Late Spring Newsletter 2007

Vitamin D is essential to good health - it helps build strong bones and teeth, prevents diabetes, and helps fight off infectious diseases. We all produce it ourselves, in our skin, as long as we get enough exposure to sunshine. That is the reason Vitamin D is often called the sunshine vitamin. But to get enough Vitamin D this way, you need more sun than most of us get, especially in the winter in the northern regions of the US. If your naturally dark skin pigment protects you from sunburn, or you're faithful about using sunscreen, you don't get enough sunshine for Vitamin D even in the summertime. Milk, infant formula and fruit juice are fortified with extra Vitamin D. Certain foods also contain Vitamin D, e.g. salmon, canned tuna and sardines, eggs, beef liver, and cheese.

What about breast milk? Does it have enough Vitamin D for an infant's needs?

Unfortunately, because of widespread maternal Vitamin D deficiency, it usually doesn't. A mother's milk will have enough Vitamin D for her baby only if she is consuming very large amounts of it herself. And most breastfeeding mothers are not. Breastfed infants need Vitamin D supplements to stay healthy. The amount should be 400 IU daily. This can be provided for infants by giving Tri vi sol or Poly vi sol vitamins - one dropper daily. Breast fed babies should receive vitamins until they are weaned to fortified milk or formula.

How much Vitamin D do children and adults need?

At a minimum, children and teenagers should get 200 IU every day. This amount is contained in 16 ounces of fortified milk or juice.

Smoking and exposure to second hand tobacco smoke among pregnant women cause low birth weight babies, preterm deliveries, perinatal deaths and sudden infant death syndrome. Second hand smoke is among the most common and harmful environmental exposures to children. Nearly 40% of U.S. children are exposed to second hand smoke. These children are at increased risk for many serious health effects like asthma, respiratory infections (including ear infections), decreased lung growth and exercise intolerance. Cigarette smoking during childhood and adolescence produces significant health problems, including periodontal disease, chronic coughing, increased phlegm production, increased severe respiratory illnesses, and decreased physical fitness. If current tobacco use patterns persist, an estimated 6.4 million children will die prematurely from a smoking-related disease.

Each year many young children drown. Some common hazards to be aware of include swimming pools, other bodies of water, standing water around the home, bathtubs (even with baby bathtub "supporting ring" devices), buckets, pails (especially 5 gallon buckets and diaper pails), ice chests with melted ice, toilets, hot tubs, spas, whirlpools, irrigation ditches, post holes, wells, fish ponds and fountains.

Children must be watched by an adult at all times when in or near water. Children may drown in only an inch or two of water. Stay within an arm's length of your child.

Safety precautions include the following:

• Empty all buckets, pails, and bathtubs completely after each use - Never leave them filled and unattended.
• Keep young children out of the bathroom unless they are closely watched. Teach others in the home to keep the bathroom door closed. Install a hook-and-eye latch or doorknob cover on the outside of the door.
• Never leave a child alone in a bathtub or in the care of another child, even for a moment.
• Use a rigid, lockable cover on a hot tub, spa, or whirlpool. Fence in all 4 sides as you would for a swimming pool.
• Set your water heater thermostat so that the hottest temperature at the faucet is 120 degrees F to avoid burns.
• Throw away or tightly cover water or chemical mixtures after use.
• Watch children closely when they are playing near wells, open post holes, or irrigation and drainage ditches. Fill in empty holes or have fences installed to protect your child.
• Learn CPR and know how to get emergency help.

Gardasil is a vaccine (injection/shot) that helps protect against the following diseases caused by Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Types (6, 11, 16, and 18):

Cervical cancer (cancer of the lower end of the uterus or womb)
Abnormal and precancerous cervical lesions
Abnormal and precancerous vaginal lesions
Abnormal and precancerous vulvar lesions
Genital warts

Gardasil helps prevent these diseases - but it will not treat them.  You or your child cannot get these diseases from Gardasil.  About 20 million people in U.S. are infected, and about 6.2 million more get infected each year. HPV is spread through sexual contact. Every year in the U.S. about 10,000 women get cervical cancer and 3,700 die from it. It is the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths among women around the world. HPV is also associated with several less common types of cancer in both men and women. It can also cause genital warts and warts in the upper respiratory tract. These warts often appear as skin-colored growths. They can hurt, itch, bleed, and cause discomfort. In 2005, the CDC estimated that at least 50% of sexually active people catch HPV during their lifetime. A male or female of any age who takes part in any kind of sexual activity that involves genital contact is at risk. Many people who have HPV may not show any signs or symptoms. This means that they can pass on the virus to others and not ever know it.

The HPV vaccine is an inactivated (not live) vaccine. Protection from HPV is expected to be long-lasting and we routinely recommend it for girls 11 - 12 years of age. It is important for girls to get HPV vaccine BEFORE their first sexual contact, because they have not yet been exposed to HPV. For these girls, the vaccine can prevent almost 100% of disease caused by the 4 types of HPV targeted by the vaccine. The vaccine is also recommended for girls and women 13 - 26 years of age who did not receive it when they were younger.

HPV vaccine is given as a 3 dose series:

1st Dose --- now

2nd Dose --- 2 months after Dose 1

3rd Dose --- 4 months after Dose 2

Mild reactions may occur with the vaccine: pain or itching at the injection site, redness or swelling at the injection site, mild to moderate fever. These symptoms don't last long and go away on their own.