 1

Where: Walter E. Washington Convention Center (801 Mt Vernon Pl NW, Washington, DC 20001)

Johns Hopkins Children’s Center researchers will present on numerous topics during the PAS 2023 meeting, including:

System-Level Approach to Improve First COVID-19 Vaccine Dose Uptake in a Primary Care Setting: The Value of Health Educators

Monday, May 1, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Eastern time

Convention Center: 204 C

Oral Abstract

COVID-19 vaccination rates among youth remain low due in part to vaccine hesitancy. However, primary care is well positioned to encourage vaccination, and health educators — trained professionals who educate others about the availability of health care services — can play a key role in identifying eligible patients and discussing vaccine benefits and risks.

During the Immunizations/Delivery Oral Poster Symposia, Arik Marcell, M.D., M.P.H., an adolescent medicine physician and associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Annemarie McCartney Swamy, M.D., Ph.D., an adolescent medicine fellow, will share insight into their team’s study that explored vaccine hesitancy and whether interactions with health educators would increase first COVID-19 vaccine rates in patients ages 5 to 25 as part of a quality improvement initiative. With their findings showing increased vaccine rates after health educator interactions, researchers believe they can inform efforts to improve uptake of the bivalent booster and potentially other vaccines.

In March 2023, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) awarded Marcell and Swamy the 2023 Vaughn Rickert Vaccine Research Award, recognizing this work as a top-rated submission focused on vaccination research.

View an interview with Swamy for more details. 

Impact 24-hr Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring on Sleep in Youth and Association with Nocturnal Measurements 

Monday, May 1, 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern time  

Convention Center: 151 B 

Oral Abstract

According to clinical practice, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) — which consists of using an electronic device to take automatic measurements every 20 minutes while awake and every 30 minutes while asleep — is recommended for all children with persistently elevated blood pressure to diagnose hypertension. If blood pressure is elevated in the day, night or both, then a provider confirms hypertension.

In this session, Tammy Brady, M.D., Ph.D., vice chair for clinical research in the Department of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and medical director of the pediatric hypertension program at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and her team will share insight into their findings showing that poor sleep was associated with higher blood pressure during the night. According to the research team, these findings suggest that if a patient reports not tolerating their blood pressure being measured at night, then providers may not want to include the night ambulatory blood pressure measurements in decision-making for a hypertension diagnosis.

View an interview with co-author Catherine Perez, a senior at The Johns Hopkins University, for more details.  

Perinatal Exposure to Cyclohexanone Induces Profound Behavioral Deficits in Adulthood Including Hyperactivity and Disinhibition 

Cyclohexanone Impairs Functional and Anatomical Brain Connectivity Following Perinatal Exposure 

Monday, May 1, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Eastern time 

Convention Center: Exhibit Hall 

Poster Session 

Cyclohexanone (CXO) is an industrial solvent used in the production of adhesives, paint, plastics and nylon. In health care, it is also prominent in IV tubing and cardiopulmonary bypass circuits. It is known to leach from this plastic tubing, with high levels of cyclohexanone breakdown products found in the urine of patients in the NICU during the perinatal period in the early weeks following birth.

Lauren Jantzie, Ph.D., a pediatric neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and associate professor of pediatrics, neurology and neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and her research team tested neonatal rat exposure to clinically relevant cyclohexanone levels to determine whether it caused functional neurodevelopmental deficits, including hyperactivity. Findings show that exposure for seven days at levels equivalent to human neonatal exposure receiving IV-based nutrition produced hyperactivity and motor abnormalities that persisted into adulthood. These deficits were similar to the results of a previous study, which found 30% of children developed similar behavioral concerns after neonatal cardiac surgery and associated medical CXO exposure.

View an interview with Jantzie and pediatric cardiologist Allen Everett, who is also a co-author of this research, for more details.  

In addition to these findings, Dr. Jantzie will share another aspect of the study in a separate poster presentation focused on brain imaging. The research team found that not only did the rats exposed to cyclohexanone display abnormal behavior, but the structure of their brains and the functional connections between brain regions were also abnormal. Jantzie and her team conclude CXO exposure to rats also has profound effects on white matter integrity and functional brain connectivity persisting into adolescence.

View an interview with Jantzie and pediatric cardiologist Allen Everett, who is also a co-author of this research, for more details.  

The Association of Socioeconomic Status and Preclinical and Clinical Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors 

Sunday, April 30, 3:30 to 6 p.m. Eastern time 

Location Convention Center: Exhibit Hall 

Poster Session 

Socioeconomic status is associated with hypertension and heart disease in adults. However, in young people, the association of socioeconomic status with cardiovascular disease risk factors such as blood pressure, blood pressure variability and arterial stiffness is less clear. 

In this session, Tammy Brady, M.D., Ph.D., vice chair for clinical research in the Department of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and medical director of the pediatric hypertension program at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and her team will share results of their study that found low socioeconomic status is associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors among youth. However, these associations are likely explained by the increased prevalence of obesity among youth with low socioeconomic status. Brady and her team of researchers recommend obesity prevention and treatment as effective strategies to decrease cardiovascular disease.

View an interview with co-author Sanjana Boyapalli, a research program coordinator for pediatric nephrology, for more details.  

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To view additional presentations by Children’s Center and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital researchers, please visit the PAS 2023 meeting website.

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