Back to School?!

9 08 2010

The kids are staggering around, moaning about school’s approach while we parents giggle in our sleep.  We have to put in some work to get our little sweetums of all ages launched into the new school year, but the payoff is worth it.  The kids – out of the house!

Vaccines.  Have to get pre-schoolers, collegians and everyone in-between up-to-date on those immunizations.  Ice cream afterward, no matter the age.

Flu.  Ok, this seems like it should be with the vaccines above, but most of us focus on the immunizations we need to get done before the kids go back to school, and this one usually isn’t available in clinics until September/October.  Put it on the calendar, because it’s easy to forget.  Check with your provider about each member of your family getting vaccinated against influenza.  It’s important.

Cover coughs.  With kids crammed into classrooms and adults back at the office after summer holiday, diseases have a chance to spread quickly.  Show the kids how to cough (or sneeze) into their elbows, or into tissues.  This helps stop the germs from floating around and being inhaled by others, or from landing on surfaces that others then touch, picking up the germs on their hands.

Wash hands.  Washing our hands throughout the day, and always after using the bathroom and before we eat, is an all-around good habit.  It’s one of the most effective ways to prevent infections.  Show the kids how to wash their hands.  We didn’t know there was a particular way that worked best until we had a nurse come in and show us prior to making this little video a few years ago.

Dating.  There will be a lot more interaction between teens after school starts.  Even though they know about STDs, it doesn’t hurt for them to hear us talk about the ways diseases spread.  It’s surprising how parents’ willingness to talk, and talk often, can impact a teen’s choices.  Also, thanks to the recent vampire craze, we have to explain that biting your date’s neck can spread all sorts of diseases.

Any parents out there want to chime in on what they do or say to keep their kids healthy?  We’d love to hear!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Disease Prevention, Uncategorized

Twilight Love Bites… Ouch!

28 07 2010

The Twilight Series: It’s the rage among teens.  It’s a love story with hip, modern-day vampires.  Love the books, love the movies, but do NOT love the Twilight trend that is emerging among teen friends and couples: biting.

Teens caught up in the Twilight rage are “leaving their marks” on each other as a sign of closeness.  What does this mean?  It means that they are biting each other.  As parents, we thought we had left that nightmare long behind us in the toddler years!  It’s returned, and the implications are even more serious.

First there are the socio-psycho implications. Teen biting is a form of branding, and a form of ownership.  Some teens believe it shows commitment to a significant other, or group of friends. One teen noted biting was an “add-on to kissing,” comparing it to putting a case on his iPhone.

It seemed we had all but eliminated the idea of “blood brothers and blood sisters,” and now we have teens that cut each other’s skin to taste each other’s blood.    

This is extremely dangerous and can cause serious infections.  The human mouth is filled with bacteria, and a bite that draws blood can have serious implications.  If biting has occurred, we need to look for signs of more serious bites, including:   swelling, redness, pain, and pus at the site.   All bites need to be carefully cleaned, and may require treatment with oral or IV antibiotics. 

What often goes unmentioned is the danger of spreading bloodborne diseases,  such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and B, and syphilis.  

There is a vaccine for hepatitis B, so please be sure your teen is vaccinated.  There are no vaccines for HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C.  These diseases do not discriminate, and if your biting, vampire-loving teen chooses to engage in such activities, she may end up with an infectious disease that at best remains with her for the rest of her life, and at worst, takes her life.

You can find evidence of this craze on teen-made YouTube videos and Facebook pages.  Some teens say they have been biting their partners for over a year. 

We all need to be talking to our teens about the health risks involved in this practice.  They need to hear our opinion on this; it will make a difference when it comes time for them to choose to participate in this risky behavior—or not.


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Disease Prevention, Health Education, Infectious Diseases, Kids, Teenagers, Uncategorized

Piercing? Stay Safe!

9 06 2010

Thousands of years ago, Egyptians loved to pierce their ears and wear jewelry as symbols of their status. However, only the Pharaoh was allowed to pierce his navel, and if others were caught doing so, they were put to death.

Mayans pierced their tongues for spiritual reasons, and the Roman centurions had their nipples pierced to hold their capes (ouch!), and to demonstrate loyalty to the emperor.

If you’re thinking of piercing, or even if you’ve done it but want more piercings, let’s talk safety.

The mall:

  • Piercing “staff” are often young and inexperienced.
  • The piercing gun is usually not a single-use device, and cannot be adequately cleaned. Infections can come with piercings, if the staff don’t sterilize as they should, or if they reuse equipment. Some of those infections can be serious—hepatitis, tetanus or even TB.

The doctor’s office:

  • The healthcare provider that pierces your ears will do so with a sterile, single-use device, all while following standard precautions, which will significantly decrease the odds of infection.
  • Your provider might lack experience, so there’s no telling how the job will turn out, but it beats living with a disease for the rest of your life. Still, you may not be thrilled if you end up with lopsided earrings.

Your BFF’s house:

  • JUST SAY NO!
  • Tools and supplies may be purchased by anyone.  This does not mean your BFF, or her mom, is qualified to pierce your ears.  Due to lack of experience and the high probability that standard precautions will not be followed adequately, you’re going to want to rethink this option.

A professional shop:

  • Make sure that the piercer is a professional, follows standard precautions, and runs a clean shop. He should wear disposable gloves and change them between customers.
  • The piercer should be trained to avoid cross-contamination.
  • A sterile, single-use, long, smooth, hollow needle with a razor sharp tip, applied using a sterile mechanical device into a single-use sterile cork is likely the safest way to have your ears or other parts pierced.
  • Talk to your healthcare provider about any medical information that might be pertinent to your procedure.  Depending on the piercing, you might require prophylactic antibiotics, or the procedure might not be recommended at all.

A special note on tongue piercings and splitting: it’s important to read the warnings put out by the American Dental Association. It’s risky and the damage can be significant—and permanent.

Share


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories : Disease Prevention

Child Mortality – Make a Difference

7 06 2010

“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” Mahatma Ghandi

If child mortality rates are the canary in the coal mine of a nation’s ability to care for its people, then Ghandi had it right. Even with its advantages, the United States struggles to care for the most vulnerable among the population.

Over the past 20 years, the U.S. has seen a 42 percent decline in child mortality. This sounds good, until we realize that Kazakhstan, Sierra Leone and Angola all saw the same rate of decline. Given our resources, it seems that we should be doing better than that.

Despite spending a boatload of money on healthcare, the U.S. continues to have frustratingly high rates of preventable disease.

The link between preventable disease and child mortality is part of the clarion call of healthcare reformers, who hope that new legislation will expand coverage for preventive care and make healthcare more affordable.

Whether the recent overhaul can fix this country’s uneven and expensive healthcare system is not yet known.

It’s just not acceptable for children in this or any country to die before they’ve had a chance to live. Here’s what can be done to reduce child mortality rates around the world. We must ensure that everyone in need has access to:

  • Vaccines
  • Soap
  • Basic health education – hygiene, nutrition, prevention
  • Safe water
  • Sanitation/toilets
  • Breastfeeding
  • Improved pre/neo/postneonatal care
  • Antibiotics
  • Insecticide-treated bed nets
  • Micronutrient supplementation

Buy a net for someone, educate your neighbor on immunizations, encourage new moms to breastfeed. We can all do one thing and by doing it, we’ll help kids have a chance at life.

Share


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , ,
Categories : Current News, Disease Prevention, Uncategorized

Feeling Crowded?

21 05 2010

Aaaah, crowds. That sea of humanity one swims in at rock concerts, baseball stadiums, political rallies, the Hajj, the World Cup, and other events that draw us like kids to jam.

Crowds

Courtesy Robert Molinarius

You know what else we swim in at crowded events? Germs. Lots and lots of germs. They’re in the under-cooked foods, the restrooms, the coughs and sneezes, the trails the many fingers leave behind. They’re everywhere.

This summer’s FIFA World Cup will be huge. It only comes around once every four years, so there’s a lot of pent-up excitement waiting to spill all over South Africa.

Most soccer fans around the world will scream and pound tables at home or in a pub, through their TVs, computer screens, radios, and smartphones. They’ll be exposed to germs, but the World Cup is exposure to the third magnitude.

Fans migrating toward South Africa to revel in all of that which is hockey will soon plunge into microbial soup. So, just a word about prevention please. Your loved ones want you returned in the same condition as that in which you left.

How do you do that?  How do you avoid the billions of disease-causing germs you’re sure to meet when crowded up next to 10,000, 100,000, or 1,000,000 other people?

  • If you can’t bring your own food, make sure to eat nothing that’s uncooked or under-cooked.
  • Bottled water is a must, and better to bring your own in case it’s hard to get.
  • Hand sanitizer is your friend. Use it A LOT and definitely before touching anything you will eat or drink, and don’t touch your face unless you’ve just sanitized your hands. On second thought, just don’t touch your face.
  • Check with your provider and get caught up on your immunizations.
  • Use a product to keep bugs away (some carry disease).
  • Unless you’re wearing a special mask, there’s not much you can do about the germs people sneeze and cough into the air, but you can cover your sneezes and coughs to protect others.

That’s about it, unless someone has a good tip they’d like to add.

By the way, Rift Valley fever is popping up in South Africa, so watch out for those mosquitos, and no handling of dead, uncooked animals.

Have fun!

Share


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Disease Prevention, Uncategorized

Next Entries »


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.