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Strollerderby
Despite the fact that selling small turtles as pets was banned in the U.S. in 1975, people are still getting them. And kids are still getting very sick from them.
The sale of small turtles was banned because they can carry salmonella in their feces, which can easily spread to people when the turtles are handled. The ban applies to turtles smaller than 4 inches in diameter because experts believe that kids are more likely to put those in their mouths than larger turtles. However, any infected turtle can spread the salmonella strain to other turtles during shipping, resulting in widespread contamination. That, say experts, is the likely explanation for a recent outbreak of turtle-related salmonella cases. Continue reading »
When my girls were two and four, I took them to an urgent care clinic one weekend after their fevers — which had been gone for two days following dual ear infections — suddenly spiked. I wasn’t looking for antibiotics, I was looking for reassurance that they hadn’t developed something nasty. What I got was a stern lecture on antibiotic abuse, a pamphlet repeating the lecture, and a bill for $50.
I was annoyed — he didn’t even examine my kids, after all, and he was really condescending. But that hard line on antibiotic use seems to taming our country’s unhealthy habit of prescribing antibiotics for what’s usually a viral illness.
With cold and flu season just around the corner, it’s a good time to review exactly when to see your doctor when your child develops an ear infection.
Josh Anderson / The New York Times / Redux
Rhonda and Jason Holt had no idea why their three children, all under the age of 5, had repertory problems and required many drugs and hospital visits. In addition to Rhonda’s migraines and Jason’s kidney troubles, the illnesses were completely mysterious.
Until, that is, the Holt’s discovered the secret behind the walls of their home.
When Hannah Clark of Wales was just two years old doctors transplanted a second heart into the girl to make up for the original heart’s inability to function. For 10 years the second heart beat but in that time Hannah developed tumors and could no longer take the immunosuppressive drugs that prevented her body from rejecting the donor heart.
The only choice the doctors had was to remove the working heart. Continue reading »
Many former Scientologists suspect the fallout over his son’s death may draw John Travolta from out of the Religion’s fold (all apologies to those who do not believe Scientology earns the moniker “religion”). This belief is based on whether or not Travolta will ultimately blame his faith for the death of his son. Travolta’s son, Jet, suffered from autism and his demise was pinned on a seizure disorder. Scientology does not recognize autism as a medical condition and therefore denounces the use of medication (or medication for any psychological disorder: see Tom Cruise’s castigation of Brooke Shields for medicating her post partum depression). Continue reading »
This is one soiree that I would not want to attend. A swine flu party. Apparently there has been talk that swine flu parties are being arranged to expose children to the H1N1 virus early –and giving the kid immunity – before the strain becomes more virulent later on. This would be in the same vein as a classic chicken pox or a measles party. What do doctors think of this type of event planning? Continue reading »
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
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