Holidays

This time of year the days get shorter, the weather cooler and we are all blessed with the Holiday spirit. I look forward to the many family traditions that our family has as well as hearing the one's that our patients look forward to. Share with us your favorite family tradition for the Holiday, a memory, or maybe a good recipe! --Dr. Nern

A response to hysteria

I apologize that this is the first posting since...yikes...August! From the flavor of the previous post you can probably guess that we've been rather busy with all the influenza we've been seeing. Anyhow, that's the reason for not posting sooner and the reason for this post today.

In my previous post, you got a good look at my personal conviction that vaccines are safe and effective, perhaps even the most important tool towards preventative medicine known to man. You might have also noted a comment that was written by an anonymous person to that post. It was the rant against vaccines in general, flu vaccine specifically, me, and my purported bosses... the pharmaceutical companies.

Though I despise censorship, I removed the comment based on its general mean spirited tone and specifically its libelous slant towards me that I do what I do because the pharmaceutical companies tell me what to do. The author must tread lightly when attacking me professionally...The days of drug representative perks are gone and have been for quite some time, at least all of my professional career. There are laws in place to prevent this conflict of interest. I've never been offered, nor asked for anything, that might affect my decision to use one medicine over another. I choose my medicines based on personal experience, efficacy and at times cost.

We (all of us at PTP) practice evidence based medicine. This means that any decision made to start a medicine, do a procedure, give a vaccine or withhold treatment is based on medical research that has been shown to support our decision making process. The papers that support this medical research and hence our decisions are themselves supported by mountains of statistical analysis to weed out bad data and frank bias. Sadly many of the "internet experts" on which the author of the comment (and others) rely have absolutely no data to support their claims (honestly, next time show me the data...put up or shut up...).

During our residency training we took call and stayed up all night every 4rth night for three years straight. We've stayed late after hours, worked weekends, worked Thanksgiving and Christmas, stayed late when you've walked in after office hours, and seen you in our homes when you've shown up on our door steps. We do what we do because we love your children...period.

Vaccines are a victim of their own success. We are living in a glorious age of social amnesia to the times of Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Pertussis, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Haemophilus Influenza type b, Varicella. Why else would these diseases be so rare now? Further more, giving vaccines for most pediatric offices are not money makers, they cost to buy, store, and give. Many offices actually lose money on giving vaccines. We break even. We give vaccines because they take a lot of the guesswork out of what to do with a child with fever.

At any rate, I will leave this alone for now. I will however mention that we started this blog for our patients and others who would like to participate in constructive dialog regarding our children's health. Feel free to respond with constructive ideas but please keep your hysteria to yourself. --Dr. Nern

The big Influenza

Well, its been a weird year for influenza. We thought we were out of the woods this past spring with the "regular" flu being over, only to run headfirst into the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic. PTP has seen around 50 cases of H1N1 in the past two months. My daughter Mairin had it and, let me tell you, she was quite ill for a week. I hope I never see her so sick again! Which brings me to the topic of this blog. GET YOUR FLU SHOT! Right now there is no shortage of the yearly "regular flu" vaccine. (There is currently no H1N1 vaccine available.) It is a phone call and appointment away. Just call the office. Every year I have more than a few families who refuse their flu shots for a variety of reasons (all myths); The flu shot makes you sick, gives you the flu, is ineffective, causes autism...blah blah blah...Every year I find myself shaking my "I told you so" finger to those families who didn't get immunized and now find themselves in my exam room with a really sick child or teenager. At least I've been fortunate that none of my patients have died from flu yet but...LISTEN UP! Influenza kills 36, 000 people a year. The CDC is predicting that around 90,000 might die from H1N1 if it becomes more virulent the next time around. Did I get your attention? 90k, that's almost a packed house at the Cowboys new stadium...gone...poof...Come on, it's time to get serious about the flu and drop the stupid myths about vaccines. ----Dr. Nern

Our parents are really creative!

Over the years we've done a lot of teaching. Nothing is one way, however, and we've learned just as much from our families. This post is to give our most creative parents and families a place to post their best ideas for keeping their children engaged and learning this summer. For example: one of our families will sit down together before the summer starts and write down all their ideas for activities and fun during the summer then throw them in a hat. Everyday during the summer someone gets to pick from the hat and the family does that activity that day. What a great idea!
-Dr. Patterson_

All things Pediatric

Welcome to our first stab at blogging. Our hope is that this blogspot will allow for another avenue of communication for our patients our staff and just about anyone else who cares to share things related to pediatrics. Such topics might include: hot topics in the news, community events, seasonal topics, the best daycare...anything you might dream up! We hope that this becomes a great resource for everyone in the Central Coast, a kiosk if you will, for our friends and family to visit time and time again. Cheers! --Dr. McNerney