Search Results for: blog strep throat

Could Childhood Mental Disorders Be Triggered by Strep?

In the mid 1990’s, doctors began noticing that some children who had strep ended up showing symptoms of sudden onset mental illness after recovering from the strep infection. This has led some doctors to wonder if antibiotics could help alleviate those disorders. It is an interesting concept. The strange situation happens something like this. A child, who has no signs or symptoms of any form of mental illness, catches a strep infection. He or she gets a case of strep throat, goes to the doctor, and is treated. The child misses a few days of school, but makes a full … Continue reading →

Strep Throat

In March 2010, my middle sister turned 50. My family wanted me to be there to celebrate with her. I got permission to take the foster baby with us, so foster baby, Jessie, and I flew home to California for a week. Traveling alone with two small children was hard, but I was so happy to do it. The weather was pretty miserable the whole time we were there. My mom stayed home with the baby the night of the party because it was raining so hard. My sister’s party was a lot of fun. There were over 150 guests … Continue reading →

Group B Strep

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A few weeks before my delivery, I sat in my doctor’s office, swinging my swollen feet off the end of the examination table while the doctor quizzed the new intern. “Now last week we gave this patient a test for Group B Strep. Where do we usually test for this? In the mouth?” the doctor asked. The intern paused for a moment and I tried to hold back laughter. Obviously I knew where the test had been performed, and it was definitely not in my mouth. Group B Strep is not the same as Group A, which is the strain … Continue reading →

Conquering Cabin Fever

If the only thing your child is suffering with right now is cabin fever, consider yourself lucky. Contrary to popular belief, kids can contract strep throat and hand-foot-and-mouth disease at the same time. Oh.Yes.They.Can. Let me tell you how I know this… Actually, I will spare you the gory details and instead share more practical advice for conquering cabin fever during these last days of winter break.  Students in our neck of the woods head back to class next Monday.  That means parents have to endure a few more days of kids complaining that their new Christmas toys are not … Continue reading →

Hantavirus: Are You Afraid?

Yesterday, while on recess duty at my daughter’s school I noticed two kindergarteners making sand castles near the playground’s baseball diamond. And by sand castles, I mean dirt mounds. By the time I realized what they were doing, the bell rang and they started dashing toward the cafeteria door to line-up for lunch. Fortunately, another mom was able to make them out through their respective dirt clouds, intercept them and escort them to the restroom to wash up. “Did you see how filthy they were?” the mom asked as I held the cafeteria doors open. “Human petri dishes,” I sardonically … Continue reading →

Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?

Hopefully, not your kids, especially if the button in question is a battery. Button batteries, also know as coin cells, are designed to power small portable electronic devices, such as hearing aids, pocket-sized calculators, wrist watches and handheld video games. However, for some young children the smooth and shiny batteries are also the perfect fit for their mouths. In fact, so many children have attempted to “taste” the tiny batteries that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just published a report warning parents about battery-related dangers. The CDC’s report states that from 1997 through 2010, nearly 30,000 children ages … Continue reading →

Antibacterial, Friend or Foe

An important part of keeping out homes clean is to protect our families from germs. We teach our toddlers to wash their hands after going to the bathroom and before eating. We put our babies in shopping carts but first we wipe the bar with an antibacterial wipe. When we are out and have no way to wash our child’s hands we break out the antibacterial hand wash or wipes. Are we suffering from antibacterial overload? Everything has antibacterial properties now, dish washing liquid, hand soap, body wash. Is all this antibacterial stuff actually harmful to us? When I was … Continue reading →

Should You Keep Your Child Home?

Every parent has faced that morning uncertainty when their child comes down the stairs and says he doesn’t feel well, just as you are getting his lunch ready for school. Should you keep him home from school or send him? Sometimes the answer isn’t very clear cut. Here is some advice that can help. Runny Nose and Cough If your child has a runny nose by itself, you can usually send your child to school. However, if it is accompanied by other symptoms or is severe, then keeping him home is the best option. For example, if the runny nose … Continue reading →

When You Really Should Complain

Nobody likes a whiner—we all know that. We hear someone start to complain, and we flip our internal switches to off. And if we’re married to a whiner, well, it’s even worse. We tend to lose sympathy over time—it’s just a natural thing to do. And it’s good to try not to be a whiner … but there are times when you really do need to complain. Not in an attempt to solicit more attention (although, if that attention is accompanied by backrubs and chocolate pudding, I don’t blame you) but as a way of possibly saving your life. There … Continue reading →

Go with Your Gut

If there is even the teeny-tiniest, itty-bittiest chance that strep throat or ear infections are going around my daughter’s school, there is a 96 percent chance that she will be leveled with one or both. It has happened. More than once. In fact, last year my daughter stunned not one, not two, but three pediatricians at our local clinic by contracting strep throat and hand-foot-and-mouth disease–at the same time. The days of having the doctor on speed dial and calling the second my daughter’s temperature inched above 100 are long gone. I now embrace a more reasonable and measured approach … Continue reading →