Feb 8, 10 | Posted by: Kristin Bencik Boudreau, D.O.
I lost my 3 year old at Disney- how my preemptive talk helped me find him
Imagine this- New Year’s Eve at Walt Disneyland, park filled to capacity with over 85,000 people (most of them blowing kazoos), a six week old baby, and losing your 3 year old child. Unfortunately, this was my reality this year. As many of you know, I had my fourth child in November. I thought it would be a great treat for the older kids to go to Disney on the last week of my maternity leave and the last week of their winter vacation. Too bad thousands others felt the same way. I brought my parents so we would have one adult per kid, but circumstances happened that my mom and I ended up with the three younger kids. I went to go park a stroller (lots of stroller parking rules at Disney) and did not know the 3 year old had followed me. It was a classic case of each adult thinking the other one had him. I was not gone more than 3 minutes, but knew as soon as I got back to my mom that he was lost. More »
Feb 5, 10 | Posted by: Sharyl Paley, M.D.
Cough and cold medicine
Well, cough and cold season has definitely hit. Everyone from the tiniest of babies to teenagers are walking around coughing. The biggest thing I keep hearing is- “they sound like they have a smokers cough it is so bad.” These parents are right. The coughs right now are from viruses that are affecting everything from the upper to the lower airways. Coughs are the bane of a pediatrician because we do not have much in our armamentarium to help them.
A cough is the bodies way of clearing something irritating the airway. At this time of the year it is usually caused by viruses causing inflammation. Coughs are uncomfortable and annoying. Also, they often cause for a poor night of sleep. More »
Jan 18, 10 | Posted by: Bayshore Pediatrics
Recall of Tylenol, Motrin, and others.
On January 15th, Mcneil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals announced a recall of Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, Simply Sleep, St. Josephs, and Rolaid products. Please check your cabinets at home and verify that the lot numbers you have at home have not been recalled. See the link below to check lot numbers and to find instructions on what to do if you have these recalled lots.
https://www.mcneilproductrecall.com/index.jhtml
Jan 15, 10 | Posted by: David Melbye, M.D.
What kind of thermometer should I use?
Everyone should have at least one thermometer in their house, the question is which kind? There is actually a pretty simple answer to this question, a digital electric thermometer. What about mercury, ear and temporal scan thermometers? Let’s go through those one by one.
I don’t think a lot of people have glass mercury thermometers anymore, but if you have one you should get rid of it because it can break and release hazardous amounts of mercury into the air. Remember how our parents thought it was cool to watch the mercury beads roll around in a bowl? Sometimes I wonder how any of us survived.
A lot of people have ear thermometers which if used correctly can be reasonably accurate. The problem is if your child’s ear canal isn’t perfectly straight, has any ear wax or if the sensor isn’t at the right angle with the ear drum because your kid is squirming around the reading will be incorrect. So they may be accurate according to the box, but in reality they are very rarely used correctly and do not give an accurate reading.
Temporal Scan thermometers are relatively new so their reliabilty has yet to be verified. According to the companies that make them, the major “benefit” of the temporal scan thermometer is that they are easy to use when your kid is asleep. My response to the would be why in the world would you check your kids temperature while they are sleeping? You should leave them alone and go to bed yourself.
So you should have 2 digital electric thermometers in your house, one labeled “rectal” to use on anyone 3 and under and one labeled “oral” to use for anyone 4 and older. You should wash your themometers with lukewarm soapy water or rubbing alcohol and rinse them with cool water in between uses. You should also make sure not to get them mixed up…
Dec 24, 09 | Posted by: Bayshore Pediatrics
H1N1 Recall Update
It was announced yesterday that Medimunne is recalling doses of the H1N1 nasal spray due to a small decrease in antigen content required by the CDC and FDA. What this means is that the strength of immunity expected has fallen or is falling slightly below the required amount. Bayshore Pediatrics has reviewed the lot numbers attached to the H1N1 vaccine administered or scheduled to be administered. We had received the lots associated with the recall, both having administered the lots and having lots remaining. We have pulled the doses remaining and will not be administering these. For those that received the doses being recalled, there is no action to be taken. Because the vaccine is not being recalled due to safety issues, the CDC is not recommending any re-vaccination when the first doses was a recalled dose. Rather, they continue to recommend the booster dose for children 9 years and under which can be scheduled 28 days from the first dose. This second dose will boost the immunity to expected levels for continued protection against the H1N1 influenza illness.
