by Mindy Calandro | Nov 10, 2014 | In The News, Kid's Health, The Safety Files
A new and more convenient way to wash clothes…well that would grab the attention of any busy parent. Laundry “pods” as they are called are small, square products that can simply be dropped into the washing machine…no measuring of detergent required. However, buyer and parents beware, especially if you have young children in the home. A study that will be published in the December issue of Pediatrics found that there have been over 17,000 children under 6 years of age that have had harmful exposures to laundry detergent pods between 2012-2013. That equates to one child per hour between 2012-2013! Almost ¾ of these exposures occurred in children younger than 3 years of age, and the most common method of exposure was through ingestion. Many of the children exposed were cared for at home, but 35% of children required hospital evaluation and treatment, and unfortunately, there was one death. It is not hard to see why these nifty, convenient little pods would be so enticing to young children. With bright colors like green, orange, and blue, they can easily look like candy or toys to little eyes. Also, many of these pods come packaged in containers with a simple flip top lid that even a toddler could easily open. If these pods are put into the mouth, the coating of the pod can easily be punctured by teeth or even dissolve with saliva in the mouth. When that occurs the detergent can be ingested, inhaled or get onto the skin or into the eyes and cause major problems. Safety advocate groups here in the US...
by Mindy Calandro | Nov 8, 2014 | Developmental Lowdown, In The News, Kid's Health
Numerous studies have shown the importance of talking to your child from the start of life as hearing the human voice helps to facilitate an infant’s growth and development. In a landmark study from 1995, it was shown that academic success as well as IQ were influenced more by parental speech patterns early in life than by education and socioeconomic status.1 An interesting new small study that will be published in the December 2014 issue of Pediatrics was conducted to find out who does more talking to infants- mothers or fathers? “This study concluded that mothers spoke nearly three times more words per hour to their infants when compared to fathers at each of the study time points.” The study measured the amount of “communication” between infants and both moms and dads at three points: at birth, around 1 month of age (1 month after the actual due date), and at 7 months. The infants in the study wore a special “device” that counted their vocalizations as well as those from both mom and dad over a 16 hour time period. This study concluded that mothers spoke nearly three times more words per hour to their infants when compared to fathers at each of the study time points. Also of note, infants “spoke” more to mothers than they did to fathers. The last important take away was that moms responded to “baby talk” almost 90% of the time as compared to dad’s responding only 30% of the time. “Your precious baby doesn’t care if you are singing the alphabet or reciting your thesis on nuclear power…as far as...
by Mindy Calandro | Oct 20, 2014 | In The News, Kid's Health
VS As everyone probably knows by this point, there have now been four cases of Ebola diagnosed on US soil. You might have even recognized the picture on the left as the Ebola virus since it has predominated many a newscast, social media post, and magazine covers over the past month. Ebola…the word alone is frightening and likely conjures up images ranging from people in hazmat suits to scenes from the movie Contagion. But guess what? There are viral illnesses out there that scare a doctor like me far more than Ebola does. I think the most important thing for people to understand about Ebola is how this virus is spread. Unlike the common cold or the flu, Ebola is not spread through the air. The only way to contract Ebola is by coming in contact with bodily fluids (i.e. sweat, tears, blood, urine, or feces) of someone who is having symptoms of the illness. If an infected person is having no symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or bleeding, then they cannot spread Ebola. There are countless reasons why we are fortunate to live in the United States of America, and in this case, our highly advanced and well equipped health care system is one of those reasons. The countries of West Africa that have been ravaged by Ebola are some of the poorest countries in the world and have very limited medical resources. In fact, there are not even enough hospital beds for the number of sick and dying Ebola patients right now in those countries. We are lucky to have hospitals that...
by Mindy Calandro | Oct 7, 2014 | In The News, The Safety Files
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) are battery powered devices that heat a cartridge containing liquid nicotine to produce a nicotine vapor. These devices have been available in the US since 2007 and are now a multibillion dollar industry. Many companies market flavored nicotine liquids for e. cigs such as bubble gum, cotton candy and grape which certainly seems to be aiming at a younger crowd. One of the biggest issues with e-cigs are what we don’t know about them. We have no idea the long term effects of smoking vaporized nicotine on both those who smoke the devices as well as the secondhand effects. The e-cig industry is not regulated by anyone at this time which presents two major problems. First, without regulation there are no quality standards for the companies who produce the nicotine liquid vials. Therefore, there is no way to really know the composition of the liquids being sold. Several studies have shown that even those products claiming to be nicotine free, actually contain nicotine as well as other carcinogens such as formaldehyde. The second issue with regards to a lack of regulation is that e-cig devices can legally be sold to those under 18 years of age as well as in vending machines and online, and free samples can be distributed to anyone interested. In late April, the FDA proposed a ban on the sale of these devices to minors, and luckily, 28 states have already imposed age restrictions on the sale of the devices. Here in Louisiana, the house has approved a ban on the sale of e-cigs to children under 18, and there is...
by Mindy Calandro | Sep 30, 2014 | In The News
As many of you have probably heard on the news or read about on the internet, there is a respiratory virus that is rapidly spreading across the country. The virus is called Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68). According to the most recent data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the virus has been documented in over 1,100 children across 47 states from mid-August until October 28, 3014 and Louisiana is one of those states. In fact, two cases were confirmed here in Baton Rouge during the month of September. What are the symptoms of Enterovirus D68? As with other common cold viruses, EV-D68 typically begins with runny nose, cough and sometimes fever (the majority of cases have not had fever though). This virus differs from the common cold in that these initial symptoms rapidly progress in some children to cause difficulty breathing and wheezing. Children with a history of asthma are probably more likely to have these more severe symptoms, but many documented cases of wheezing have occurred in children who have never had prior wheezing episodes. How is the virus spread? EV-D68 is spread by respiratory droplets meaning coughing, sneezing or saliva. It is important to have good hand hygiene and wash hands thoroughly with soap and water throughout the day especially prior to eating or after coughing or sneezing. It is important to note that alcohol based hand sanitizers do not rid the hands of this virus. If your child is sick with cold symptoms, they should not be around other children especially in the daycare or school setting. Finally, disinfect frequently touched surfaces such as toys or doorknobs especially...
