Latest Posts
Dodged One: Meningitis Discovered By Trusting One’s Instincts
Saw a nine-year old with a headache today. His dad brought him in, and explained that all the men in his family get migraines; he figured this was his son’s first one. The kid seemed perfectly well, with a positive Cheetos sign and my gut instinct was that I would discharge him with no work-up. But when I flexed his neck fully, he winced. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
Connecting The Dots: Deer, Car Accidents, Lyme Disease, And You
Thanks to Glenn Reynolds over at InstaPundit, I learned that motor vehicle collisions with deer are up 18% compared to 5 years ago.
State Farm calculates the chances of a West Virginia vehicle striking a deer over the next 12 months at 1 in 39. Michigan remains second on that list. The likelihood of a specific vehicle striking a deer there is 1 in 78. Pennsylvania (1 in 94) and Iowa (1 in 104) remain third and fourth respectively. Montana (1 in 104) moved up three places to fifth.
Now, aside from the fact that deer present challenges to our driving friends in West Virgina, Michigan, and beyond – they are also the definitive host for Lyme disease. Ticks feed on the deer (who, by the way, become infected with Lyme spirochetes but suffer no symptoms) and on unsuspecting humans – passing the infection along. And so when deer populations increase, Lyme disease often does too. Read more »
The H1N1 Flu Vaccine: Who Should Get It?
In April I co-authored, Swine Flu Vs. Soap: Our bet’s on the soap! with pediatrician, Dr. Gwenn O’Keefe, founder of Pediatricsnow. We gave a brief overview about the swine flu H1N1 and discussed preventative measures.
While the information remains the same in our post, I’d like to now add a little info about the the H1N1 flu vaccine.
Health information about H1N1 is circulating the web faster than tweets zip through cyberspace and it can be very confusing.
It’s like you’re stuck in a maze and you don’t know which way to go to get out. Information about the swine flu is circulating so quickly that it can even be frightening. It’s really important that you don’t panic.
Gather your information and talk with you doctors and nurses.
Information about the H1N1 flu vaccine Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
H1N1 Flu Vaccine: The Bottom Line
If you’re a bit confused about the H1N1 vaccine recommendations, you are in good company! They are a bit confusing because this year’s flu season is a bit confusing. To add insult to injury, the recommendations for H1N1 are just similar and dissimilar enough from “seasonal flu”, Influenza A&B, that sorting it out can make your head spin and your tongue get tied.
Kim Carrigan and I attempted to clear the air about this challenging topic recently on Fox News Boston…as you’ll see, I even got tripped up once, so don’t feel badly if you’re a bit confused!
*This blog post was originally published at DrGwenn Is In*