by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on February 18, 2010
by Devika Rao, MD, Pulmonary Fellow
For a pediatric pulmonologist, the winter brings numerous questions from parents and other physicians regarding the management of recurring breathing problems in infants. Some of these infants have colds and some have chronic wheezing.
Some are hospitalized with bronchiolitis – an inflammation of the small airways of the lung. Bronchiolitis is typically caused by viruses, most commonly the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and infection rates peak from December to March. Symptoms range from just a cold with a runny nose, to wheezing or even severe difficulty breathing requiring hospitalization. Some of the many known risk factors that predispose children to bronchiolitis include daycare attendance, tobacco smoke exposure and prematurity. Full story »
by Matt Cyr on December 30, 2009
Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Boston Children’s Hospital. Along with her blogs here on Thriving, you can find her at the Huffington Post and Boston.com. Follow her on Twitter @drClaire.
In case you missed it, Margaret Chan, MD, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), yesterday cautioned the world that the H1N1 pandemic is not over, even though you’re not hearing as much about it in the media or around the watercooler. “It is too premature and too early for us to say we have come to an end of the pandemic influenza worldwide,” Dr. Chan said at a press conference.
With much less attention being paid to H1N1 these days, Thrive asked Claire McCarthy, MD, a pediatrician and the medical director of Children’s Martha Eliot Health Center, if she thought families could stop worrying about the virus—and whether people should still get vaccinated if they haven’t already. Here’s what she had to say: Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on December 6, 2009
Here’s a quick look at what Thrive was up to last week.
Yoga is thought to have many healing powers, but is fighting eating disorders one of them? One patient tells her story of how brain stimulation helps keep her epileptic seizures at bay. Children’s professionalism and ethical practice expert talks about the changing mammography guidelines and gives insight into the health care reform. Children’s Dr. Sharon Levy discusses whether or not home-based drug kits are useful on the MSNBC show “Dr. Nancy.” The National Institute of Health announced 13 new government-approved embryonic stem cell lines, 11 of which were developed at Children’s. The HealthMap team gave us our weekly H1N1 update. Did you know that children with RSV are more likely to be hospitalized than those with seasonal flu? Our Mediatrician sings his praises of Guitar Hero but adds a warning about appropriate lyrics. Good Morning America features Children’s research on autism and facial recognition.
by Nancy Fliesler on December 3, 2009
With H1N1 still very much in the news and seasonal flu getting ready to make its debut, Children’s Hospital Boston doctors are reminding everyone not to overlook another bug that should be getting more attention — respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. A study of children age 7 and younger coming to Children’s Emergency Department with acute respiratory illnesses found that those infected with RSV had more than twice as many emergency department visits and six times more hospitalizations than those with seasonal flu. Full story »
