Mercury Questions

Two questions came up in chat about news urging us to reduce children’s exposure to mercury. Is there mercury in fish oil capsules? And should we delay or forgo vaccines in children because of the mercury in the vaccines?

Ear Piercing

Dr. Greene’s Answer: I wouldn’t be concerned about a 4-week-old pulling at her ears. Nevertheless, I am a fan of waiting just a bit for ear piercing. My reason? Tetanus. Even though the disease is not very common (thanks to immunizations), the tetanus bacteria is everywhere. It usually enters the body through puncture wounds. I […]

Ear Piercing – How Early is Too Early?

Many parents opt to wait on ear piercing until a child is able to make the decision for herself (or himself). Some parents find it desirable for their children to have pierced ears as babies. But how early is too early?

Measles Outbreak – Extremely Contagious

Dr. Greene’s advice for a measles outbreak… Did you know that airborn transmission of measles can occur just by being in the same room as someone with the disease? You can even catch the disease up to 3 hours after the infected person has left!

Antibiotic-Resistant Pneumococcal Bacteria Are An Ever Greater Problem

Multidrug-resistant strains of pneumococci are common in the US and continue to increase — especially in children under age 5 — according to a report published in the December 28th, 2001 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The authors are hopeful, as am I, that the pneumococcal vaccine, Prevnar, will protect children from […]

Chicken Pox Vaccine

No matter how much is known about a vaccine before it is licensed for routine use, after it has been used in millions of people it is possible to discover side effects that are too subtle or too rare to show up in pre-license testing. The November 2000 issue of Infectious Diseases in Children reviewed […]

Teen Immunization

Data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) points to a growing problem: an estimated 35 million teens, in the United States alone, are missing one or more doses of childhood vaccines. This leaves these teens vulnerable to catching preventable infections as adults, when the diseases are often more serious and have […]

CDC Recommends Routine Hepatitis A Vaccine For All Children

In 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended routine Hepatitis A vaccination for children in high-risk areas. Hepatitis A is a serious, debilitating disease that can be spread easily by mouth. Children often get it from eating foods that are contaminated when infected farm workers or food handlers fail to wash their […]

Parents Question Double MMR Vaccinations

I recently heard from an anxious mother in Kuwait,”My son has been vaccinatedtwice with the MMR by mistake, one was at 1.5 year and the second at 3.9 years. Please kindly advise.”

Preventing Lyme Disease

The Lyme disease vaccine is not yet proven safe and effective for children under age 15, although the vaccine looks promising for children in studies currently underway. In the meantime the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued January 2000 guidelines for the prevention of Lyme disease. Because a tick needs to be attached for at […]

Lyme Disease Vaccine

The newly approved Lyme disease vaccine is not yet proven safe and effective for children under age 15, although the vaccine looks promising for children in studies currently underway.

The Millennium Baby – A Century of Technology

Having a millennium baby in January 2000 is very different from having a baby in January 1900. Back then, there were no early pregnancy tests to know in a moment that a baby was coming, and no blood tests or amniocentesis or prenatal ultrasounds to know that the baby was okay.

Polio Recommendations

No more polio? The World Health Organization was on target to eliminate polio by the end of the year 2000. This wonderful achievement also changes the risks vs. benefits for polio vaccines. For that reason, in 1999 the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that no more live, oral polio vaccine (OPV) be given in the […]

Pneumococcal Vaccine

In 1999, I attended the national meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics in Washington, D.C. At the opening of the conference, Sarah Long, M.D. announced that the new pneumococcal vaccine would be available in early 2000. I was thrilled!

Health Revolution in Mexico

I sat enthralled at Grand Rounds as I listened to Jose Santos, M.D., Director of the National Vaccine Program for Mexico. While we struggle with the subtleties of further lessening the side effects of vaccines, Mexico is engaged in an enthusiastic, all-out push to immunize their children, resulting in a revolution in that nation’s health.

Rotavirus Vaccine and Intussusception

In September 1999, the FDA announced that 99 cases of intussusception (including two deaths) had been reported in possible association with RotaShield. This is a sharp increase from the 15 that had been reported when the vaccine was halted in July.

Is It Empty Nest Time At Your House?

When your child first packs up and heads off for college, it is a bittersweet moment. How horrible if meningitis were to make the separation permanent. College students get meningitis 2.6 times more often than peers the same age (American Journal of Public Health. 1995;85:843-845).

Measles completely eliminated in USA

When the measles vaccine was first introduced, the number of cases of the disease plummeted. But a few years ago, new outbreaks prompted a reevaluation of the vaccine. In some people the immunity had faded after only one dose of the vaccine, so the schedule was changed to include an additional booster dose.

Vanishing Ovaries?!

Dr. Greene’s Answer: Six known categories of insults can trigger the vanishing ovaries of a young woman. Some of them are reversible; some of them are not. One in 10,000 women between the ages of 15 and 29 years experience premature permanent ovarian failure. Menopause at only 17!

Don’t use that vaccine!

A public health advisory issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics now warns against giving children rotavirus vaccine because it might cause a rare condition called intussusception.