H1N1 Flu Update

My last post, “Should You Have a Pap Smear?”, generated an avalanche of wisecracks from my male readers, mostly declining.  Thanks for that! I want to write another post about H1N1 flu about as much as I’d like to pour lemon juice on my paper cuts.  But there’s absolutely no other medical news to report and many of you are still much attuned to this developing story. Today’s Wall Street Journal summarized the most recent data well (link below).  Since the virus first spread to humans in April,...
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Should You Have a Pap Smear?

Last week I lamented that we can prevent so few cancers.  Cervical cancer screening is one of the success stories of prevention.  Regular pap smears can drastically decrease the risk of cervical cancer and makes death from cervical cancer virtually unheard of. Cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted disease, caused by human pappilomavirus (HPV).  Pap smears check for telltale changes in the cervix that happen after HPV infection.   Over many years these changes lead to cervical cancer. But w...
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Vaccines: Fighting Fear with Information

Diversity of opinion is a mark of any free society.  Whenever I hear the latest conspiracy theory, see a commercial for a ghost-investigating “reality” show, or hear the latest quack cure advertised on radio, I remind myself that the spread of wacky fringe ideas is a consequence of liberty.  And, though I wish my fellow citizens would develop a bit of skepticism, I wouldn’t want anyone preventing them from hearing, watching or believing all that nonsense. So it’s a major victory when facts fina...
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The H1N1 (Swine) Flu Vaccine

Countless of you (well actually, several of you) have asked me in the last few weeks “What about the swine flu vaccine?”  “Should I get it?”  “When will it be available?”  “Is it safe?”  “Does it not herald the coming of the zombie apocalypse?”  Well, your long wait for answers is finally over. So far the H1N1 infection has caused symptoms very similar to garden variety seasonal flu, except that diarrhea and vomiting have been more common and that most hospitalizations have been in people young...
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Important Influenza Inoculation Information

Our office just received our first batch of influenza vaccines, so it’s time for the annual flu shot post. The seasonal flu vaccine does not protect against novel H1N1 (swine) flu.  Availability of the swine flu vaccine is still at least a couple of months away, and I’ll write about it in more detail when it becomes available. This year the CDC is recommending flu vaccination for the following people:
  • Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday,
  • Women ...
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H1N1 Flu: Potential Pregnancy Problem

H1N1, the flu previously known as swine, is still in the news, but this week for a good reason. Most of us still have little to worry about.  The CDC estimates that over a million Americans have been sick with H1N1 flu as of July 24.  The vast majority of illnesses were mild and resolved without incident, many without any treatment.   As of that same date there have been 5,011 hospitalizations and 302 deaths.  That means that getting sick with H1N1 flu caries half a percent chance of hospitaliz...
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It’s West Nile Virus Season

The news is still flooded with stories about Swine Flu, which will continue to demand the attention of public health officials, but probably doesn’t need much more attention from the public. Meanwhile summertime brings mosquitoes which bring West Nile Virus.  West Nile Virus is transmitted to people by mosquito bites.  Most infected people have a very mild illness, but some develop encephalitis (brain inflammation) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord).  There ...
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Vaccine Refusal: Turning Back Two Centuries of Progress

Vaccines have become a victim of their own success.  In 1809 Massachusetts became the first state to pass a law requiring a vaccination – of smallpox – ushering a series of public health victories over a number of serious diseases.  In the past 200 years smallpox has been eradicated, and measles, polio, rubella and tetanus have become so rare that they have disappeared from public consciousness. The number of children who contract vaccine-preventable diseases today is tiny compared to the numbe...
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Swine Flu: Unlikely to End the World

I thought it might be a good idea to write my weekly post early this week since there is so much anxiety about swine flu. The media and officials in many countries have contributed to much fear and misunderstanding which may turn out to be more harmful than swine flu itself.  Let me try to shed some light without raising the heat. The swine flu virus has been around for a long time as a cause of respiratory illness in pigs.  Sporadically, it has caused illness in humans who had a lot of contac...
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The Common Cold

Several of my patients have developed nasty colds in the last few weeks, so it seemed like a good time to cover this perennial source of misery.  Even though the cold is one of the most common illnesses, many people are still confused about how to treat it and how to distinguish it from other illnesses. Symptoms Colds typically cause a scratchy or sore throat, runny or congested nose, cough and fatigue.  There is usually no fever. Cause Colds are caused by vir...
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