Measles kills 35 children in "unacceptable tragedy"

The figure is nearly a threefold increase from last year when the vaccine-preventable disease killed 13 children in Europe

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/measles-kills-children-in-europe-unacceptable-tragedy/

Woman surprises husband with life-saving kidney match

Man who has been suffering from kidney disease for past 14 years breaks down as wife hands him perfect gift

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/man-learns-wife-is-kidney-transplant-match-with-custom-made-baseball-card/

Mayo Clinic Minute: What women need to know about Zika

From: Mayo Clinic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLo119RvFc8

Upcoming webinar focuses on dental team members with opioid disorders

Patients are not the only people in the dental office who could be addicted to opioids. It could also include a dental team member.

From: http://www.ada.org/en/publications/ada-news/2017-archive/july/upcoming-webinar-focuses-on-dental-team-members-with-opioid-disorders

Probe ordered into contaminated blood scandal

British Prime Minister Theresa May ordered a public inquiry into how contaminated blood was used to treat thousands in the 1970s and '80s, killing 2,400 people

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/uks-theresa-may-orders-probe-into-contaminated-blood-scandal/

Common Vision Disorders Could Be Holding Your Child Back in School

Some common vision disorders can't be detected by a standard eye exam -- and could be holding your child back in school.

From: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/features/pediatric-eye-exam-enough?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Early Parkinson's May Prompt Vision Problems

Changes in sight could signal disease a decade before motor symptoms surface, study suggests

From: http://www.webmd.com/parkinsons-disease/news/20170711/early-parkinsons-may-prompt-vision-problems?src=RSS_PUBLIC

New hope in search for vaccine against gonorrhea

New research shows that a routine meningitis shot may offer at least some protection

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-hope-in-search-for-vaccine-against-gonorrhea/

Think your child has a penicillin allergy? Maybe not.

Follow me on Twitter @drClaire

Allergies to penicillin are the most commonly reported medication allergy. This can be a real problem; if you are allergic to penicillin, it’s not just penicillin you can’t take. You can’t take amoxicillin and other antibiotics that are extremely similar, and it’s iffy whether or not you can take cephalosporins (such as cephalexin or cefdinir), a whole other really useful and commonly used class of antibiotics.

See, that’s the thing: with most common infections such as ear infections, strep throat, or skin infections, if we can’t give you penicillin we end up with limited choices. Some of those choices don’t work as well — and some of them are stronger than we’d like, with more side effects.

Now, this would be just an unavoidable reality of life for penicillin-allergic people, if it weren’t for the simple fact that a lot of them aren’t allergic to penicillin at all.

How does this happen? Well, the diagnosis of drug allergy is generally what we call a “clinical diagnosis,” based on signs and symptoms rather than an actual test. Drug allergies can cause lots of different symptoms, such as rash, vomiting, and diarrhea. When a patient who is on a medication develops one of these symptoms, doctors very often end up diagnosing an allergy to be on the safe side. After all, drug allergies can be life-threatening, and reactions after the first one are often more serious.

But there are pitfalls to this. First of all, sometimes doctors make the diagnosis based purely on patient or parent report, without seeing the rash or examining the patient. For example: a parent says the child had a rash, so the antibiotic is stopped and an allergy is diagnosed — but it turns out that the rash was just a diaper rash, not an actual allergy. A second, more common and more problematic pitfall is that, because the symptoms of a drug allergy can be easily confused with symptoms of a virus or other condition, often a drug allergy is diagnosed when the symptoms were caused by something else entirely. This can be especially true when a child takes amoxicillin for an ear infection, as ear infections commonly occur when a child has a cold caused by a virus — and those viruses can cause rashes and many other symptoms. Viruses commonly cause even hives, which we usually think of as being caused by an allergy.

All of this means that there are lots of people out there who think they have an allergy who actually don’t.

In a study recently published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers tested 100 children whose parents said they were allergic to penicillin based on what the researchers called “low-risk” symptoms. These low-risk symptoms included rash, itching, vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose, and cough. They also included children whose parents said they were allergic because of a family history of allergy. You know what they found when they did tests on the children? None of them actually had an allergy to penicillin.

This doesn’t mean that anyone should start ignoring a diagnosed allergy to penicillin. It’s especially important not to ignore it if someone has what the researchers call “high-risk” symptoms, such as wheezing or any other kind of trouble breathing, swelling of the face or other parts of the body, fainting, a drop in blood pressure, or other symptoms of a serious allergic reaction.

But it does mean that you should talk to your doctor if your child’s diagnosis of allergy was based on a low-risk symptom. It may be that doing further testing, or even trying a dose of penicillin under medical supervision, may make sense to be sure that the allergy, with all of its ramifications, really exists.

The post Think your child has a penicillin allergy? Maybe not. appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

From: Claire McCarthy, MD http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/think-child-penicillin-allergy-maybe-not-2017071112054

WHO: Investing in NCDs prevention and control saves lives and money

From: World Health Organization https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTSf09Huz70

Fatal First Heart Attacks More Common in Blacks

Black men are twice as likely to die, so prevention is crucial, researcher says

From: http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20170710/fatal-first-time-heart-attacks-more-common-in-blacks-study?src=RSS_PUBLIC

From garden to grill, chef teaches sick kids to cook for health

Our continuing series A More Perfect Union explores how what unites us as Americans is greater than what divides us. We meet Denver chef Troy Guard who's getting kids to eat what they usually hate: vegetables. He's sharing his love of healthful food with children who are fighting chronic illnesses. Barry Petersen reports.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/from-garden-to-grill-chef-teaches-sick-kids-to-cook-for-health/

More coffee could lead to longer life, research shows

There's new evidence that coffee can lead to a longer life, with two studies from the U.S. and Europe showing similar results. The American study found people who drink one cup of coffee a day have a 12 percent lower risk of dying. Those who have two or three cups have an 18 percent lower risk. Dr. Tara Narula joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss the findings.

From: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/more-coffee-could-lead-to-longer-life-research-shows/

New Hope in Search for Vaccine Against Gonorrhea

Study shows that routine meningitis shot may offer at least some protection

From: http://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/news/20170710/new-hope-in-search-for-vaccine-against-gonorrhea?src=RSS_PUBLIC

WHO: Investing in NCDs prevention and control saves lives and money

From: World Health Organization https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTSf09Huz70