Flu Vaccines for 2011-2012: Flu Shot Days set for September 10 or 17

Flu Vaccine 2011-2012

Advanced Pediatrics is pleased to announce that this year’s influenza immunizations are now available in our office.

Call now for your appointment on September 10 or September 17 for our Flu Vaccine Days.

Influenza is a virus that sweeps across our region every winter, typically appearing in December and leaving our community around April.

This virus is responsible for a rather astounding amount of winter illness, causing fully 1/3 of all colds, flus, and ear infections.

Influenza immunization is now recommended for everyone, except for those less than 6 months old.

Influenza immunization comes in two formats:  a shot and a nasal spray.  The shot contains dead virus and is fine for anyone to use.  The nasal spray contains live virus and should not be used by anyone less than 2 years old, older than 50 years old, or anyone with a chronic illness, including asthma.

With regard to how many influenza vaccines is a complete series, the answer is very simple.  Anyone under age 9 who has never had an influenza vaccine, needs two influenza vaccines at least one month apart to be fully protected.

That also means anyone who has had an influenza vaccine in the past only needs one this year.

Overall, the data show that the nasal spray tends to work a little better- the immunity covers more strains than are in the vaccine and lasts longer.  But, at the same time, the shot works quite well, too.

Getting Your Influenza Vaccine at Advanced Pediatrics

In order to make sure the entire practice gets the chance to be protected from influenza infection in a timely and easy manner, we are going to offer influenza vaccinations in two ways:

1. Any child in the practice 6 months of age or older can get their influenza vaccine at any visit to office, whether it be for a health supervision visit (check-up), sick visit, or conference.
2. We will once again offer special Flu Vaccine Clinic days to allow a large number of people the chance to simply come in and get their flu vaccine in a few minutes time.

The Flu Vaccine Clinic days will be held on two Saturdays in September:

September 10 and 17, each starting at 9AM.  You can call now to set up your time for these days.

The outlook for our supply looks good, no shortages are expected.  And the H1N1 strain is once again included in this year’s flu vaccines, eliminating the need for a separate flu vaccine routine.

Even so, we would like to limit our flu vaccine offerings to children in families.  Once we are truly sure that no shortages are expected will be opening up flu shot availability to parents.

We at Advanced Pediatrics are very pleased to be able to help make sure this winter is as healthy as possible.

Dr. Arthur Lavin

Dr. Julie Hertzer

Ms. Kelley Muldoon Rieger

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*Disclaimer* The comments contained in this electronic source of information do not constitute and are not designed to imply that they constitute any form of individual medical advice. The information provided is purely for informational purposes only and not relevant to any person's particular medical condition or situation. If you have any medical concerns about yourself or your family please contact your physician immediately. In order to provide our patients the best uninfluenced information that science has to offer,we do not accept samples of drugs, advertising tchotchkes, money, food, or any item from outside vendors.

New Book by Dr. Lavin: The 5 most important things To do during pregnancy to insure the health of your new baby.

Dr. Lavin's Newest Book:

The 5 most important things 

To do during pregnancy to insure the health of your new baby

Advanced Pediatrics is pleased to announce the publication of Dr. Lavin's 5th book, The 5 most important things To do during pregnancy to insure the health of your new baby  (Collaboration Press, 2011).

This book was written for pregnant women who are seeking substantive information about what can they do to make sure their newborn is as healthy and smart as possible.   In this book, Dr. Lavin takes a look at the following 5 areas in which mothers can have an impact on the health of their baby:

• Nutrition
• Mood
• Exercise
• Cognition
• Planning

In each instance The 5 most important things offers parents-to-be solid advice about how each of these areas can impact the outcome of newborn development, and what the mothers-to-be can do to make a positive difference.

The 5 most important things is being distributed at no cost to pregnant women.  This availability has been generously supported through a welcome collaboration with Berg's Baby and Teen Furniture store (http://www.bergsbaby.com/), a place of rare commitment to high quality, and rated as one of America's top baby stores.

Copies of The 5 most important things To do during pregnancy to insure the health of your new baby   are available at our office, again at no cost.

If you are pregnant, or have friends or colleagues who are pregnant, let us know, we would be happy to get a copy of The 5 most important things To do during pregnancy to insure the health of your new baby to them.

Dr. Arthur Lavin

also by Dr. Arthur Lavin:

Who's the Boss? Moving Families from Conflict to Collaboration, with Ms. Susan Glaser (2nd edition, Collaboration Press, 2010)

Baby & Toddler Sleep Solutions for Dummies, with Ms. Susan Glaser (Wiley Publishers, 2007, to be translated into Italian in 2012)

The Advanced Pediatrics Guide to Newborns, with Dr. Julie Hertzer, Ms. Kelley Muldoon Rieger, and Ms. Susan Glaser (2nd edition, Collaboration Press, 2009)

The Advanced Pediatrics Guide to Finding a Medical Home for Your Child, with Dr. Julie Hertzer, Ms. Kelley Muldoon Rieger, and Ms. Susan Glaser (Collaboration Press, 2010)

and, Dr. Lavin is currently working on a new book Not To Worry, which will discuss dozens of common and not so common situations, to let families know when the situation is worrisome and when it is not.

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*Disclaimer* The comments contained in this electronic source of information do not constitute and are not designed to imply that they constitute any form of individual medical advice. The information provided is purely for informational purposes only and not relevant to any person's particular medical condition or situation. If you have any medical concerns about yourself or your family please contact your physician immediately. In order to provide our patients the best uninfluenced information that science has to offer,we do not accept samples of drugs, advertising tchotchkes, money, food, or any item from outside vendors.

Mosquito Bites on the Face: When to Worry

Image via WikipediaMosquito Bites on the Face:  
When to Worry

A warm hot summer has yielded an explosion of mosquitos in our area, and with the jump in the number of mosquitos has come a dramatic jump in the number of mosquito bites.

Recent reports document this is happening and that we can anticipate a big jump in the number of mosquito bites through October.

At the office, we have seen the beginning of this big jump, with a large increase in the number of calls about mosquito bites.

Families have expressed two types of concerns about mosquito bites, are the infected, and is it really just mosquito bites or possibly chickenpox.

Mosquito Bite Basics
As the picture above shows, mosquitoes are tiny insects that live on the blood of animals they bite.  To make their living, they must slide a tiny tube into a blood vessel and suck some blood out the tube, all without you noticing in time to smash them.
Aside from being noticed and killed, their other challenge is to make sure your blood does not clot while their snout is in your capillary.
Here is why most people get a reaction.  To keep your blood from clotting during their visit, the mosquito first injects a little anticoagulant.  This material has an impact on your immune system, and this impact leads to inflammation at the site of the bite.  It's this inflammation that causes the very familiar sight of a mosquito bite, namely, a red bump, often with a tiny dot in the middle where the bite occurs, and surrounding redness:



Another basic to keep in mind is that the younger you are, the more vigorous your immune system, and so the more dramatic inflammation from mosquito bites can be.  Think of how young children can easily generate fevers to 105, but adults rarely go past 102.  Just so with mosquito bites.  Young children can get quite big red areas from even one bite.

Chickenpox
Now, take a look at this picture of the rash of chickenpox, and you can see why it makes sense for people to wonder if their child gets a bunch of mosquito bites, whether it really is mosquito bites or chickenpox:


But there is a difference.  Notice that chickenpox nearly always ends up having three types of rash:
starts with red spots which become blisters, which become scabs.  The red spots of chickenpox and small mosquito bites look about the same, really quite similar.  That makes the two conditions confusing to sort out.

In a few days the red spots of mosquito bites are still red spots, or gone, or scratched to scabs; but the red spots of chickenpox become tiny yellow-filled blisters that we call vesicles.  These vesicles then turn into scabs without any scratching.

Of course, if you are not sure that your child's mosquito bites are not chickenpox, feel free to call.
Hopefully this guidance will help, but should not stop you from inquiring.

Is the bite infected?
The other major concern that mosquito bites cause is whether the bites are infected.  This is most commonly feared when the mosquito bites are on the eyelids.
Take a look:

What do you think, is this eyelid infected?  Let's talk about mosquito bites and infections, then you decide.

The skin of the eyelid is very loose and capable of rather impressive swelling.  Even a simple mosquito bite can cause swelling enough to close the eyes shut.  The inflammation of a mosquito bite causes a lot of fluid to accumulate in the eyelid, especially if you lie down for a night's sleep or a nap.  The swollen eyelid has a pale pink color, is not warm, often only involves one lid- just the upper or lower.  The redness of the swollen eyelid from a mosquito bite is pale, not deep red, and the swelling is soft, like a partially inflated water balloon.  The eyelid feels a little bouncy, not hard.  The eyelid can be itchy, not typically painful, and often there is a red dot where the bite occurred.

When an eyelid is infected, all those properties of the eyelid are different.  Infections almost always spread to both eyelids, the redness is deep not pale, the eyelid feels hot and often hurts, and there can be pus.  The whole look is more like an angry red, hot appearance, and not the soft watery pale red of a mosquito bite.

Now with that in mind, what do you think of the picture of the swollen eyelid, mosquito bite or infection?
The answer is mosquito bite- only one lid, the upper is swollen, the redness is faint, the swelling is soft looking.

One last clue, swelling from mosquito bites almost always gets worse after lying down for awhile, since most of the swelling is simply water accumulating in the area.  Sitting or standing helps the fluid move and the swelling gets better.  This is why when young children get a mosquito bite on their eyelid, they frighten parents after sleeping- their eye is swollen shut!  But ofter after an hour or so of getting up, the swelling is much less.
Swelling from infections almost never shrinks after getting up.

Again, these tips are meant to help.  Of course, if questions still remain feel free to call us.


BOTTOM LINE
The key points to keep in mind are:

1. This looks like a big year for mosquitoes.  Expect lots more bites, more swollen eyelids, more patches of great numbers of bites.
2. Chickenpox and mosquito bites look alike early on, but mosquito bites stay looking like mosquito bites and chickenpox rashes become tiny blisters and scabs.
3. Mosquito bites on the eyelid typically cause big swelling, but the redness is fainter, the pain is less, the spread is limited, compared to actual infections.
4. Call if you are concerned.

Dr. Arthur Lavin

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*Disclaimer* The comments contained in this electronic source of information do not constitute and are not designed to imply that they constitute any form of individual medical advice. The information provided is purely for informational purposes only and not relevant to any person's particular medical condition or situation. If you have any medical concerns about yourself or your family please contact your physician immediately. In order to provide our patients the best uninfluenced information that science has to offer,we do not accept samples of drugs, advertising tchotchkes, money, food, or any item from outside vendors.