It’s National Infant Immunization Week (#Ivax2Protect). What?! Why is an adolescent medicine physician blogging about infant immunizations?! With all the measles going on (seriously, I cannot even deal with the current measles outbreak – 704 cases this year alone!), we need to talk about immunizations and the current laws.
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After an especially long winter, it’s finally time to enjoy the warmer weather, get out the flip flops, and enjoy the great outdoors! It’s also a common time for kids and families with diabetes to ask questions about foot health. Many of us know someone who suffers from diabetic neuropathy, a complication of diabetes. Thankfully, it’s rare for kids with diabetes to have foot problems, but it’s a good time of year to pay more attention to their feet and learn how to prevent problems down the road.
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If only every child’s visit to the doctor was easy and hassle-free, ending with a sticker and a smile. But that’s not always the case — especially for anxiety-prone kids who dread shots or other medical procedures.
“Anxiety about being in a medical office is very normal,” says Amy Stockhausen, MD, a UW Health pediatrician.
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Most parents have looked at their beloved child or toddler and had a thought zip across their minds.
Hey, wait a minute. Is my child walking funny?
Maybe, says Blaise Nemeth, MD, a pediatric orthopedist at American Family Children’s Hospital. Most walking issues fall on a spectrum of normal, and the chances are good that the issue will correct itself without medical intervention.
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Most parents of school-age kids are way too young to recall how prevalent measles was in its heyday. A very serious, highly contagious respiratory disease that affects the lungs and respiratory tract, measles affected 3 to 4 million people in the United States each year before vaccination began in 1963. Back then, measles — which can be passed on through a cough or sneeze — put 48,000 people in the hospital and killed 500 people annually.
With vaccinations routinely given to children for the past 55 years, it’s easy to assume that measles has been totally wiped out. Unfortunately, as more children in school show up without being vaccinated, measles outbreaks have popped up more frequently. Just this year, more than 100 cases have been confirmed in 21 states — especially in Washington and Oregon – with most cases diagnosed in children who have not had the routine MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.
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