February 2008

What's new in pediatrics?  There is a nationwide shortage of the HIB vaccine and so we have temporarily changed our vaccine schedule to give each infant two doses of this vaccine on time.  The third dose will be held until the vaccine shortage is over.

The most exciting advancements seen over the past year include the development of some important new vaccines for teenagers.  We now have a vaccine to prevent whooping cough in this age group.  In infants, whooping cough (pertussis) can be fatal so it is important to prevent this disease from circulating by preventing it among the adult and teen age population as well.  The vaccine is called Tdap and is combined with a tetanus and diphtheria booster.

Menactra continues to be recommended at age 12 and above to prevent meningitis.

We now have a safe and effective vaccine that can prevent cervical cancer.  It is recommended in girls ages 9 and above. It is given as a 3 vaccine series over a 6-month time span.

If it has been a while since your teenager has had a checkup, now is the time.  We do not do vaccinations at the sports physical visits, so it is important to schedule the full well-child check up at least once every 2 years.

March 2008

2/28/08 The past few weeks have been very busy at Eureka Pediatrics. The community has been hit with a flu virus causing fever, stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, headache, vomiting and sometimes diarrhea. An unusual number of us have been sick with this as well, making it even more difficult to accommodate all requested appointments. Getting a majority of kids vaccinated for flu each will become an important way to combat such flu outbreaks in the future. We offer flu vaccine every fall, and we now have the option to use an intranasal vaccine in healthy children (yay, no needles!).

The California bill that would have attempted to provide health insurance to all Californians is dead and gone, and instead the government is proposing cuts in the medicare/medical budget. For each dollar cut, the state of California stands to lose an equal amount of federal matching funds, since whatever the state spends, the federal government matches dollar for dollar. It fightens me to see the deterioration in health services. The emergency rooms are overwhelmed. The waits are long and the staff is under a heavier burden to do more with less. Eureka is losing specialty care doctors at an alarming rate. This year the community lost 2 of 3 neurosurgeons, and 2 of 3 otolaryngologists ( ENT ) (one left and one is retiring) . We can only hope that new doctors will come into the area to replace them, but so far recruitment has been a challenge.