Over the past 40 years, childhood immunization has eliminated or reduced many vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps and rubella, says the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
In the study, "Parental Refusal of Pertussis Vaccination Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Pertussis Infection in Children," researchers identified 156 confirmed cases of pertussis (whooping cough), and 595 control subjects. Children of parents who refused pertussis immunization were at 23 times the risk for infection compared to vaccinated children. Herd immunity does not appear to completely protect unvaccinated children from pertussis, which highlights the need to develop an effective way to explain the risks and benefits of this and all immunizations to parents. Future research needs to focus on the community impact of vaccine refusal and the risks to other vulnerable groups including young children and older adults.
Read more about pertussis in the following articles:
Whooping Cough: Protecting Our Children from Pertussis
Keri Russell: Working to Silence the Sound of Pertussis
Jennifer Lopez: The Mom from the Block
(5-26-09)
With Memorial Day weekend approaching and pools across the country opening, a new report released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) provides updated figures on child drowning deaths and injuries in pools and spas. CPSC's latest data reveals that nearly 300 children younger than 5 drown in pools and spas each year, and about 3,000 suffer pool or spa-related injuries requiring attention at hospital emergency rooms.
About two-thirds of the pool and spa-related deaths and injuries involve children ages 1 to 2, with about 80 percent of the drowning fatalities occurring in residential settings, such as the victim's home, a family or friend's house or at a neighbor's residence.
New data from CPSC also shows that from 1999 through 2008, there were 83 reports of pool and spa entrapments, including 11 deaths and 69 injuries. Since 1999, 14 percent of the reported suction/entrapment incidents at pools or spas were fatal.
At a press conference on Capitol Hill, CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord joined Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Safe Kids USA, and Scott Taylor (the father of Abigail Taylor, who suffered fatal injuries from an evisceration incident in a wading pool), to encourage parents, caregivers and pool owners to make safety a top priority as the summer swim season officially opens.
"Preventing child drownings is a key part of CPSC's mission. I call upon all parents, caregivers and pool and spa operators to ensure that fencing and other layers of protection are in place; that there is constant supervision of children in and around the water; and that new, safer drain covers that prevent entrapment incidents are installed," says Acting Chairman Nord.
"I want to thank the Congress for providing CPSC with funds this year to implement the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. This is an important child safety law and CPSC will use the new funds to increase compliance with the law, educate on pool and spa safety measures, implement the state grant program, partner with state and local government on enforcement, and make pools and spas even safer," adds Nord.
The Pool and Spa Safety Act (P&SSAct) went into effect on December 19, 2008, and requires all public pools and spas to have anti-entrapment drain covers, and in certain circumstances, an additional anti-entrapment system. CPSC has prioritized public wading pools, kiddie pools and in-ground spas as the key areas of focus for enforcement and has called upon state departments of health to assist the agency in enforcing the law.
CPSC is also announcing the launch of a new Web site – www.PoolSafety.gov – which serves as a valuable source for information about the P&SSAct and drowning prevention. The new site provides information for the general public, the swimming pool and spa community, state and local officials and the media.
Drowning occurs more commonly when children get access to the pool during a short lapse in adult supervision. To reduce the risk of drowning, pool owners should adopt several layers of protection, including physical barriers, such as a fence completely surrounding the pool with self-closing, self-latching gates to prevent unsupervised access by young children. If the house forms a side of the barrier, use alarms on doors leading to the pool area and/or a power safety cover over the pool. In addition, reports of children exiting the house via a pet door have been on the rise.
(5-26-09)
As the concern over swine flu (H1N1) grows in school districts and communities across the country and around the world, children and families can become anxious. Parents may be looking for help on how to talk to their children and may not know how or when to communicate with the school. That's why the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), National Association of School Nurses, and the National Association of School Psychologists have joined together to provide parents with information they may need about swine flu and tips for talking to their children about the situation.
Although it's important to be cautious and vigilant, it's equally important not to panic, say experts. When talking to children, the key is to provide prevention information without causing alarm. Teaching children positive preventive measures, talking with them about their fears and giving them a sense of some control over their risk of infection can help prevent and reduce any anxiety.
Here are 10 tips on talking to children about swine flu:
Remain calm and reassuring. Your children will react to and follow your verbal and nonverbal reactions.
Make yourself available. Your children may need extra attention from you and may want to talk about their concerns and questions. Make time for them.
Know the symptoms of swine flu and how it spreads. Symptoms of swine flu include fever, sore throat and cough, among others.
Review basic hygiene practices. Encourage children to practice everyday good hygiene by washing their hands, by covering their mouths with a tissue when they sneeze or cough and by not sharing food or drinks.
Be honest and accurate. In the absence of factual information, children often imagine situations far worse than reality. Also, parents should be frank with their children in a manner that is appropriate for their age.
Discuss new rules or practices at school. Many schools will be enforcing prevention habits.
Avoid excessive blaming. It is important to avoid stereotyping any one group of people as responsible for the virus.
Monitor television viewing. Limit television viewing or access to information on the Internet. Constantly watching updates on the status of the flu virus can increase anxiety.
Maintain a normal routine to the extent possible. Keeping to a regular schedule can be reassuring and promotes physical health.
Communicate with your school. Let your school know if your child is sick, and keep him or her home. Talk to your school nurse, school psychologist, school counselor or school social worker if your child is having difficulties as a result of anxiety or stress related to the flu. Follow all instructions from your school.
The complete handout, "Talking to Children About H1N1 (Swine) Flu: A Parent Resource," an audio version of the guidelines and additional resources are available on all of the following Web sites: www.pta.org, www.nasn.org or www.nasponline.org.
(5-19-09)
Children hospitalized with concussions should wait until they are seen by a clinician in a follow-up exam before returning to regular sports or playtime activities, according to researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Rather than only consulting a doctor when there are obvious trouble signs after the initial treatment, the Children's Hospital researchers recommend that a qualified health care provider perform a formal assessment after hospital discharge but before the child resumes exertional activities. The study team used a computer-based testing program created to assess athletes with concussions and determine when it was safe to return to play. The authors found that nearly all the children admitted to the hospital with a concussion had some abnormal brain function during initial testing.
"Head injuries that occur during regular activities, such as riding a bike or in a car crash, are more common than sports injuries and yet the same issues arise, the children want to go back to sports, or to school or outside to play," says Dr. Michael L. Nance, lead author of the study and director of the Trauma Program at Children's Hospital. "The old recommendation would be to go see your pediatrician if you are having trouble, but sometimes families don't recognize there is trouble until six months later. We think they should be seen again by a qualified [health care] provider before returning to play."
The study appeared in the May issue of the journal Annals of Surgery.
For more information, visit www.chop.edu. To learn more about concussions, read Concussions in Babies and Toddlers: Tips to Protect Little Ones from Head Injury.
(5-19-09)
Nearly 75 percent of children ages 3 to 6 are in childcare centers, and many are not getting enough exercise. A focus group study of childcare providers by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center shows several reasons children are not getting as much physical activity as they should: Some providers say they feel pressured by parents to prioritize classroom time for learning over outdoor time for motor development; some providers cite a fear of injury and the cost of playground design and upkeep as other barriers to children's physical activity in childcare.
"Childcare providers told us that many parents were more focused on their children learning cognitive skills such as reading, writing and preparing for kindergarten than their participation in recess," says Dr. Kristen Copeland, a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the study's main author. "And yet childcare providers realized that some of the most valuable lessons in science, nature, cause and effect, and even important social skills such as problem-solving and peer negotiation, all come from playing outdoors on the playground."
The child care providers say that during playtime, children learn gross motor skills, such as learning how to skip and throw a ball. They note that children who master gross motor skills at an early age tend to become more self-confident than other children, win more friendships and develop their social skills.
Other barriers to physical activity cited include licensing standards that make outdoor playgrounds unchallenging and uninteresting to children, and a lack of indoor play space and equipment that would foster activity when children have to stay inside on rainy, cold or extremely hot days. Tight center operating margins and the expense of equipment and upkeep severely limit the indoor and outdoor opportunities that many centers could offer children.
According to the most recent statistics, 74 percent of U.S. children aged 3 to 6 years are in some form of non-parental childcare. Fifty-six percent of 3- to 6-year-old children spend time in centers, including childcare centers and preschools.
"Many children spend long hours in childcare, and some do not have safe places to play outdoors at home, so for many children, the childcare center is their only opportunity to be active," Dr. Copeland says. "But the typical things we think should be on a playground – such as climbers and jungle gyms – can be very expensive and essentially cost-prohibitive for many childcare centers. Those centers that could afford climbers found that their children quickly mastered them and became bored with them. If the goal is to increase physical activity, creative solutions are needed to overcome all of these barriers."
The study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was presented May 2 at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Baltimore.
Additional information can be found at www.cincinnatichildrens.org.
(5-19-09)
In honor of National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day, Goldie Hawn, child advocate and founder of The Hawn Foundation, campaigned for effective children's mental health programs at a Congressional briefing.
"Children represent a fraction of our population, but 100 percent of our future," says Goldie Hawn. "One in 10 suffers from serious mental health disorders, and most aren't getting the help they need. We need to address this crisis before it's too late."
Working with leading neuroscientists, educators and researchers, The Hawn Foundation developed a program for grades K-7 that improves children's emotional and cognitive skills to help them understand and manage their own emotions, moods and behaviors; reduce stress and anxiety; sharpen concentration; increase empathy; and improve their performance in school.
"Increasing social and emotional learning skills is cost-effective and makes a big impact," Hawn says. "Congress should increase funding to scale up programs like these to save our children's lives, save our schools and save our nation's money, too."
For more information, visit www.nami.org.
(5-19-09)
A new study demonstrates that swim diapers will somewhat reduce, but will not prevent, the spread of recreational water illness (RWI) of the most common cause of documented outbreaks, Cryptosporidium (Crypto).
Scientists from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte) reported at the Swimming Pool & Spa International Conference in London, England, that swim diapers help by slowing down the release of disease-causing germs, but the benefits are short lived. Crypto is spread by diarrhea from infected people or mammals and is the single largest illness threat to pool users. To prevent the spread of Crypto, officials advise that people should not get in the water if they have diarrhea.
The researchers measured the amount of microsphere released from swim diapers worn by children. The microspheres were plastic particles that have a similar size (five microns) to that of Crypto. Normal swim trunks, common disposable diapers and reusable diapers with and without vinyl diaper covers were tested. Swimming trunks without a swim diaper of any kind had the poorest performance – almost 90 percent of the microspheres were released into the water within one minute.
Swim diapers released at least 50 percent of the microspheres within one minute. Placement of a vinyl diaper cover over a disposable swim diaper slightly improved performance. In all cases, 25 percent or more of the microspheres were detected in the water within two minutes.
"When a fecal accident contains about a billion disease-causing Crypto oocysts, hundreds of millions of oocysts get into the water within minutes," says Dr. James Amburgey. "The retention of diarrhea in swim diapers is very short-lived. Swimmers only need to ingest about 10 Crypto oocysts to become infected. What are the odds you will know the moment the child has an accident and immediately remove him/her from the pool?"
Crypto, a parasite that causes diarrhea and dehydration, is one of the most common causes of documented recreational water illness outbreaks. It is found in infected people's stool and cannot be seen by the naked eye. This germ is highly resistant to chlorine disinfectants used in pools.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that Crypto outbreaks continue to increase. In recent years, outbreaks have impacted thousands. Since Crypto is resistant to chlorine, as bathers visit other pools, the outbreak spreads from facility to facility. Regional outbreaks have spread throughout certain states (New York, Utah, Texas and New Mexico) and can last for months.
For more tips, click here.
(5-19-09)
Adecco Group, one of the nation's largest staffing companies, surveyed working mothers about the impact the recession is having on their work/life balance and the results are startling. According to Adecco's latest Workplace Insight Survey, 80 percent of women are working because they have to, not because they want to. Additionally, almost half (48 percent) of working moms are more stressed due to the current economic climate, and the majority (65 percent) are cutting their family budget.
Some further evidence that the economy is taking a toll on working mothers is that almost half (48 percent) of working moms wish they could spend more time with their kids, with nearly one in five (16 percent) reporting that their work hours have increased in this economy. Also, nearly one in five (19 percent) working moms are overcompensating by purchasing material goods for their children.
Other stats include the following:
Re-entering the work force: 13 percent of working moms went back to working full-time in this economy.
Feeling overwhelmed: Nearly one-third (30 percent) or working moms feel overwhelmed with responsibilities at home.
Being a role model: Working mothers are nearly 20 percent more likely to think their kids find them to be a role model than non-working moms.
Children of working moms are better behaved and better in school: 74 percent of working moms think their children do well in school while 60 percent of nonworking moms feel this way, and 72 percent of working moms think their children are well behaved compared to 65 percent of non-working moms.
Adecco has these tips for working mothers on better balancing their home and work lives:
1. Focus on how parenting makes you a better professional. Being a parent exposes and depends on a slew of soft skills including effective interpersonal communication, negotiation, compassion and understanding. These same skills are crucially important to being both a successful leader and team player at the office, enabling parents to hone in and sharpen these skills to best navigate both of their domains.
2. Talk to your employer about telecommuting. Telecommuting will allow you to stay home with your child when he/she is sick and keeps you from missing ballet recitals, sports events and school plays. You need to assure your boss you will remain highly productive and focused while in a more flexible work arrangement.
3. Get dads in on the balancing act. It's a changing world and gender roles in the home are starting to blur. Increasingly, men are staying home with sick children, working four-day weeks and asking their employers for extended paternity leave. Include dad. The kids will like spending extra time with their father and it helps you balance your life too.
4. Be realistic about your goals. Do not expect to be able to spend the same amount of time with your child as someone who is a stay-at-home parent. Instead, concentrate on making the most out of the time you have. And let your children know too. Young children need to know what to expect each day and they look forward to when you will be home.
5. Focus on productivity over face time. It's more important that workers properly prioritize, manage their time and deliver than simply put in "face-time" until all hours at the office. You don't need to be in the office all the time to make a powerful contribution. Be sure to set defined works goals and results beforehand with your supervisors.
(5-12-09)
"When it comes to brushing the teeth, children aren't always the most efficient or cooperative participants," says
ChicagoHealers.com practitioner Dr. Andie Pearson.
Dr. Pearson suggests these tips for getting your child to brush without the hassle:
Play a Game: For some children, brushing turns into a fun game when they get to brush Mom or Dad's teeth in exchange for allowing Mom or Dad to brush theirs. This way they are still learning technique on their parents' teeth and Mom and Dad are making sure the job is getting done. You may want to combine this with "group" brushing in the morning, with the child brushing his own teeth as part of the family "pod." Then switch to the "brush each other's teeth" game in the evening. This way, at least one time per day, you know that everything was brushed correctly.
Change the Paste: Another possible approach with those reluctant brushers may be the paste. Young taste buds are very picky. There may be 10 tubes of toothpaste on the counter before the selection is done, but it's worth it to find the one that will turn around their desire for brushing. If no flavors or textures are found, try one to two drops of citrus essential oil or simply nothing on the toothbrush. Remember, spicy and strong flavors will almost always turn them away.
Pick the Brush: Take your child to the store to pick out her tooth brush. There are lots of great options on the market and if children picked it and like it, they are more likely to use it.
If All Else Fails, Try Bribery: If new toothpaste, brushing games or a really cool toothbrush fails to entice that little brusher, there's always old-fashioned bribery. Many parents have had success with the calendar/sticker method. You know that eventually they will get that Barbie, action figure, trip or tickets to a sporting event. So why not create a game around how they get it?
(5-12-09)
Washing hands and paying close attention to symptoms of illness are just some of the things the public can to do help reduce the risk from the swine flu (H1N1) outbreak, says the American Red Cross. "This is a serious situation that has the potential to spread, and it is a good time for families, businesses and organizations to follow good public health practices and to review and update their preparedness plans," says Scott Conner, senior vice president of Preparedness and Health & Safety Services at the American Red Cross. "Taking steps to prepare for potential emergencies in advance can go a long way in making families feel safer."
The American Red Cross urges the public to remember these simple actions:
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are also effective when soap and water aren't available.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick and stay home if you are feeling sick.
Children have been greatly impacted by this outbreak, and need to know how to properly wash their hands to prevent the spread of germs. The Red Cross has partnered with NSF International's (NSF) Scrub Club to educate children about the importance of hand washing to protect them against influenza. The Scrub Club Web site (scrubclub.org) is an easy, online tool to teach kids how to wash their hands and why it's important.
If families are asked to stay home during this outbreak, it's important to have a plan and supplies in place before that happens. The Red Cross recommends the following:
Stock extra food, water and supplies at home to reduce the need to go out should swine flu become more widespread, limiting potential for exposure to the virus.
Be sure to include household necessities such as laundry detergent, toilet paper, etc. Select foods that are easy to prepare and store.
Make sure you have an adequate supply of essential medications and medical items for all family members. Include non-prescription medications as well.
Other preparedness steps that can be taken include these:
Plan for what you would do if you had to stay at home for a period of time.
Talk with family members and loved ones about how they would be cared for if they got sick.
Find out your employer's plans to keep the business open if key staff can't come to work.
Ask your child's school or day care if there are plans to encourage sick children to stay home to reduce the spread of the disease.
Identify how you can get information, whether through local radio, TV, Internet or other sources.
For more tips on how to prepare yourself, your family and community for this and other potential emergencies, visit www.redcross.org. Learn more about the swine flu by reading the following articles:
Swine Flu and Babies: Symptoms, Prevention and Treatment for the Swine Flu
Swine Flu and Pregnancy: How Does the Influenza H1N1 Strain Affect Mom-to-be?
(5-05-09)
See parents helping parents in action! 
