March 2003 | Pediatric Arts Gazette, NY

I hope you enjoyed reading my first newsletter. Of course, if you didn’t come for an office visit in February, this would be your first experience with the Gazette. Right now I have no way of sending all our patients my monthly newsletter. Feel free to stop by and pick one up each month. Anyway, I thank you all for being supportive and making excellent suggestions. Also, thank you to all those who have filled out our office questionnaires. Our job is to make you comfortable, happy, and to provide quality medical care. We will keep trying!

RSV------------------------------------------------

Achievements

Congratulations to:

Sindell Soto: First place ribbon equestrian form jumping.
Peter Bruno: Won our candy guessing game. There were 111 candies in the jar. Peter guessed 114. Peter wins a Blockbuster gift certificate.
To all our patients who made the honor roll as published in the Photo News.
Christina Howell: Finished first place Washingtonville Rising Stars travel soccer team.
Ryan Hudzik: Finalist on Oscar Meyer Weiner song competition.
Samantha Blain: Dorothy in Wizard of Oz for MW High School play.

Over the last few years the RSV virus has received a lot of media attention. RSV causes bronchiolitis (Bron-ki-o-li-tis), which is an acute respiratory illness usually seen in children between one month and two years of age from late Fall to early Spring. Bronchiolitis accounts for about 20% of all infant hospitalizations in New York State each year, adding up to about 90,000 hospitalizations per year. Infants infected with RSV generally present with mild cold symptoms (runny nose and sneezing). This may be accompanied by low grade fever and poor appetite. After a few days the infant may develop increasing cough, irritability, difficulty breathing and wheezing. Feeding may be particularly difficult since the rapid respiratory rate may not allow time for sucking and swallowing. Most infants have a mild illness and can be treated at home with recovery in a few days. However, premature infants and infants with underlying heart and lung disease are more prone to develop more serious disease requiring hospitalization. RSV is usually spread by an older family member by direct contact or coughing. The attack rate is also very high in day care settings, in infants exposed to cigarette smoke, and in infants who have not been breast fed. The management of infants with bronchiolitis is a great source of controversy in the medical community. Many of the treatment modalities are of no proven benefit. However, since the symptoms of bronchiolitis are similar with those of asthma the same medications are frequently used. Since RSV is a virus, antibiotics are of no benefit unless a secondary bacterial infection develops. For those infants at high risk for severe RSV disease it is recommended that they receive synagis. Synagis is an RSV antibody given as monthly injections during the RSV season to prevent RSV.

Kid’s Question of the Month

by Scott B.

Q. What makes us cough?

A. Coughing is the way that our bodies get rid of germs or food from our throat or bronchial tubes (the tubes that go to our lungs). Therefore, coughing is a protective mechanism that our bodies use to help keep us well. So if germs are traveling from our mouths to our throat and trying to get to our lungs to cause pneumonia, small hair cells are tickled causing a cough which expels the germs from our mouths. This is why you should cover your mouth when you cough – so as not to give your germs to somebody else. This is also why your mom tells you to blow your nose. This gets rid of germs in your nose. Pretty cool! A fun book to read about germs is “The Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie: A Book About Germs”, Scholastic 1995

Parent Question of the Month---

A. An association between autism and MMR has not been corroborated by any scientific studies. Some parents of autistic children believe there is an association and have been quite vocal on the subject. This has gained quite a lot of media attention, as well as the attention of anti-vaccine groups who have flooded the internet with false information. The definitive word seems to come from a recent study in Denmark. Denmark maintains complete records of, among other health parameters, immunizations and psychiatric diagnoses for the entire population. Researchers looked at all 537,303 children born between January 1991 and December 1998 and found no evidence of a link between MMR and autism. Autism was found to occur in the same percentage of children who received MMR as those who were not vaccinated with MMR. There is evidence, however, that autistic disorders are increasingly prevalent. Unfortunately, the medical community has no answers as to why this is.

Kids Say the Darndest Things-----------------------------------------------------------

Child: Mom, I forgot to tell you but I got called down to the nurse’s office at school today.

Child: No, but she wanted to check me for head mice. She said many of the students have mice in their heads!