About.com Pediatrics

Beef Recall

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:07:37 +0000

Fairbank Farms has voluntarily recalled about 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef because it may be contaminated with the E.coli O157:H7 bacteria.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the CDC discovered the possible link while investigating a small cluster of E. coli infections which may have already sickened 28 people and caused at least one death.

Recalled ground beef was sold at grocery stores in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont, with a sell-by date from September 19 through 28, 2009. Although already past their expiration dates, consumers who have the recalled ground beef in their freezer should not eat it and can return it for a refund. Recalled ground beef products include those sold by ACME, BJ's, Ford Brothers, Giant Food Stores, Lancaster and Wild Harvest, Price Chopper, Shaw's, and Trader Joe's.

Parents should keep in mind that in addition to people with weak immune systems, the very young can be very susceptible to food poisoning, including E. coli infections, which makes it very important that they watch for these types of recalls.

Beef Recall originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 19:07:37.

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Daylight Saving Time To Do List

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:44:35 +0000

In addition to turning your clocks back one hour last night, some good things to do when daylight saving time changes can include:

changing the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors
in addition to replacing the batteries, you should consider replacing smoke alarms that are more than ten years old and carbon monoxide detectors that are more than five years old
cleaning out your medicine cabinet to get rid of expired and unused medicines

And this can be a good time to make sure your kids are getting enough sleep, as the changes during daylight saving time can sometimes interfere with their sleep routines.

Daylight Saving Time To Do List originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 19:44:35.

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Halloween Safety

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:46:40 +0000

Halloween is always a fun holiday for kids. I still remember the year that I had to miss Halloween because I was sick with chickenpox, but hopefully too many kids don't miss out on the fun because of swine flu fears.

Of course, kids who are actually sick with swine flu should stay home on Halloween so that they don't get other kids sick. Most others should be able to enjoy Halloween and trick-or-treating though.

Keep these Halloween safety tips in mind, including that your kids:

wear a safe costume
go trick-or-treating with supervision in safe neighborhoods
only eat Halloween candy that has been inspected by an adult to make sure it is safe
don't overdo it with Halloween candy

Halloween Safety originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 09:46:40.

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Tamiflu Shortages

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:47:45 +0000

There have been a lot of reports of Tamiflu shortages as swine flu cases continue to increase across the United States.

It is important to remember that according to current CDC guidelines, Tamiflu is only recommended for high-risk patients with swine flu, including children under age two to four years, adults 65 and older, pregnant women, and people with chronic medical problems, such as asthma, diabetes, and problems with their immune system, etc. Early treatment with Tamiflu is also recommended for patients with severe symptoms and those requiring hospitalization. Most other healthy children and adults, especially if they have mild symptoms, don't need Tamiflu or Relenza, the other flu medication.

In a media briefing today, Anne Schuchat, MD, the director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases again confirmed the CDC guidelines about Tamiflu when she stated that 'for the vast majority of people who have an illness that isn't severe and who don't have the underlying factors like very young age, pregnancy, or chronic health conditions, probably just bed rest, fluids and a little TLC is the right way to go.'

In addition to decreasing the chance that the H1N1 virus will become resistant to Tamiflu, like the seasonal flu viruses did last year, following the CDC guidelines and only using Tamiflu for high-risk patients will help to decrease the shortages, so that high-risk patients can get Tamiflu when they need it.

Tamiflu Shortages originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 17:47:45.

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Swine Flu Emergency

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:26:45 +0000

There has been a lot of fear surrounding the swine flu pandemic this year. The declaration of a National Swine Flu Emergency by President Obama may increase fears for some parents, but it is important to realize that the move simply allows hospitals to better deal with the rising number of patients they are seeing, especially in their emergency rooms.

Other parents have a greater fear that the swine flu vaccine may come too late, as we are already seeing widespread flu cases in most of the United States. It is important to keep in mind that some experts think that another wave of swine flu may come later this winter and so getting vaccinated next month, even if cases seem to have peaked, can still be a good idea.

So get your kids vaccinated with a seasonal flu vaccine and the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine when it is available to them. It may not be as easy to get a flu vaccine this year as we have all become accustomed to, but it will be worth it to avoid getting sick.

Swine Flu Emergency originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 13:26:45.

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Baby Food Recall

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:27:00 +0000

Plum Organics has announced the recall of one batch of its 4.22 ounce Apple & Carrot Portable Pouch baby food because of possible contamination with the Clostridium botulinum bacteria that causes botulism.

Affected baby food has been sold at Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us, has a best by date of May 21, 2010, and a UPC code of #890180001221.

Although no illnesses have been reported, consumers who have the affected baby food should not use it. They can return it to Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us for a refund or can contact Plum Organics for more information.

Baby Food Recall originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 10:27:00.

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Glass Tables - A Hidden Danger

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:57:41 +0000

Consumer Reports magazine and an article in Pediatric Emergency Care first alerted parents to the dangers of glass-topped tables last March. They had found that there were almost 20,000 injuries a year caused by glass-topped tables breaking when children fall or climb on top of them.

The recent case of a five-year old in Phoenix, who fell onto a glass-topped table and the broken glass punctured a lung and her liver. Fortunately, she will make a full recovery, but many other children do not.

Instead of regular glass-topped tables, be sure to get a table made of tempered glass or don't get a glass-topped tables and avoid this hidden danger all together.

Glass Tables - A Hidden Danger originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 19:57:41.

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Swine Flu Vaccine Arrives

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:10:46 +0000

As swine flu cases continue to increase across the United States, many parents will be happy to hear that the first doses of the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine are now arriving at doctor's offices and clinics.

Unfortunately, they will be in very limited supply, especially for the next few weeks when only a small number of doses of the FluMist nasal spray version of the swine flu vaccine are being delivered. Since FluMist can only be given to people between the ages of two and forty-nine years of age without any chronic medical problems, like asthma, that will leave out many of the high risk target groups for the swine flu vaccine who will have to wait for the swine flu shot. Instead, initial doses of the FluMist swine flu vaccine will likely go to toddlers and preschool age children between the ages of two and four years of age, health care and emergency medical services personnel, and household and caregiver contacts of children younger than 6 months of age.

We can expect more swine flu vaccine and seasonal flu shots in the weeks and months ahead though.

Swine Flu Vaccine Arrives originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 11:10:46.

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Asthma Action Plans

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:13:18 +0000

Since children with asthma can be at higher risk for complications if they get the flu, the CDC recommends that they make sure that they have an updated asthma action plan and that they follow it if they start to get swine flu symptoms.

Children with asthma should also:

get a seasonal flu vaccine
get the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine
receive treatment with Tamiflu at the earliest sign of flu symptoms

Asthma Action Plans originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Sunday, October 4th, 2009 at 15:13:18.

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Flu Shot Delays

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:15:47 +0000

In a typical year, most pediatricians don't even start to give flu shots until mid-October. This year's early flu cases, brought on my the large number of swine flu infections, has had many parents wanting to get their kids a seasonal flu shot early. And most pediatric offices were ready and geared up to get all of their kids vaccinated with the seasonal flu shot so that they would have the staff and resources to administer the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine as it becomes available this month.

Unfortunately, we are already seeing delays for seasonal flu vaccines in many doctor's offices and clinics. Two major vaccine manufacturers have stated that they will not be shipping any more seasonal flu vaccine to doctors until November. This will likely mean that many kids will not be able to get a seasonal flu vaccine yet.

Since the seasonal flu vaccine isn't going to provide any protection against the H1N1 swine flu strain that is currently going around, and seasonal flu strains may not begin causing infections for a few weeks or months, waiting until the seasonal flu vaccine is available should not be a problem for most kids. If your child is in a high risk group, such as being under two to five years old or having a chronic medical problem, then you might try to get him a seasonal flu vaccine now wherever you can.

Flu Shot Delays originally appeared on About.com Pediatrics on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 20:15:47.

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