Healthy isn?t something you are or aren?t. It?s a hundred little things: eating a banana, walking in the park, putting a bandage on a boo-boo, playing tag, reading up on ways to keep you and your family well and safe. It?s a balance between living well and taking care, and you can start right where you are.
A blog by Christina Elston
Healthy isn't something you are or aren't. It's a hundred little things: eating a banana, walking in the park, putting a bandage on a boo-boo, playing tag, reading up on ways to keep you and your family well and safe. It's a balance between living well and taking care, and you can start right where you are.

Posts Tagged ‘vaccinations’

Better Than a Spoonful of Sugar — 5 S’s Calm Babies After Shots

Monday, April 16th, 2012

Vaccinating babies protects them from a host of deadly diseases, but how to protect them from the pain of all those shots? A study out today from Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia, has the answer – times five!

The technique is called the “5 S’s,” and it was pioneered by Santa Monica pediatrician Harvey Karp, M.D., author of the 2003 book The Happiest Baby On the Block, as a way to soothe colicky infants. The S’s in question are:

Swaddling

Side/stomach position

Shushing

Swinging

Sucking

 Click here to see a video about how this works.

Researchers divided 230 infants in for their 2-month or 4-month checkups into four groups. The first were given plain water two minutes before their vaccinations. The second received sugar-water, which had been the gold standard for vaccination pain relief in infants. In the third group, caregivers employed the 5 S’s after the shot, while the final group received sugar-water before the shot and the 5 S treatment afterward.

Babies receiving water or sugar-water alone were still crying at least two minutes after their shots, but most of the babies who received the 5 S’s had stopped crying by 45 seconds – and all had stopped within one minute.

Another effective way to reduce pain in infants, breastfeeding, wasn’t included in the study. It provides infants with skin-to-skin contact, and the sugar from mother’s milk, but breastfeeding in a pediatrician’s office isn’t an option for all moms. “It is definitely something we allow and don’t think for a moment we should suggest otherwise,” says lead study author John Harrington, M.D., “but for parents who do not breastfeed or may be shy to breastfeed in front of others, this may be a nice alternative.”

He notes that some of the S’s were more effective than others, but that the study didn’t evaluate each specifically. “I think the main thing is doing at least three to four of the S’s to get the full effect,” Harrington explains.

The study was published in the April 16 issue of Pediatrics.

 

Tags: ,
Posted in Children's Health, vaccinations | No Comments »

New Vaccine Info For CA Preteens

Friday, February 10th, 2012

As part of their ongoing campaign to get older kids – think tweens and teens – to get the immunizations they need, public health experts have declared Feb. 12-18 Preteen Vaccine Week. Here is some information from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health about updated vaccine recommendations and changes to state law that apply to this age group. Ideally, these vaccines are given as part of routine doctor visits, to give healthcare providers a chance to discuss other health issues.

Recommended Vaccines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now recommending the following for all 11-12 year olds:

  • One dose of meningococcal vaccine;
  • One dose of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis) vaccine;
  • Annual seasonal influenza vaccine;
  • Three doses of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

The CDC previously recommended the HPV vaccine only for girls, but is now recommending it for boys in the same age group. Children over the age of 12 who may not have received vaccine or who have missed doses can get caught up at any time.

Recommendations for older teenagers include a second dose of meningococcal vaccine between ages 16 and 18. Everyone, six months of age and older and medically eligible, should receive a flu shot every year.

Middle School Pertussis Immunization Requirement

In 2011, a California law went into effect requiring all students who entered 7th-12th grade in the 2011-2012 school year to show proof of a Tdap vaccine. For the 2012-2013 school year and beyond, only students entering 7th grade – at public, private, charter, and home schools – will need to show proof they received an adolescent Tdap vaccine.

In 2011-2012, schools and parents were given a grace period to comply with the Tdap booster vaccine requirement. A grace period has not been approved for the 2012-2013 school year. Parents and guardians with students entering 7th grade in 2012 will need to ensure their child has been vaccinated with Tdap in order to avoid a delay in starting school.

Minor Consent Law

A new California law that went into effect Jan. 1 allows anyone 12 years of age and older to consent to medical care related to the prevention of a sexually transmitted disease (STD). The new law allows minors to consent to receive HPV and Hepatitis B vaccines.

Resources for Vaccinations

Anyone without a regular health care provider or health insurance coverage for vaccines can call the L.A. County Information Line at 2-1-1 from any cell phone or land line in the county, or visit www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/ip, for referrals to providers offering vaccines at no charge or a reduced charge.

For more information about adolescent immunization recommendations, vaccine safety information, and information about the Tdap school entry requirement, visit:

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Teens and Tweens, vaccinations | No Comments »

Kids’ Vaccine Updates

Monday, November 28th, 2011

shotNews out today from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) highlights a range of vaccine-related issues.

First up: Vaccinating kids against chicken pox apparently also protects babies too young to receive the vaccine. Tracking cases of varicella infection in infants from 1995 (the year chicken pox vaccinations began) to 2008, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention found that cases in children under age 1 declined by more than 89% during that time period, most likely because vaccinations among older children meant babies were exposed to fewer cases of chicken pox. The disease is still around, so study authors urge parents to vaccinate their children.

Next: Babies getting vaccinations tend to be uncomfortable and run mild fevers, and parents might wonder whether a dose of acetaminophen (the aspirin-free pain reliever found in Tylenol) might help Baby sleep. Sleep is important to help the body’s immune system respond to the vaccine, but because some doctors worry the medication might dampen the immune response by suppressing fever, recommendations vary. A new study found that acetaminophen didn’t increase babies’ sleep time, but also didn’t prevent the needed increase in body temperature. What did help babies sleep? Getting their shots after 1:30 p.m., though more study is needed to confirm this result.

Finally: 16-year-olds need a booster dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine, to protect them against meningitis, a dangerous infection of the tissue surrounding the brain. Adolescents are supposed to be vaccinated against meningitis around age 11 or 12. The added the booster at age 16 to the 2011 schedule for extra protection when teens are most vulnerable.

All three issues are covered in the December issue of Pediatrics, published online today.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Children's Health, Teens and Tweens | No Comments »

Just Ask: Waiting On Vaccinations?

Friday, September 17th, 2010

Karen writes: Talking with fellow moms, several mentioned that they are waiting to vaccinate their babies until they reach age 2. These moms feel that this is safer. It seems to be a trend. Is there any truth to this? Is there any harm in waiting?”

Health-E responds: I took your question to pediatrician Brian K. Greenberg, M.D., of The Pediatric Group of Southern California (www.thepediatricgroup.net). Here’s what he had to say:

Most, but not all, of the vaccines given before 2 years of age are recommended at that time because it is when the babies are most at-risk for those diseases. So delaying those vaccines just ensures that those babies are unprotected from some pretty terrible illnesses including whooping cough, invasive ear infections, meningitis, pneumonia, sterilization and encephalitis. And, given that there is no evidence to support that the delay reduces risk, they are gaining no benefit.

The only way this would make sense would be if there were little risk from being unimmunized and great benefit to waiting. Neither is true.

 

And, the dramatic reduction in disease once these vaccines were introduced shows clear benefit to children’s health. Invasive ear infections (used to be a leading cause of acquired deafness) are virtually gone, pneumonia and meningitis in the under-2 population has virtually disappeared, sterilization from mumps is unheard of, and Rubella syndrome is almost unknown. And whooping cough had almost disappeared until a recent re-emergence (partially due to under-immunization).

 

Delaying vaccines is a growing trend because parents are nervous about the safety of our vaccine supply. Sensational news stories, celebrity agendas and poor memory of how devastating these diseases can be have contributed to this lack of confidence despite enormous scientific data that points to a safe and effective vaccine supply.

Got a question about your family’s health? Click here, and we’ll find an expert to answer it! 

 

Tags:
Posted in Children's Health, vaccinations | No Comments »

Pertussis Epidemic Threatens CA Babies

Friday, September 10th, 2010

 

Mariah Bianchi describes how her own case of whooping cough caused the death of her newborn son, at a news conference by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to publicize a recent, sharp increase in the number of whooping cough cases reported in California, in Los Angeles Thursday, July 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Mariah Bianchi describes how her own case of whooping cough caused the death of her newborn son, at a news conference by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to publicize a recent, sharp increase in the number of whooping cough cases reported in California, in Los Angeles Thursday, July 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

In 2005, when Mariah Bianchi was 36 weeks pregnant, she developed what she thought was a cold. Her cough, however, became so violent at 38 weeks that it caused her labor to start. Her son Dylan was born prematurely. In the hospital, Bianchi’s illness persisted and she was worried about taking her new baby home.

 

“The doctors said, ‘You probably just have a cold. Keep breastfeeding; he’ll have your immunity,’” she says.

Bianchi, who had been a nurse for 7 years at the time, failed to realize that she had pertussis, also known as whooping cough. The doctors missed it, too. She unknowingly passed the illness along to her newborn, who died at just 17 days old.

“We didn’t actually find out it was pertussis until the autopsy report confirmed it and a report was sent to the Department of Public Health,” says Bianchi. By that point the family was considered a public health threat.

2005 was a peak year for pertussis, and a booster vaccine for adults had just hit the market. But despite education efforts, and the fact that we’re in the middle of another pertussis epidemic in California, Bianchi says that five years later people are still getting pertussis, and still getting misdiagnosed. “The sad thing is that this is still happening today. This is not unusual.”

As of August, the California Department of Public Health reports eight infant deaths from whooping cough, and a sevenfold increase in illnesses over last year. “It’s really scary to think what could happen in the next couple of months,” says Bianchi, since this is peak whooping cough season.

Pertussis is an infection of the respiratory tract that starts out like a cold and turns into a bad cough, though “bad” is an understatment. The cough can be so severe it can make you vomit, or lose your breath so that your face turns red or blue. “If people could experience how bad it could be,” says Bianchi. “It’s a terrifying experience. Just terrifying.”

But Bianchi’s most important message is that there’s a vaccine available. And that by getting vaccinated, you’re doing far more than just protecting yourself. You are protecting babies too young to be vaccinated, babies like the eight who have already died in California this year. Babies like Dylan Bianchi.

The CDC says that only 2-8% of adults have had their pertussis booster shot. “We have a lot of work to do,” says Bianchi. “If just one family doesn’t have to suffer the way we have, that’s what keeps me going.”

Find out more. Get your shot … 

 

Tags: , ,
Posted in Children's Health, men's health, Pregnancy and Childbirth, women's health | No Comments »

Flu Season Update

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

If the leader of the Free World can do it, so can you. Flu shots should be available this month. Protect yourself and your family! (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)  

If the leader of the Free World can do it, so can you. Flu shots should be available this month. Protect yourself and your family! (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

The H1N1 pandemic flu turned the 2009-2010 flu season – and the spring and summer before it – into a roller coaster filled with face masks, hand sanitizer, and a mad dash for a new flu vaccine. A national emergency was declared and more than 10,000 people in the U.S. died, many of them pregnant women and children.

This year’s flu season is shaping up to be a bit more typical. The Department of Health and Human Services has rolled back H1N1’s public health emergency status, and spring and summer passed with little flu to be found. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) doesn’t make predictions about upcoming seasons, but they do year-round surveillance so they can spot trends and be ready with each year’s updated batch of flu vaccine. “We’re still seeing some of the 2009 H1N1,” says Carolyn B. Bridges, M.D., Associate Director For Science in the CDC’s Influenza Division. Bridges explains that it’s tough to tell how big a role H1N1 might play this year, but at least now we can vaccinate. “The best strategy really is to be prepared and get your flu vaccine,” she says.

Speaking of flu shots, here’s the news for the 2010-11 flu season:

• Everyone age 6 months and older should now get a flu shot. There are a few exceptions for people with certain health conditions, but otherwise all should be vaccinated.

• This year, there’s just one flu shot. It will protect against 2009 H1N1, an updated strain of H3N2 (regular seasonal flu) and influenza B.

• Children younger than 9 shouldn’t receive Afluria brand of flu vaccine. In Australia, where they have their flu season during our downtime, experts noted an increased risk of febrile (fever related) seizures in children under 5 who received doses of the Southern Hemisphere formulation of Afluria, manufactured by CSL Limited. The FDA says the company will not supply any Afluria doses meant for very young children in the U.S.. Labeling of Northern Hemisphere formulated Afluria doses for older children and adults now warns healthcare workers about the risk.

No increased risk of seizures was reported with products from the other manufacturers supplying vaccine for the 2010-11 season: Fluarix by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, FluMist by Medimmune, Fluzone by sanofi pasteur Inc., and Fluvirin by Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics.

• Your child might need a flu “booster” shot. If your child is under age 9 and has never had a flu shot before, or wasn’t vaccinated against H1N1 last season, she or he needs a second dose of this year’s flu vaccine, given four or more weeks after the first. In children this age it takes two shots to build the proper immunity the first year they are vaccinated. “They have to get an initial priming dose, and then get a booster dose,” Bridges says.

Flu vaccine generally becomes available in September or October, and the peak in seasonal flu cases usually hits in January, February and March. “Ideally we’d like people to be vaccinated as soon as they can,” says Bridges, adding that manufacture of the vaccine is underway and there should be plenty to go around. “Make sure that parents and other caregivers and grandparents of children (including pregnant women) get vaccinated as well.” This is especially true for people in close contact with babies who are under 6 months old – too young to be vaccinated. “Those little tiny ones who get influenza can get very, very sick,” Bridges says.

Learn more about influenza … 

Tags: , ,
Posted in Children's Health, men's health, women's health | No Comments »

Pop Quiz: Are You Vaccinated Against Whooping Cough?

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

pertussis_d155pxCases of pertussis, also known as “whooping cough,” have reached epidemic levels in California, and experts are saying the state is on track to suffer the most illness and death from the disease in 50 years. “We’re really on course to see a large number of cases,” says Eileen Yamada, M.D., with the state’s Department of Public Health.

As of June 15, the number of cases of whooping cough had quadrupled over this time last year, reaching 910. Five babies – all under 3 months old – have died from the disease. Public health officials are urging Californians to do the following:

Check your children’s vaccination status. Immunization against pertussis (the shot is generally called DTaP and protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) is given at 2, 4, 6 and 15-18 months, 4-6 years and 11-12 years.

Get your own pertussis shot. The immunity from your childhood vaccinations wears off after a few years, and even having the disease doesn’t give you lifetime immunity. A booster shot for adults (combined with a vaccine against tetanus) was licensed in 2005. So if you haven’t had a tetanus shot lately, you might be vulnerable to whooping cough, too. Ask your doctor.

‘Cocoon’ your babies. They’re the ones at greatest risk if they get sick. And even though they can get their first pertussis shot at 2 months, infants don’t build enough immunity to fend off the disease until their third shot at 6 months. The only way to protect the youngest babies is to make sure everyone who has regular contact with them has been vaccinated. “We know that babies typically get pertussis from an adolescent or an adult family member,” Yamada says. “The more people we get vaccinated, the more protection we’ll have in the community.” Pregnant women should also be vaccinated.

Do all this now. We are headed into the heaviest season for pertussis – late summer and early fall – and all signs point to a tough year. You won’t necessarily notice a case of whooping cough coming on. It starts with cold-like symptoms that can last as long as a week before the trademark cough (severe and rapid-fire, often ending with a “whoop” sound) shows up. “It can be quite deceiving early on,” says Yamada, and meanwhile, you’re contagious. “They may spread the disease before they even think they have whooping cough.”

Again, the greatest risk from pertussis is to young babies, and they’re the ones you are really protecting when you and your older children are vaccinated. Complications from pertussis can include convulsions, bleeding in the brain, brain damage from lack of oxygen, and death. “Luckily, fatalities are still pretty rare,” says Yamada. “But if this is your child that one death in your family is devastating.”

For more information check out:

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

CDC Panel Recommends Flu Shots For All

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

shotA panel of immunization experts voted yesterday that the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should recommend flu shots for everyone 6 months and older, beginning with the 2010-2011 influenza season. They’ve been gradually heading toward this universal recommendation for several years, and finally decided to go ahead and make it official.

Meanwhile, the FDA announced that next year you won’t need two flu shots – because they’ll be combining vaccine against H1N1 with the traditional seasonal flu vaccine. 

Flu shot recommendations have previously focused on protecting people ages 6 months to 18 years, other high-risk populations (the immunocompromised and those with other underlying health conditions), and the elderly. But last season’s H1N1 influenza proved especially dangerous for people ages 19 to 49, and the fact that H1N1 will likely keep circulating next season and beyond played a part in the expanded recommendation.

Meanwhile, flu shots for the 2009-2010 season are still available, and worth a trip if you haven’t yet been vaccinated. They’ll protect you until flu season starts again next fall.

Get more flu info … 

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Acetaminophen Might Reduce Effectiveness of Vaccinations in Infants

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

tylenol-shotGiving preventive doses of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, to dampen infants’ fever after immunizations could keep the body from producing a full immune response to the vaccines, a study from the Czech Republic found.

Researchers conducted two consecutive studies with 459 healthy infants – one when they were 3 to 5 months old, and the second when they were 12 to 15 months old. The babies received routine vaccinations against pneumococcal disease, Haemophilus influenzae type b, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (at 3 to 5 months) and booster shots for the same vaccines (at 12 to 15 months). Afterward, half of the infants were given acetaminophen every 6 to 8 hours for 24 hours, while half received nothing. The results were published in the Oct. 19 online edition of The Lancet.

The babies who received acetaminophen had lower incidence of fever than those who did not, but they also made fewer antibodies against the diseases they’d been vaccinated against.

Experts theorize that because fever is one of the ways that the body fights off infections (it’s an essential part of the immune response), it might not be a good idea to dampen fever after immunizations. Authors of the study don’t recommend giving OTC drugs to prevent fever at the time of vaccination. Instead, if your child becomes feverish and starts acting ill, consult your doctor.

Read more about the study … 

 

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »