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Updated December 05, 2014.
Written or reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Board.
Health news is so sensationalized these days, it is easy to just tune it all out.
It is important to stay informed about some of the latest pediatric news, studies, and outbreaks that could affect our kids so that we can help keep them safe and healthy.
What's in the news this week?
Since we have been dealing with the flu for so long, you would think that it would have gotten fairly predictable by now. Get a flu vaccine; wait for flu season to start, peak, and end; and hope you don't get the flu.
There always seems to be some surprise in store for us though, from flu shot shortages, to the emergence of swine flu, to early or late flu seasons.
This year is no different, with several big surprises, some of which might make it harder to avoid the flu this year:
So what does this all mean?
Especially when you combine the above news with the fact that the CDC is reporting the possibility of a "potentially severe flu season," it means that you should make sure your family has gotten a flu vaccine and has the best protection against the flu.
Don't let the news that this year's flu vaccines aren't a perfect match deter you from getting vaccinated. Two of the last three flu seasons during which H3N2 was the predominate strain were among the highest for pediatric flu deaths - 152 during the 2003-04 flu season and 171 during the 2012-13 seasons.
Even if they aren't a perfect match, this year's flu vaccine can still:
As always, you should also take other steps to avoid the flu, especially washing your hands often.
Most importantly though - Get vaccinated. Get Protected. Flu season is just getting started.
The CDC recently issued a health advisory about "Acute Neurologic Illness with Focal Limb Weakness of Unknown Etiology in Children."
In many news reports, this got translated into the the CDC issuing a warning about a polio-like virus striking kids and baffling scientists.
In reality, the CDC health advisory was "to provide awareness of this neurologic syndrome under investigation with the aim of determining if children with similar clinical and radiographic findings are being cared for in other geographic areas."
It wasn't to further hype up EV-D68 cases.
Is EV-D68 the cause of these 9 children suddenly developing "acute focal limb weakness" and spinal cord MRI findings in the Denver metropolitan area? There were many EV-D68 cases at the time these children were sick and at least 4 of the 9 did test positive. Two more tested positive for enterovirus, but further typing results are not ready yet.
This is reminiscent of the reports of acute flaccid paralysis in California earlier this year, with two of five children testing positive for EV-D68.
If it isn't caused by EV-D68, it is certainly not caused by polio. While an Associated Press report stated that "Investigators don't think it's polio," a somewhat ambiguous statement, in reality, they know it isn't polio. All of the children tested negative for the polio virus.
Another AP statement also left some room for interpretation. The statement 'eight of the nine children are up to date on polio vaccinations,' makes it sound like the ninth child wasn't vaccinated. What the CDC actually stated was that "eight out of nine children have been confirmed to be up to date on polio vaccinations." So while maybe the last child is unvaccinated, it sounds more like they just need to confirm those immunization records to be sure.
And the kids aren't all paralyzed. Media reports talk of 'varying degrees of limb weakness.'
So why call it a polio-like virus outbreak. For one thing, just like EV-D68, polio is a type of enterovirus - they are both in the picornavirus family of viruses. However, like coxsackievirus (causes hand-foot-mouth disease), echovirus, and human rhinovirus (causes the common cold), EV-D68 is a non-polio enterovirus.
And like the other enteroviruses, EV-D68 can cause acute flaccid paralysis.
But still, it is not polio.
We have gotten spoiled in recent years, with an early and abundant supply of flu vaccines. It is hard to remember the last time that we have had delays in getting flu shots.
Unfortunately, our luck has run out. At least a little.
This year, you may run into some delays in getting your child a flu vaccine. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "There are delays on original shipping projections from several companies, leading to offices receiving vaccine in mid to late September through the end of October."
There are many reasons to not be overly concerned by this news though, including that:
The bottom line is that although flu vaccines may be a bit delayed this year, you should still have plenty of time to get your kids a flu vaccine and get them protected against the flu.
Why does your pharmacy have flu vaccine already when your pediatrician might not? In addition to having more flu vaccine options in recent years, these flu vaccines are made by more manufacturers, including GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Pasteur, bioCSL, ID Biomedical Corporation, Protein Sciences, MedImmune, and Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics.
Pharmacies and retail chains likely ordered their flu vaccines from Novartis, which typically ships flu vaccines to distributors and wholesalers and hasn't had any delays this year. Your pediatrician likely ordered flu vaccine from Sanofi Pasteur.
Dr. Oz leads off his latest season with some scary shows, including the Ebola "worldwide epidemic" is coming here (the CDC has stated that there is little risk for that happening), fatty liver disease (a "new public health threat" that has always been a concern for overweight and obese people), the rise of caffeine powder abuse, and the dangers of flu shots with mercury (even though the majority of flu shots are now thimerosal free or preservative free (with only trace amounts of thimerosal).
Another scare, at least for Dr. Oz, is that he has mercury poisoning.
Now how could the guy who is "Bringing Healthy Back" have mercury poisoning? It seems unlikely that he ate too much fish that was high in mercury, as his own website has plenty of articles warning about that danger. Although the warnings about mercury in fish are usually for pregnant women, those who may become pregnant, breastfeeding mothers, and young children, some states do warn about eating too much freshwater fish.
Contaminated supplements? Although possible, vitamins and supplements have actually not usually been found to be contaminated with mercury.
While I'm sure we will find out once the show airs, my first thought went to risks of mercury poisoning from Ayurvedic medicine. Dr. Oz does at least one show a year on the "secrets" of Ayurvedic medicine, which is concerning because:
In fact, a 2008 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that "one-fifth of both US-manufactured and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines purchased via the Internet contain detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic."
Whatever the cause, it will bring attention to the risks of mercury poisoning from eating too much fish and from Ayurvedic medicine.
Dr. Oz mercury poisoning update - it was fish...
Even with the recent death of Robin Williams, which briefly gave suicide a lot of media attention, there are still a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about suicide.
For example, most people still don't understand that suicidal crisis are usually brief and most people who are suicidal don't want to die.
National Suicide Prevention Week, which is observed from September 8 to 14, is a great time to raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention, including that:
Many of these people did not get effective behavioral health services, which is tragic, since according to the American Association of Suicidology, "when suicidal behaviors are detected early, lives can be saved."
This year, which marks the 40th anniversary of National Suicide Prevention Week, activities to consider include:
Most importantly, learn the warning signs of suicide, especially the warning signs of a person in acute risk of suicidal behavior.
Written or reviewed by a board-certified physician. See About.com's Medical Review Board.
Health news is so sensationalized these days, it is easy to just tune it all out.
It is important to stay informed about some of the latest pediatric news, studies, and outbreaks that could affect our kids so that we can help keep them safe and healthy.
What's in the news this week?
1. Flu Season Surprises
Since we have been dealing with the flu for so long, you would think that it would have gotten fairly predictable by now. Get a flu vaccine; wait for flu season to start, peak, and end; and hope you don't get the flu.
There always seems to be some surprise in store for us though, from flu shot shortages, to the emergence of swine flu, to early or late flu seasons.
This year is no different, with several big surprises, some of which might make it harder to avoid the flu this year:
- The first surprise this year was the announcement of flu vaccine delays. Although they were only delayed by weeks to months, and many pediatricians still got partial shipments of flu vaccine, this was indeed a surprise after so many years of having such a plentiful supply of flu vaccine. This has now been resolved and at least 139 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed already this year.
- The next surprise was the announcement that FluMist, which had become the preferred flu vaccine for healthy kids between the ages of 2 and 8 years, was found to be ineffective against the H1N1 flu virus, at least among children during last year's flu season.
- Lastly, news that influenza A (H3N2) viruses have drifted, and so are different than the H3N2 flu virus strain that is in this year's flu vaccine, came as a big surprise to most people. Although it is not uncommon for flu viruses to drift (it is one of the reasons we need new flu vaccines each year), when they do, it can make the flu vaccine less effective.
So what does this all mean?
Especially when you combine the above news with the fact that the CDC is reporting the possibility of a "potentially severe flu season," it means that you should make sure your family has gotten a flu vaccine and has the best protection against the flu.
Don't let the news that this year's flu vaccines aren't a perfect match deter you from getting vaccinated. Two of the last three flu seasons during which H3N2 was the predominate strain were among the highest for pediatric flu deaths - 152 during the 2003-04 flu season and 171 during the 2012-13 seasons.
Even if they aren't a perfect match, this year's flu vaccine can still:
- provide some protection against the drifted H3N2 virus, including helping vaccinated people have a milder illness in many cases
- provide protection against other flu strains that may be in your community throughout the flu season
As always, you should also take other steps to avoid the flu, especially washing your hands often.
Most importantly though - Get vaccinated. Get Protected. Flu season is just getting started.
2. Polio-like cases in Colorado
The CDC recently issued a health advisory about "Acute Neurologic Illness with Focal Limb Weakness of Unknown Etiology in Children."
In many news reports, this got translated into the the CDC issuing a warning about a polio-like virus striking kids and baffling scientists.
In reality, the CDC health advisory was "to provide awareness of this neurologic syndrome under investigation with the aim of determining if children with similar clinical and radiographic findings are being cared for in other geographic areas."
It wasn't to further hype up EV-D68 cases.
Is EV-D68 the cause of these 9 children suddenly developing "acute focal limb weakness" and spinal cord MRI findings in the Denver metropolitan area? There were many EV-D68 cases at the time these children were sick and at least 4 of the 9 did test positive. Two more tested positive for enterovirus, but further typing results are not ready yet.
This is reminiscent of the reports of acute flaccid paralysis in California earlier this year, with two of five children testing positive for EV-D68.
If it isn't caused by EV-D68, it is certainly not caused by polio. While an Associated Press report stated that "Investigators don't think it's polio," a somewhat ambiguous statement, in reality, they know it isn't polio. All of the children tested negative for the polio virus.
Another AP statement also left some room for interpretation. The statement 'eight of the nine children are up to date on polio vaccinations,' makes it sound like the ninth child wasn't vaccinated. What the CDC actually stated was that "eight out of nine children have been confirmed to be up to date on polio vaccinations." So while maybe the last child is unvaccinated, it sounds more like they just need to confirm those immunization records to be sure.
And the kids aren't all paralyzed. Media reports talk of 'varying degrees of limb weakness.'
So why call it a polio-like virus outbreak. For one thing, just like EV-D68, polio is a type of enterovirus - they are both in the picornavirus family of viruses. However, like coxsackievirus (causes hand-foot-mouth disease), echovirus, and human rhinovirus (causes the common cold), EV-D68 is a non-polio enterovirus.
And like the other enteroviruses, EV-D68 can cause acute flaccid paralysis.
But still, it is not polio.
3. Flu Shot Delays
We have gotten spoiled in recent years, with an early and abundant supply of flu vaccines. It is hard to remember the last time that we have had delays in getting flu shots.
Unfortunately, our luck has run out. At least a little.
This year, you may run into some delays in getting your child a flu vaccine. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "There are delays on original shipping projections from several companies, leading to offices receiving vaccine in mid to late September through the end of October."
There are many reasons to not be overly concerned by this news though, including that:
- it is very early in the 2014-15 flu season and there is still plenty of time to get a flu vaccine before flu activity should actually start
- the delays have not affected all flu manufacturers and just over 40 million doses of flu vaccine have already been distributed
- while Flumist was delayed in mid-August, it is now being shipped and is available
- although they got off to a slower start than they have been in recent years, Sanofi Pasteur has begin shipping their Fluzone vaccine, a commonly used pediatric flu vaccine
The bottom line is that although flu vaccines may be a bit delayed this year, you should still have plenty of time to get your kids a flu vaccine and get them protected against the flu.
Why does your pharmacy have flu vaccine already when your pediatrician might not? In addition to having more flu vaccine options in recent years, these flu vaccines are made by more manufacturers, including GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi Pasteur, bioCSL, ID Biomedical Corporation, Protein Sciences, MedImmune, and Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics.
Pharmacies and retail chains likely ordered their flu vaccines from Novartis, which typically ships flu vaccines to distributors and wholesalers and hasn't had any delays this year. Your pediatrician likely ordered flu vaccine from Sanofi Pasteur.
4. Dr. Oz has Mercury Poisoning
Dr. Oz leads off his latest season with some scary shows, including the Ebola "worldwide epidemic" is coming here (the CDC has stated that there is little risk for that happening), fatty liver disease (a "new public health threat" that has always been a concern for overweight and obese people), the rise of caffeine powder abuse, and the dangers of flu shots with mercury (even though the majority of flu shots are now thimerosal free or preservative free (with only trace amounts of thimerosal).
Another scare, at least for Dr. Oz, is that he has mercury poisoning.
Now how could the guy who is "Bringing Healthy Back" have mercury poisoning? It seems unlikely that he ate too much fish that was high in mercury, as his own website has plenty of articles warning about that danger. Although the warnings about mercury in fish are usually for pregnant women, those who may become pregnant, breastfeeding mothers, and young children, some states do warn about eating too much freshwater fish.
Contaminated supplements? Although possible, vitamins and supplements have actually not usually been found to be contaminated with mercury.
While I'm sure we will find out once the show airs, my first thought went to risks of mercury poisoning from Ayurvedic medicine. Dr. Oz does at least one show a year on the "secrets" of Ayurvedic medicine, which is concerning because:
"It is a basic principle of Ayurveda that practitioners can use anything as a drug. Heavy metals are generally not present as contaminants but practitioners add them intentionally. In Ayurveda a balance of the metals, including lead, copper, gold, iron, mercury, silver, tin, zinc are considered to be essential for normal functioning of the human body and an important component of good health."
In fact, a 2008 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that "one-fifth of both US-manufactured and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines purchased via the Internet contain detectable lead, mercury, or arsenic."
Whatever the cause, it will bring attention to the risks of mercury poisoning from eating too much fish and from Ayurvedic medicine.
Dr. Oz mercury poisoning update - it was fish...
5. National Suicide Prevention Week 2014
Even with the recent death of Robin Williams, which briefly gave suicide a lot of media attention, there are still a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings about suicide.
For example, most people still don't understand that suicidal crisis are usually brief and most people who are suicidal don't want to die.
National Suicide Prevention Week, which is observed from September 8 to 14, is a great time to raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention, including that:
- one person dies by suicide every 13.3 minutes
- there were over 39,000 deaths by suicide in the United States in 2011
- nearly a million people in the United States attempt suicide each year
- suicide is the third leading cause of death for children and young adults between the ages of 10 and 24 years
- depression is often associated with suicide
- taking antidepressants does not increase the risk of suicide in depressed children, teens, or adults
Many of these people did not get effective behavioral health services, which is tragic, since according to the American Association of Suicidology, "when suicidal behaviors are detected early, lives can be saved."
This year, which marks the 40th anniversary of National Suicide Prevention Week, activities to consider include:
- learning and raising awareness about the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and other ways to find help
- understand that unsafe reporting on suicide can cost lives
- becoming an advocate for suicide prevention
- taking the School Suicide Prevention Accreditation Program
- learning about the Suicide Attempt Survivors Task Force
Most importantly, learn the warning signs of suicide, especially the warning signs of a person in acute risk of suicidal behavior.
