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Health
If your pediatrician has prescribed your child antibiotics, it is essential that you give them as prescribed so they’re most effective and to minimize the possibility of side effects. Most side effects of antibiotics are mild, but some are more...
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Health
As useful as they are, antibiotics are not a cure-all for childhood illness. They are only effective against bacterial illnesses and have no effect on viral infections, such as the common cold or the flu. Unfortunately, widespread and inappropriate...
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Health
Antibiotics are one of the most commonly prescribed medicines in a pediatrician’s office. While they cannot be used to treat viral infections, like the common cold or the flu, they are used to treat many common bacterial infections in...
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Blog
I’d like to share my favorite statistic: 10 percent of people report having a penicillin allergy, but 90 percent of them are not actually allergic. Adverse reactions to antibiotics are relatively common, especially in children, but they are rarely...
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Health
Two out of three children aged 3 and under will get at least one ear infection. An ear infection occurs when the tubes in the child’s ears fill with fluid because of a previous bacterial or viral infection, such as a cold. It is difficult for...
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Health
Will the antibiotic protect against future infections? No. Antibiotics are intended to treat whatever illness was diagnosed initially. They will not prevent a child from catching something else later. The average toddler gets ten illnesses each...
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Health
Not every sore throat is the same. Sore throats caused by a virus will go away on their own without treatment. However, if your child has been diagnosed with strep throat, here are a few things to know to keep you informed. Strep throat is caused...
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Health
Pertussis is a contagious infection of the upper respiratory system. Also known as whooping cough, the illness is caused by Bordetella pertussis bacteria. These bacteria affect the lining of the lungs, releasing toxins that cause narrowing of the...
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Health
Scarlet fever is an infection caused by a bacteria called Group A Streptococcus. This bacteria is the same bacteria that causes strep throat. While scarlet fever was previously a serious childhood illness, modern antibiotics have made the condition...
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Health
A kidney infection, also called pyelonephritis, is a type of urinary tract infection (UTI). In most cases, UTIs are not serious and easily treated with antibiotics. However, frequent kidney infections can cause permanent damage to the kidneys. In...
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Health
Most infectious illnesses are caused by either viruses or bacteria. Both can be spread by coughing, sneezing, and contact with infected people or contaminated objects. Both bacterial and viral illnesses can cause mild or serious conditions,...
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Blog
Have you ever wondered what your pediatrician is really thinking? While I can’t speak for all pediatricians, I can tell you that many of us share similar thoughts when it comes to our patients and their families. We love the children and cherish...
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Pregnancy
Chorioamnionitis is when an infection develops in the uterus during labor. This condition complicates 1-4 percent of all deliveries. Also known as intra-amniotic infection, the diagnosis is made when a mom develops a fever during labor and no other...
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Health
Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are fairly common, affecting about 3 percent of children in the US each year. They are more common in girls, who have about an 8 percent risk of contracting a UTI, compared to a 2 percent risk in boys. In most...
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Pregnancy
Streptococcus agalactiae, otherwise known as Group B Strep (GBS), is a bacteria that approximately 20-25 percent of pregnant women have in their vagina and rectum. Carrying this bacteria does not mean that you acquired a sexually transmitted...
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Health
Sepsis is a very dangerous medical condition that results from infection, usually by a bacteria, but a virus or fungus can also be a cause. Sepsis occurs when the infectious agent spreads from its initial area of infection into the bloodstream....
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Health
Impetigo is a bacterial skin infection. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, staphylococcus bacteria cause more than 90 percent of cases, while streptococcus bacteria cause most of the remainder of impetigo cases. Impetigo infection can...
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Baby
The term “diaper rash” is used to describe a skin irritation or rash that occurs on your baby’s bottom. It is a common condition that typically affects babies 8-10 months old. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) estimates that more than...
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Baby
Mastitis occurs in 3-20 percent of breastfeeding women, depending on the definition used. While it is most common in the first 6 weeks after delivery, it can happen anytime during breastfeeding and for some women may occur repeatedly. A bacterial...
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Health
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in North America. It is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, which is a bacteria transmitted to humans through the bite of the tick species Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus. To infect the host,...
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Health
It is not uncommon for infants and little girls to complain of discomfort in the diaper area or vagina. Irritation of the vagina, or vaginitis, is a general word used to describe anything that causes inflammation of the tissues in or around the...
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Health
Pneumonia, a general term for an infection in the lungs, is classified into two types: bacterial and viral. Either type occurs when bacteria or viruses found in the nose and throat infect a baby’s lungs. Infants younger than 2 weeks old typically...
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Health
Selective IgA deficiency is a common primary immunodeficiency in which there is very little or no detectable immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the blood and body secretions (of the ears, nose, mouth, sinuses, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and...
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Health
Your baby’s cough isn’t getting any better. In fact, it sounds worse — wetter and full of gunk — especially at night. You begin to question, is it pneumonia? Pneumonia is an infection inside the lungs. Babies with pneumonia have difficulty...
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Blog
This week, one mom is worried her daughter’s constant sickness is part of a larger immune issue. Is it cause for concern? See what our expert says. Dear Bundoo, My daughter (she’s 4) recently came down with a nasty cold that went around her...
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Health
The use of natural and herbal remedies for all sorts of afflictions is rising, both in children and adults. But are herbal remedies safe and effective for your infant or toddler with a cold? First, it’s important to understand the difference...
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Health
Vesicoureteral reflux, also called VUR, is a disorder that causes urine to flow backward from the bladder toward the kidneys. In the worst cases, the urine may flow back into the kidneys. This condition occurs because the one-way valves that...
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Health
Sore throats are one of the most common complaints seen in a pediatric office, but did you know your doctor cannot simply look in your child’s mouth and tell whether the sore throat is caused by a virus or a bacteria? In fact, a recent study...
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Health
The measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, or MMR, is probably the most widely recognized vaccine given to children. Parents often bring up the MMR at one of their child’s first well exams, wondering when the vaccine will be administered and sometimes...
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Health
The human ear is composed of three parts: the outer ear (the fleshy part that sticks out from your head, as well as the ear canal); the middle ear (the eardrum, the three small bones that convey sound, and the eustachian tubes that run to the back...
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Baby
You and your baby have settled into a breastfeeding routine when you feel the telltale aches, low-grade fever, and sore throat of a bad cold coming on. Your first instinct is to stop breastfeeding so you don’t give your baby the same cold. But do...
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Health
Parents may worry when they feel swollen glands in their child’s neck. It should come as a relief to know that swollen glands, or enlarged lymph nodes, are a very common and often normal finding in a child who is fighting off an infection. Lymph...
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Health
Tetanus, often called “lockjaw,” is caused by a specific bacterium (called Clostridium tetani) usually found as spores in soil, dust, and manure. These spores can enter the body through a break in the skin, most commonly through a cut or puncture...
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Health
The sinuses are air-filled pockets around the nose and face that are lined with mucus membranes. When those membranes become swollen or inflamed, it can lead to sinusitis. The most common causes of sinus inflammation are colds, allergies and...
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Health
Children are notorious for getting bumps, cuts, and bruises. In rare cases, a serious infection of the underlying bone, known as osteomyelitis, can develop. There are two primary ways a bone can become infected: Direct infection. When a child has...
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Blog
Your newborn’s skin is perfect—right up until it’s not! Newborn babies have tender, new skin that has unique needs of its own. And it can be confusing knowing what to do when your baby breaks out in a rash, thanks to the thousands of products out...
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Health
When your child gets a cold, it is often nothing more than a bother for a few days. But if your child begins to wheeze, you may become concerned that something more serious is going on. There’s a chance your child has developed bronchiolitis....
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Team Member
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Baby
Group B Strep (GBS) is a normally harmless bacteria commonly found in the human digestive tract. But this little bug has a darker side: in pregnant women, it can migrate to vaginal region where it can cause serious complications in a newborn after...
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Health
If you and your pediatrician have decided that your child’s frequent ear infections need more aggressive treatment than just antibiotics and waiting for improvement, myringotomy may be the solution. Myringotomy is a surgical procedure in...
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Parenting
Little girls look adorable with earrings, but there are a few things to think about before getting your child’s ears pierced. Many parents wonder about the right age to have them pierced and how to take care of them after the procedure. Here...
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Health
Pink eye—also called conjunctivitis—is the most common eye problem among children. Pink eye occurs when the lining of the eye and eyelid become irritated or infected, resulting in redness and inflammation. Both eyes are often affected at the same...
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Health
A serious viral infection has spread from the Midwest across the country, hospitalizing hundreds of kids and possibly infecting thousands of others. Speaking to CNN, Mark Pallansch, a virologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,...
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Health
Bacterial meningitis is a serious infection of the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Children (and adults) who are diagnosed with bacterial meningitis are admitted into the hospital for treatment. At the hospital,...
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Health
It used to be the norm for toddlers to get tubes in their ears when they suffered frequent ear infections. Tubes, also called tympanostomy tubes, allow fluid that had built up behind the ear drum to drain, relieving pain and allowing a child to...
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Health
Thrush is a common infection of the mouth found in babies and young toddlers, as well as on the nipples of nursing mothers. Thrush appears as sticky white patches that line the mouth, inner lips, and gums. In nursing moms, thrush may appear as...
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Health
MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , is a bacteria that causes many different types of infections in children. Children can be exposed to MRSA in situations where they come into close contact with many other people, such as...
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Parenting
Swimmer’s ear (otitis externa) occurs when the outer part of the ear and the canal leading to the eardrum becomes inflamed and painful. Swimmer’s ear is different from the more common ear infections that occur in the middle ear, or otitis media...
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Health
From 2009 to 2010, more than one million children went to the doctor for norovirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Norovirus is an infection that causes severe vomiting and diarrhea in people of all ages. Little...
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Health
It used to be common practice that if a child suffered from an ear infection, antibiotics were given to clear it up. But the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently changed its position on the treatment of acute otitis media (the medical term...
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Pregnancy
Meconium aspiration syndrome, or MAS, occurs when a fetus inhales fecal material—called meconium—into the lungs from the surrounding amniotic fluid. Meconium is the term for the dark green, thick stool that a newborn usually passes in utero or soon...
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Pregnancy
A few recalls have made headlines over concerns of fruit contaminated with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. This bacterium can cause the infection listeriosis, which can have serious effects in a pregnant woman. If a pregnant woman consumed a...
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Blog
Your baby’s first cold can be unsettling, but there are steps you can take to hold this first brush with infection off as long as possible. First, if at all possible, keep your young infant away from sick people (especially their mucus!)....
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Blog
Updated: Oct. 2, 10:01 a.m. Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has been trending on the nightly newscasts and has probably risen to the top of your social media timelines several times over the past few weeks. Parental fear their children will succumb to a...
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Blog
We are at the end of National Infant Immunization Week, and I’ve decided I can hold out no longer. I am coming to the confessional to raise my right hand and say, I am a vaccine supporter! There, I said it. I am not a “some vaccines” supporter, or...
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Blog
Lifetime has an all-new “unscripted” series, “Born in the Wild,” which documents couples’ decisions to forgo birth in a hospital and instead give birth in nature on their own terms without assistance. “In this new series, families take one step...
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Blog
It’s Thanksgiving and like nearly everyone on Facebook and Instagram, I am “full of gratitude” and “blessed.” My children are healthy and happy and I am able to spend another year with my family. I am also carrying around a heavy heart, for I am...
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Baby
Having a premature baby in the NICU is a difficult situation for any parent — and it’s unfortunately common. Approximately one out of every 10 babies are born prematurely each year, keeping the NICUs around the country very busy. While it’s natural...
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Parenting
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, you are covered by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) if all of the following are true: You have worked for your employer for at least 12 months (though not necessarily in consecutive order). Have at...
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Health
Hives are the body’s response to a stressor. While the stressor is most commonly an allergic trigger, people can break out in hives due to changes in temperature, stress, or even a viral infection. Hives (medically identified as urticaria) can be...
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Baby
Premature infants are at risk for a variety of lung problems and diseases, in part because infants can survive birth at earlier ages than ever before. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, infants today “consistently” survive birth at...
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Baby
While there are countless benefits to breastfeeding, many new mothers are shocked to learn that breastfeeding can be painful. Some complications new moms may encounter include: Cracked, sore nipples: Sore or cracked nipples are common in the first...
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Health
Yeast is a type of fungus that is normally found in a healthy human body. However, under certain conditions, yeast can begin to multiply, resulting in a yeast infection. Candida albicans is usually the most common culprit, typically causing...
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Health
Roseola is a viral infection that can affect children by the time they turn 2 years old. Roseola is caused by infection with the herpes virus 6 or, less commonly, the herpes virus 7. Like other viral illnesses, Roseola spreads through contact with...
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Baby
Some parents are concerned when they meet their newborn and see a defect in the front of their child’s ear. These are called ear tags or ear pits (preauricular pits). They are common birth defects. Both conditions are formed in utero, when the ears...
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Pregnancy
Welcome to Week 35! With still five weeks to go until full term, this is the week that many babies finally stop getting longer (or at least slow down a lot). This doesn’t mean your baby won’t get any bigger—he or she will still be packing on the...
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Health
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited group of disorders that affects hemoglobin, the molecule in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to cells throughout the body. People with this disorder have atypical hemoglobin molecules called hemoglobin...
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Health
RSV is short for respiratory syncytial virus. This is an extremely common virus in both children and adults. Nearly all children have had at least one experience with RSV by their second birthday, and most people continue to remain susceptible to...
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Pregnancy
One of the less glamorous symptoms of pregnancy is an increase in vaginal discharge. This can happen at any time, but many women notice it more in the second and third trimesters. However, not all discharge is created equal, and knowing what is...
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Health
Norovirus is the most common cause of diarrhea and vomiting in children — and winter is the time of year physicians report seeing the most cases. The virus, which can cause stomach cramping accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (or all of...
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Baby
The research on the benefits of breastfeeding just keeps getting better. Both the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, with supplemental breastmilk to...
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Health
When a child experiences blood in his or her urine, the symptom is known as hematuria. Hematuria is a symptom of an underlying condition, not a disease by itself. There are multiple reasons your child might be experiencing hematuria, so if you...
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Health
Fevers in babies over six months of age are handled a little differently than fevers in younger babies. By six months, your baby’s immune system is much more developed, making it easier to fight off common illnesses. Fever, which is defined as a...
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Pregnancy
Welcome to Week 31! Just nine weeks to go, which means there’s still time to plan for some of those post-delivery things you’ll need to take care of, and better to take care of them now before the baby arrives when it’s easier to carve out time for...
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Health
Helicobacter pylori is a common bacteria found in the stomachs of many children. In fact, some studies suggest that up to 50 percent of the world’s population carries this bacteria. In the industrialized world, however, the incidence is much lower....
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Health
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a species of bacteria normally found in the intestines of people and animals. Most strains of E. coli are harmless, but others can make you very ill. One specific strain called O157:H7 causes severe diarrhea and can...
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Parenting
There are many benefits to having your child exposed to animals, but what happens when your child is injured by a cat or dog? While many people worry about animal bites from strays or stranger pets, the fact is that the majority of animal bites are...
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Pregnancy
Giving birth does not end once you deliver your brand new baby boy or girl, though it may feel that way to you! The final stage of labor is actually when your placenta delivers. Usually this happens in a matter of minutes and goes smoothly, but in...
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Health
Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction that requires immediate medical treatment before it turns life-threatening. It happens when your child’s immune system reacts to an allergen. Some allergic reactions can be mild, resulting in itchy hives....