The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) VIPS (Vascular effects of infection in Pediatric Stroke Study) Team and Bellaflies partnered in 2014 to fight pediatric stroke. Since then we have continued to support their pediatric stroke research and we are excited to tell you about their findings.
Our joint goal was to figure out why strokes happen in children like Bella, and how physicians and researchers can prevent them. Bellaflies’ funding helped them figure out that children with a stroke have an increased risk of having a second stroke, especially if they have diseased arteries to the brain. They also discovered with the pediatric stroke research grant that inflammation plays a role in the progression of the arterial disease in children with stroke, and increases the risk of a second stroke.
The second study we funded at UCSF helped them figure out that herpes viruses (the cause of chicken pox and cold sores) are an important trigger for pediatric stroke even if the infection is not presenting with symptoms. The most recent study we funded focused on stroke in the very young. They found that children who are very young are less likely to have a headache at the time of the stroke, but more likely to have seizures. The very young are more likely to have strokes from blood clots in the heart, but can still have diseased arteries to the brain. This research is just the beginning!
This team of Vascular effects of Infection in Pediatric Stroke (VIPS) researchers is made up of data from 355 children who have had a stroke from 37 different hospitals, 5 continents, 9 countries around the globe who are all united in stopping pediatric strokes!