Archive for March, 2009

Is Pork really safe?

Friday, March 13th, 2009

A summary of an article from NYTimes correspondent Nicholas Kristoff 3/12/09

MRSA is back in the news: Apparently pigs are now a source of infection! Doctors are reporting strange rashes on their patients. And The New York Times (3/12/09) reported that doctors are seeing “ innocuous bumps” that rapidly became huge red angry and painful lesions.

MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) has generated a lot of press as the “flesh-eating bacteria.” Parents wonder if they need to travel through the playground with Purell and the general public is condemning doctors for creating superbugs by overprescribing antibiotics to their patients. Medically, the biggest concern is for hospitalized patients who are already ill and immune compromised, and are uniquely susceptible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.gov) reported that by 2005, MRSA was killing more than 18,000 Americans a year, more than AIDS, according to the recent NYT review.

But recently, there seems to be cases of MRSA transmitted from pigs to humans. According to the recent review, the suspicion that pigs could infect people with MRSA came in the Netherlands in 2004, when a young woman tested positive for a new strain of MRSA, called ST398. The family were farmers and the public health authorities found that three family members, three co-workers and 8 of 10 pigs tested all carried MRSA.
Since then, that strain of MRSA has been found in throughout the Netherlands. Studies showed that pig farmers there were 760 times more likely than the general population to carry MRSA and Scientific American reports that this strain of MRSA has bee documented in over 10% percent of Dutch retail pork samples.
According to the NYTimes report, this same strain of MRSA has now been documented in the United States. According to Tara Smith, a University of Iowa epidemiologist 45 percent of pig farmers sampled carried MRSA.

What does this mean for you and your child?

As always, pork needs to be handled with care, and cooked thoroughly. Wash hands well with hot water and soap after handling raw meat. Don’t eat pork outside the home in a restaurant of dubious quality. And alert your child’s doctor immediately if he/she has an unusual rash.

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Vaccine update: what you need to consider

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

1. Immunizations and Autism?

Autism is a developmental disorder that affects 1 in approximately 170 children. It effects a child’s communication, social relationships and interactions. There appears to be both a genetic and environmental component to the cause of autism.

A study in the late 1970’s, showed that autism was linked with the administration of the MMR vaccine at one year of age. As a result, several large studies have attempted to confirm this, but have not been able to prove any association between the MMR and autism. However there continues to be a lot of concern about the preservatives used in vaccines ( thimerosol) and its possible link to autistic symptoms.

Thimerosal is ethyl mercury was used for years as a preservative in vaccines to prevent infections at the site of the injection. No studies exist that definitively link autism and thimerosal. However, because of a possible association with developmental delay, the vaccine manufacturers made the decision to take this substance out of vaccines over 5 years you’re your doctor should be able to show you the list of manufacturers they buy vaccines from and the report that shows the level, if any of thimerosol in the vials. Most vaccines used in pediatric offices are thimerosol free, and some office can order certain vaccines completely preservative free, such as the flu vaccine.

2. Changes in Immunization recommendations

1) Hepatitis A. Hepatitis A, as opposed to Hepatitis B can be contracted not only while traveling but even at home. Usually through contaminated foods. Therefore, children are now encouraged to get this vaccine as early as age 1 year. There are two doses that are 6-18 months apart.

2) Meningitis vaccine: Menactra vaccine is given to protect your preteen and adolescent from life-threatening meningitis which, even if not fatal, may result in chronic disabilities. I urge you to get your child vaccinated. It is one dose at 11-12 years old. Older teenagers who missed it should also get the vaccine, and it is required by most camps and colleges.

3) Chicken pox vaccine ( varicella) The 2007 Immunization Recommendations now advise a second dose to boost your child’s protection, unless he/she has had the chickenpox. Most children receive their first dose at age 1 but now the recommendation is for a second dose for children over four.

4) Tdap. (Adacel) Eevry child gets a tetanus booster when entering junior high school but the new teteanus booster also includes a pertussis (whooping cough) booster as well.

5) Human Papilloma Virus (Gardasil) is a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. This vaccine is the only vaccine that prevents a type of cancer caused by a virus that most women are exposed to during their lifetime. Only some of the strains of the virus cause cervical cancer, and the gardisil vaccine is targeted against those strains. It is recommended for all females between the ages of 9 and 26. There are three doses spaced six months apart.

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Possible help for kids with Peanut Allergies

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

According to an update posted on Medscape pediatrics for professionals, a new study shows that if a child who is allergic to peanuts eats a small amount of peanut flour every day it can increase his peanut tolerance. This sounds very similar to principles in vaccine immunology and homeopathy.
Of course, the scientists are not recommending you try this at home: “However encouraging, these results are preliminary and [the technique] should not yet be attempted outside clinical trials,” the researchers write online in the journal Allergy.

In England, where this most recent study was conducted, the children were tested for peanut allergy and then fed peanuts one at a time. The children had an allergic reaction after one peanut, and one child developed anaphylaxis and needed an adrenaline shot.

Each child was given instructions to eat 5 milligrams of peanut flour mixed with yogurt each day, and slowly increasing that over the next six weeks. The theory with immune tolerance is that if the body stops seeing the allergen as “foreign” and starts to “tolerize” to it, that the immune system will stop responding as if it was a threat.

After six weeks, during which time none of the children had any reactions, they were rechallenged with whole peanuts. All of the children could tolerate eating at least 10 peanuts.

That does not mean that they are no longer allergic, noted the researchers. But It may provide a bit of a margin of safety should they accidentally consume a few peanuts.

“We’ve got them to a point where they can safely eat at least 10 whole peanuts. It’s not a permanent cure, but as long as they go on taking a daily dose they should maintain their tolerance.”
Clearly, this trial with your child should be done in a controlled setting with your allergist’s approval and monitoring- but it does signal that there may be hope for those children with serious peanut allergies in the future.

SOURCES:
Clark, A. Allergy, online early edition.
News release, Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

Resource Centers
Allergy Resource Center

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