Infant Massage and Preemie Brain Development

Among the often-heard benefits of infant massage is its special benefits for preterm infants. But what does the research say about infant massage for preemies? For the first time, body massage has been shown to affect brain development in human infants, and tactile stimulation has been shown to influence visual development in these babies. A study published in the May 2009 Journal of Neuroscience finds that massage accelerates brain development and the maturation of visual functioning in preterm babies. The research team, working with a cohort of preterm Italian infants with a gestational age between 30 and 33 weeks, found that EEG maturation, as well as visual system development, was accelerated in the massaged infants, compared to their non-massaged control group. Larger studies will be needed to replicate these findings.

Even Mildly Premature Infants at Risk for Severe RSV Infection

According to a research report presented earlier this month at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2009 Annual Meeting in Baltimore, even mild prematurity increases the risk for severe RSV infection in infants. The team, from Kaiser Permanente's Division of Perinatal Research in California, conducted a retrospective study of over 100,000 infants with gestational age of at least 33 weeks. They found that even babies who were born nearly full-term (at 37 weeks) were at significantly increased risk for serious respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections that require medical attention, including hospitalization in some cases. While the team does not determine why even mildly premature infants born just two to three weeks early have such a high risk of RSV infection associated with morbidity. Placing mildly premature infants in an even more precarious position is the fact that RSV prevention with the drug pavlizumab is approved only for the extremely premature baby. For Medscape's coverage of this research and a Canadian registry under development to better understand the use of pavlizumab with preemies, click here. (Free registration is required to view this link.)