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Tag: children

  • Parents Encouraged to Keep Kids Home if Sick With GI Bugs

    Parents Encouraged to Keep Kids Home if Sick With GI Bugs

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    Nov. 1, 2022 – Attention parents: If your child is showing signs of a stomach bug, do not send them to school or day care. 

    That’s the take-home message in a new CDC report, which found that nearly 90% of outbreaks of acute gastrointestinal infections in schools and child care settings result from person-to-person contact. 

    “Clinicians should encourage parents to keep children out of school for up to 24 hours after symptoms have subsided, as viral shedding may continue after symptoms stop,” says Janine Cory, a spokesperson for the CDC. 

    She also encouraged pediatricians to reinforce good hygiene habits with parents, including making sure children stay home if they are sick and that they wash their hands with warm water and soap, as most hand sanitizers are not effective against the germs most often linked to GI outbreaks in kids. 

    The report, published in the journal Pediatrics, was based on an analysis by CDC researchers and their colleagues of more than 4,600 outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis – what many people call a “stomach flu” – between 2009 and 2020. 

    Most outbreaks occurred in schools between October and March, and typically involved viral infections. Around 86% of all outbreaks in the study were linked to person-to-person contact. Roughly two-thirds of all outbreaks during the study period involved strains of norovirus or the bacteria species shigella. 

    Symptoms of norovirus infection include diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain, according to the CDC. Shigellosis, the infection caused by shigella, can cause bloody stool and diarrhea, high fever, severe stomach cramping and tenderness, and dehydration. 

    Schools and child care centers accounted for an average of 457 outbreaks and 15,779 cases per year during the study period. (The number of outbreaks plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic, as kids stayed home during lockdowns, according to the researchers.)

    While outbreaks in schools were significantly larger than those in child care centers, sickness in child care centers lasted longer. Outbreaks in schools lasted 9 days, on average, while child care center outbreaks lasted for an average of 15 days. Around 98% of outbreaks were to blame for at least one visit to the emergency room, the researchers report. 

    Bacterial outbreaks may spread more in child care facilities due to the presence of diapered children, poor hand hygiene, and the younger age of the children, the researchers say.  

    Tim Joos, MD, a pediatrician and internist in Seattle, says fielding calls about norovirus infections and shigellosis is a routine part of his day – particularly during the school year.

    “The phrase ‘something going around the day care’ is heard daily in clinics and emergency rooms,” he says.  

     “As practicing clinicians, we often get caught up with not seeing the forest for the trees. We are often seeing the individual patient’s needs but not the larger trends. Thanks to this study, we now have an overview of the landscape of gastroenteritis,” Joos says. 

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  • Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health Hosts Free Flu Clinic for Families

    Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health Hosts Free Flu Clinic for Families

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    Newswise — Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health is hosting a free flu clinic on the campus of Jersey Shore University Medical Center this weekend.  Adults and children are welcome to attend.  There will be fun activities for the whole familiy.  

    Flu vaccines are free, but parents should bring their and their child’s identification and insurance cards.  Registration is not required, so walk-ins are welcome. The clinic will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, November 5, in the Lance Auditorium located at 1945 NJ-33, and end at Noon.   

    Parking is available in front of the Brennan Pavilion, which houses the Lance Auditorium. The Jersey Shore University Hospital campus is home to K.Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, one of the two hospitals that make up Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health. 

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  • The addition of the COVID vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule is a recommendation, not a mandate

    The addition of the COVID vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule is a recommendation, not a mandate

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    Fact Check By:
    Newswise

    Truthfulness: False

    Claim:

    The CDC is about to add the Covid vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, which would make the vax mandatory for kids to attend school.

    Claim Publisher and Date: Tucker Carlson, Fox News host on 2022-10-25

    On October 25, Tucker Carlson, the Fox News personality tweeted “The CDC is about to add the Covid vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, which would make the vax mandatory for kids to attend school.” The tweet included a segment from his show in which he began by making the same claim. The claim is false. Vaccines will not become mandatory in all schools just by being added to the CDC schedule. States and local districts make those determinations.

    Bernadette Boden-Albala, MPH, DrPH, Director and Founding Dean, University of California, Irvine Program in Public Health responds to the claim:

    COVID-19 vaccinations effectively reduce severe symptoms, hospitalizations, and death, which is why the Centers of Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will vote to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the recommended vaccine schedule for children. The vaccine schedule is for healthcare professionals to know what licensed, authorized and routinely recommended vaccinations should be communicated to children and adults. The keyword is recommendation – the CDC does not create laws. CDC spokesperson Kate Grusich said in an email that the agency “only makes recommendations for use of vaccines, while state or local jurisdictions determine school-entry vaccination requirements.” As of now, the state of California has not mandated COVID-19 vaccination requirements for children.

    The data shows us that the best ways to protect yourself and your loved ones this holiday season is to get the bivalent booster because it offers some protection against the new COVID-19 strains, get vaccinated against the flu to help build our immunity and mask up when traveling, in large indoor spaces, and not feeling well.

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  • By the next RSV season, the US may have its first vaccine | CNN

    By the next RSV season, the US may have its first vaccine | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    It’s shaping up to be a severe season for respiratory syncytial virus infections – one of the worst some doctors say they can remember. But even as babies struggling to breathe fill hospital beds across the United States, there may be a light ahead: After decades of disappointment, four new RSV vaccines may be nearing review by the US Food and Drug Administration, and more than a dozen others are in testing.

    There’s also hope around a promising long-acting injection designed to be given right after birth to protect infants from the virus for as long as six months. In a recent clinical trial, the antibody shot was 75% effective at heading off RSV infections that required medical attention.

    Experts say the therapies look so promising, they could end bad RSV seasons as we know them.

    And the relief could come soon: Dr. Ashish Jha, who leads the White House Covid-19 Response Task Force, told CNN that he’s “hopeful” there will be an RSV vaccine by next fall.

    Charlotte Brown jumped at the chance to enroll her own son, a squawky, active 10-month-old named James, in one of the vaccine trials this summer.

    “As soon as he qualified, we were like ‘absolutely, we are in,’ ” Brown said.

    Babies have to be at least 6 months old to enter the trial, which is testing a vaccine developed at the National Institutes of Health – the result of decades of scientific research.

    Brown is a pediatrician who cares for hospitalized children at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, and she sees the ravages of RSV firsthand. A recent patient was in the back of her mind when she was signing up James for the study.

    “I took care of a baby who was only a few months older than him and had had nine days of fever and was just absolutely pitiful and puny,” she said. Brown said his family felt helpless. “And I was like, ‘this is why we’re doing it. This single patient is why we’re doing this.’ “

    Even before this year’s surge, RSV was the leading cause of infant hospitalizations in the US. The virus infects the lower lungs, where it causes a hacking cough and may lead to severe complications like pneumonia and inflammation of the tiny airways in the lungs called bronchiolitis.

    Worldwide, RSV causes about 33 million infections in children under the age of 5 and hospitalizes 3.6 million annually. Nearly a quarter-million young children die each year from complications of their infections.

    RSV also preys on seniors, leading to an estimated 159,000 hospitalizations and about 10,000 deaths a year in adults 65 and over, a burden roughly on par with influenza.

    Despite this heavy toll, doctors haven’t had any new tools to head off RSV for more than two decades. The last therapy approved was in 1998. The monoclonal antibody, Synagis, is given monthly during RSV season to protect preemies and other high-risk babies.

    The hunt for an effective way to protect against RSV stalled for decades after two children died in a disastrous vaccine trial in the 1960s.

    That study tested a vaccine made with an RSV virus that had been chemically treated to render it inert and mixed with an ingredient called alum, to wake up the immune system and help it respond.

    It was tested at clinical trial sites in the US between 1966 and 1968.

    At first, everything looked good. The vaccine was tested in animals, who tolerated it well, and then given to children, who also appeared to respond well.

    “Unfortunately, that fall, when RSV season started, many of the children that were vaccinated required hospitalization and got more severe RSV disease than what would have normally occurred,” said Steven Varga, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Iowa, who has been studying RSV for more than 20 years and is developing a nanoparticle vaccine against the virus.

    A study published on the trial found that 80% of the vaccinated children who caught RSV later required hospitalization, compared with only 5% of the children who got a placebo. Two of the babies who had participated in the trial died.

    The outcomes of the trial were a seismic shock to vaccine science. Efforts to develop new vaccines and treatments against RSV halted as researchers tried to untangle what went so wrong.

    “The original vaccine studies were so devastatingly bad. They didn’t understand immunology well in those days, so everybody said ‘oh no, this ain’t gonna work.’ And it really was like it stopped things cold for 30, 40 years,” said Dr. Aaron Glatt, an infectious disease specialist at Mount Sinai South Nassau in New York.

    Regulators re-evaluated the guardrails around clinical trials, putting new safety measures into place.

    “It is in fact, in many ways, why we have some of the things that we have in place today to monitor vaccine safety,” Varga said.

    Researchers at the clinical trial sites didn’t communicate with each other, Varga said, and so the US Food and Drug Administration put the publicly accessible Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System into place. Now, when an adverse event is reported at one clinical trial site, other sites are notified.

    Another problem turned out to be how the vaccine was made.

    Proteins are three-dimensional structures. They are made of chains of building blocks called amino acids that fold into complex shapes, and their shapes determine how they work.

    In the failed RSV vaccine trial, the chemical the researchers used to deactivate the virus denatured its proteins – essentially flattening them.

    “Now you have a long sheet of acids but no more beautiful shapes,” said Ulla Buchholz, chief of the RNA Viruses Section at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

    “Everything that the immune system needs to form neutralizing antibodies that can block and block attachment and entry of this virus to the cell had been destroyed in that vaccine,” said Buchholz, who designed the RSV vaccine for toddlers that’s being tested at Vanderbilt and other US sites.

    In the 1960s trial, the kids still made antibodies to the flattened viral proteins, but they were distorted. When the actual virus came along, these antibodies didn’t work as intended. Not only did they fail to recognize or block the virus, they triggered a powerful misdirected immune response that made the children much sicker, a phenomenon called antibody-dependent enhancement of disease.

    The investigators hadn’t spotted the enhancement in animal studies, Varga says, because the vaccinated animals weren’t later challenged with the live virus.

    “So of course, we require now extensive animal testing of new vaccines before they’re ever put into humans, again, for that very reason of making sure that there aren’t early signs that a vaccine will be problematic,” Varga said.

    About 10 years ago, a team of researchers at the NIH – some of the same investigators who developed the first Covid-19 vaccines – reported what would turn out to be a pivotal advance.

    They had isolated the structure of the virus’s F-protein, the site that lets it dock onto human cells. Normally, the F-protein flips back and forth, changing shapes after it attaches to a cell. The NIH researchers figured out to how freeze the F-protein into the shape it takes before it fuses with a cell.

    This protein, when locked into place, allows the immune system to recognize the virus in the form it’s in when it first enters the body – and develop strong antibodies against it.

    “The companies coming forward now, for the most part, are taking advantage of that discovery,” said Dr. Phil Dormitzer, a senior vice president of vaccine development at GlaxoSmithKline. “And now we have this new generation of vaccine candidates that perform far better than the old generation.”

    The first vaccines up for FDA review will be given to adults: seniors and pregnant woman. Vaccination in pregnancy is meant to ultimately protect newborns – a group particularly vulnerable to the virus – via antibodies that cross the placenta.

    Vaccines for children are a bit farther behind in development but moving through the pipeline, too.

    Four companies have RSV vaccines for adults in the final phases of human trials: Pfizer and GSK are testing vaccines for pregnant women as well as seniors. Janssen and Bavarian Nordic are developing shots for seniors.

    Pfizer and GSK use protein subunit vaccines, a more traditional kind of vaccine technology. Two other companies build on innovations made during the pandemic: Janssen – the vaccine division of Johnson & Johnson – relies on an adenoviral vector, the same kind of system that’s used in its Covid-19 vaccine, and Moderna has a vaccine for RSV in Phase 2 trials that uses mRNA technology.

    So far, early results shared by some companies are promising. Janssen, Pfizer and GSK each appear effective at preventing infections in adults for the first RSV season after the vaccine.

    In an August news release, Annaliesa Anderson, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer of Vaccine Research and Development, said she was “delighted” with the results. The company plans to submit its data to the FDA for approval this fall.

    GSK has also wrapped up its Phase 3 trial for seniors. It recently presented the results at a medical conference, but full data hasn’t been peer reviewed or published in a medical journal. Early results show that this vaccine is 83% effective at preventing disease in the lower lungs of adults 60 and older. It appears to be even more protective – 94% – for severe RSV disease in those over 70 and those with underlying medical conditions.

    “We are very pleased with these results,” Dormitzer told CNN. He said the company was moving “with all due haste” to get its results to the FDA for review.

    “We’re confident enough that we’ve started manufacturing the actual commercial launch materials. So we have the bulk vaccine actually in the refrigerator, ready to supply when we are licensed,” he said.

    Even as the company applies for licensure, GSK’s trial will continue for two more RSV seasons. Half the group getting the vaccine will be followed with no additional shots, while the other group will get annual boosters. The aim is to see which approach is most protective to guide future vaccination strategies.

    Janssen’s vaccine for older adults appears to be about 70% to 80% effective in clinical trials so far, the company announced in December.

    In a study on Pfizer’s vaccine for pregnant women published in the New England Journal of Medicine this year, the company reported that the mothers enrolled in the study made antibodies to the vaccine and that these antibodies crossed the placenta and were detected in umbilical cord blood just after birth.

    The vaccines for pregnant women are meant to get newborns through their first RSV season. But not all newborns will benefit from those. Most maternal antibodies are passed to baby in the third trimester, so preemies may not be protected, even if mom gets the vaccine.

    For vulnerable infants and those whose mothers decline to be vaccinated, Dr. Helen Chu, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Washington, says the long-acting antibody shot for newborns, called nirsevimab, should cover them for the first six months of life. She expects it to be a “game-changer.”

    That shot, which has been developed by AstraZeneca, was recently recommended for approval in the European Union. It has not yet been approved in the United States.

    The field is so close to a new approval that public health officials say they’ve been asked to study up on the data.

    Chu, who is also a member of an RSV study group of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that advises the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its vaccine recommendations, says her group has started to evaluate the new vaccines – a sign that an FDA review is just around the corner.

    No companies have yet announced that process is underway. FDA reviews can take several months, and then there are typically discussions and votes by FDA and CDC advisory groups before vaccines are made available.

    “We’ve been working on this for several months now to start reviewing the data,” Chu said. “So I think this is imminent.”

    Watching this year’s RSV season unfold, Brown, the pediatrician who enrolled her son in the vaccine trial for toddlers, says progress can’t come fast enough.

    “The hospital is surging. We’re not drowning the way some states are. I mean, Connecticut, South Carolina, North Carolina, they’re really drowning. But our numbers are huge, and our services are so busy,” she says.

    Brown says her son is mostly healthy. He doesn’t have any of the risks for severe RSV she sees with some of her patients, so she was happy to have a way to help others.

    And while it’s far too early to say whether the vaccine James is helping to test will prove to be effective, the trial was unblinded last week, and Brown learned that her son was in the group that got the active vaccine, not the placebo

    He has done well through this heavy season of illness, she says. The NIH-sponsored study they participated in is scheduled to be completed next year.

    The vaccine, which is made with a live but very weak version of virus, is given through a couple of squirts up the nose, so there are no needles. The hardest part for squirmy James, she said, was being held still.

    “If we can do anything to move science forward and help another child, like, sorry, James. You had to have your blood drawn, but it absolutely was worth it.”

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  • 4 dead, including 10-month-old baby girl, in Bronx house fire, NYPD says | CNN

    4 dead, including 10-month-old baby girl, in Bronx house fire, NYPD says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Four people, including a 10-month-old baby girl, were killed in a fire at a home in the Bronx early Sunday morning, the New York Police Department said.

    New York Fire Department Assistant Chief Kevin Brennan said firefighters immediately began removing victims from the building after responding to a report of a fire at the residence just after 6 a.m ET.

    Two boys, aged 10 and 12, were declared dead at the scene by emergency service workers. The baby girl and a 22-year-old man were rushed to a nearby hospital where they were later pronounced dead, according to the NYPD

    Police have not publicly released the identities of those killed and the cause of the fire, which will be determined by the fire marshal, is under investigation, according to the NYPD.

    A 21-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man were seriously injured and are currently being treated at an area hospital, police said.

    Several firefighters also suffered minor injuries, the FDNY said.

    Due to the “heavy fire” on the first and second floor, the incident was upgraded to a second-alarm fire, prompting the response of more than 100 firefighters and EMS personnel, according to the FDNY.

    The fire comes months after New York Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order in March on fire safety, after a separate fatal Bronx apartment building fire left 17 people dead in one of the deadliest fires in the city’s history.

    The executive order is designed to enhance fire safety enforcement, outreach efforts to educate New Yorkers, and identify safety violations, Adams announced in a news release at the time.

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  • Few Children Affected by Monkeypox So Far – but Risks Are Higher in Children 8 or Younger

    Few Children Affected by Monkeypox So Far – but Risks Are Higher in Children 8 or Younger

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    Newswise — October 28, 2022 – Children aged 8 years or younger should be considered a group at high risk for more severe monkeypox disease, reports The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, the official journal  of The European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

    Young children would be a key target group for smallpox vaccination and other urgent measures if the outbreak widens, according to the review by Petra Zimmermann, MD, PhD, of University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and Nigel Curtis, PhD, of The University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia. They provide an expert perspective on “What pediatricians need to know” about monkeypox in children.

    Past outbreaks raise concerns about monkeypox risks in young children

    As of August 2022, nearly 47,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox were reported worldwide. Of these, just 211 were in children and adolescents under 18 years. In the current outbreak, monkeypox virus appears to have spread largely by sexual or other close contact. The role of other routes of transmission, including via droplets and contaminated surfaces and objects, remains to be determined.

    The outbreak reflects low population immunity due to low rates of vaccination against smallpox; smallpox and monkeypox viruses are both orthopoxviruses. Most cases of monkeypox are “self-limiting,” with a rash that progresses and resolves within 2 to 4 weeks. However, symptoms may be mild or absent, resulting in missed diagnoses and the potential for further spread.

    Despite the low reported rates in children so far, there are special concerns about complications and other serious outcomes of monkeypox in children. “Children are reported to have an increased hospitalization rate and increased mortality, even in high-income countries,” Drs. Zimmermann and Curtis write. Based mainly on data from low-income countries, children under 8 are particularly at higher risk of complications, including potentially serious bacterial infections. Young children may also be at increased risk of complications related to scratching and spreading the infection to other parts of the body, including the eyes.

    Most patients with monkeypox will recover with supportive care. However, more specific treatment is necessary for severe cases and high-risk groups – especially children under 8 years and those with underlying skin conditions. Other vulnerable groups include pregnant women, immunocompromised patients, and people with eczema or with monkeypox rash near the mouth, eyes, and genitals.

    In these high-risk cases, treatment options include antiviral medications such as tecovirimat, which is active against orthopoxviruses; and vaccinia immune globulin (VIG), used to treat complications of smallpox vaccination. However, “None of these treatments have been proven to be effective against monkeypox virus in humans in clinical trials, and they are currently only recommended after consultation with national health authorities,” the reviewers write.

    Smallpox vaccination is effective in preventing monkeypox, although the duration of protection is unknown. Because routine smallpox vaccination was discontinued after smallpox was eradicated – 1972 in the United States – many people have never been vaccinated. One new type of vaccine (MVA-BN) has been approved by FDA for prevention of monkeypox, but it has not been “licensed or rigorously evaluated” in children.

    For children who have been exposed to monkeypox virus, medications or vaccines to prevent monkeypox have been recommended, again with “very limited data.” The reviewers also discuss some special considerations in pregnant/breastfeeding women and newborns born to infected women.

    Especially since monkeypox can be asymptomatic, the outbreak could become uncontrolled and spread to vulnerable groups, including young children. In that case, “additional urgent steps” would be needed – with smallpox vaccine playing a critical role. “Smallpox vaccination offers protection from monkeypox,” Drs. Zimmermann and Curtis conclude. “Should the current outbreak spread to children, authorities should be prepared to rapidly implement vaccination of this age group.”

    Read [Monkeypox – What Pediatricians Need to Know]

    DOI: 10.1097/INF.0000000000003720

    ###

    About The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal

    The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal® (PIDJ) is a complete, up-to-the-minute resource on infectious diseases in children. Through a mix of original studies, informative review articles, and unique case reports, PIDJ delivers the latest insights on combating disease in children — from state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques to the most effective drug therapies and other treatment protocols. It is a resource that can improve patient care and stimulate your personal research. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal is the official journal of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases

    About The European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases

    The European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) forms the basis for European investigators interested in infectious diseases in children and infection prevention in childhood. The society is engaged in a number of activities including the organisation of multicentre trials, international exchange of infectious disease fellows, and an annual meeting. Membership includes subscription to The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal® in addition to many other benefits.

    About Wolters Kluwer

    Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the clinicians, nurses, accountants, lawyers, and tax, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services.

    Wolters Kluwer reported 2021 annual revenues of €4.8 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,800 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

    Wolters Kluwer provides trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that engage clinicians, patients, researchers and students in effective decision-making and outcomes across healthcare. We support clinical effectiveness, learning and research, clinical surveillance and compliance, as well as data solutions. For more information about our solutions, visit https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/health and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @WKHealth.

    For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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  • Alyssa Scott is pregnant following death of son Zen with Nick Cannon | CNN

    Alyssa Scott is pregnant following death of son Zen with Nick Cannon | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Nearly a year after losing her infant son, Alyssa Scott has announced she is pregnant again.

    Scott shared five-month-old son Zen with Nick Cannon. He died in December 2021 after being diagnosed with brain cancer. She also has a 4-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. This will be her third baby, but did not reveal any other information about the pregnancy.

    She shared the news with a baby bump photo, writing, “With you by my side… ,” alongside the sweet snap.

    When their baby was sick, Cannon called Scott “just the strongest woman I’ve ever seen” on his talk show.

    Along with Zen, Cannon is father to Rise Messiah, 5 weeks, Golden Sagon, 5, and daughter Powerful Queen, 19 months, with model Brittany Bell.

    He is also dad to twins Zion and Zillion, 16 months, with Abby De La Rosa. He shares 11-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan with ex-wife Mariah Carey.

    He also shares son Legendary Love, 3 months, with model Bre Tiesi and has a baby daughter daughter, Onyx Ice Cole, with model LaNisha Cole.

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  • Nearly ½ of parents have leftover prescription medications at home

    Nearly ½ of parents have leftover prescription medications at home

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    TV/RADIO: Click link for broadcast-quality sound bites & b-roll, visuals and script suggestions (Full report and accompanying graphics also included.)

    Newswise — ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Many children live in homes with unused prescription drugs and expired medications, a new national poll suggests.

    Nearly half of parents say they have leftover prescription medication at home, according to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at University of Michigan Health.

    Four in five parents say they have disposed of over-the-counter medicine past the expiration date.

    “We found that it’s common for parents to keep medicines long after they are expired or no longer needed, which creates an unnecessary health risk for children,” said Mott Poll co-director Sarah Clark, M.P.H.

    “Younger children getting into medicine in the home is a major source of unintentional poisonings. For older children, access to these medicines brings risk of experimentation, diversion to peers, or other intentional misuse.”

    The nationally representative poll was based on 2,023 responses from parents of children 18 and under who were surveyed between August and September 2022.

    Less than half of parents believe that over-the-counter medicine is less effective past its expiration date, while one in five parents think it’s unsafe.

    “Parents may not realize that medicine is expired until they need it to address their child’s symptoms,” Clark said. “At that point, parents must decide if they will give the expired medicine to their child or go out to purchase new medicine.”

    More than a third of parents say it’s never okay to give their child expired medicine. But one in three parents believe it’s okay to do so up to three months past the expiration date, and about the same number say it would be OK past six months or longer.

    “The expiration date is the manufacturer’s guarantee that a medication is fully safe and effective; over time, the medicine will lose its effectiveness,” Clark said. “Parents considering whether to give their child medicine long past its expiration date should question how well it will work.”

    Proper medication disposal

    More than three in five parents say they are more careful about disposing leftover prescription medicine than over the counter medication. Most also believe it’s important to properly dispose of expired or leftover medicine to prevent children from getting into the medicine and to protect the environment.

    Still, many parents struggle with knowing how to dispose of it. Nearly three fourths say they do not know which medicines should be mixed in with coffee grounds or kitty litter and one in seven have flushed medicine down the toilet.

    The safest choice, Clark said, is to drop off medicine at a permanent collection site at a doctor’s office, pharmacy or hospital, or at a community site in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s twice annual national drug take back day.

    “Unused and expired medications are a public safety issue and pose health risks to children,” Clark said. “It’s important that parents dispose of them properly when they’re no longer needed to reduce risks of kids getting sick as well as the negative impact on the environment.”

    How to properly safeguard kids from unused medication  

    • Limit the amount of medicine you bring into your home. Avoid buying over-the-counter medicine in amounts larger than your family needs. For medication prescribed for “as needed” use, such as pain medication, consider filling only part of the prescription, and return to the pharmacy for additional doses only if needed.
    • Keep over-the-counter and prescription medicine in its original packaging that includes dosing and expiration information. Check expiration dates for your child’s over the counter medicines twice a year, particularly before allergy and/or flu season.
    • Lock or at least monitor certain medications that can be misused, including pain medication and sleep medication, especially if there are older kids in the home.
    • Safely dispose of unused or expired medicines by dropping them at a permanent collection site (such as at a local hospital, pharmacy or doctor’s office) or a periodic take-back event. Some pharmacies also have mail-back options.
    • If you’re unable to return medicine to a collection site, a secondary option is to dispose of it in the household trash. Medicine should go into a plastic bag, be dissolved with water and mixed with kitty litter or coffee grounds to make it unappealing for children or pets to eat. Sealing the bag will prevent the medicine from leaking.
    • Avoid flushing expired or unused medicine down the toilet or sink, which may result in medicine getting in the water supply and expose residents to chemicals in drinking water.

     

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    Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan

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  • ‘Ellen’ star Sophia Grace is expecting her first child | CNN

    ‘Ellen’ star Sophia Grace is expecting her first child | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    If you don’t feel old yet, just wait: Sophia Grace, the adorable dancing toddler from “Ellen,” is going to be a mom.

    Sophia Grace Brownlee, who became famous as a child for her exuberant music covers and frequent appearances on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” alongside her cousin, is expecting her first child, she announced in a YouTube video on Saturday.

    Brownlee first shot to fame in 2011 when a video of herself and her cousin Rosie McClelland dancing and singing to Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass” went viral.

    Now 19, the content creator is 21 weeks pregnant, she said in her YouTube video. “The reason I left it so long is because I always want to make sure everything’s completely fine and that, you know, everything’s safe (with the baby),” she said.

    “I’m sure a lot of you are going to be very shocked, because it probably was quite unexpected,” she continued. “I was very shocked when I first found out. I’ve gotten used to it now and I’m super, super, happy about it.”

    She added that she knows the gender of the baby and will reveal it to her followers at a later date. She also shared images from her sonograms and showed off her baby bump in the video.

    Brownlee’s pregnancy announcement has received more than a million views as of Sunday afternoon.

    Her YouTube channel – which has more than 3 million subscribers – consists of a wide variety of lifestyle content, including clothing try-ons, makeup tutorials and music videos.

    But she plans to produce more pregnancy-related and maternity videos in the coming weeks, she said.

    “I can’t wait to share this journey with you guys and definitely have lots of different content from what I usually have. I guess my channel might turn into something new,” Brownlee said. “I’m super excited.”

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  • Preschool children who experience ‘emergence delirium’ post-surgery do not have long-term effects

    Preschool children who experience ‘emergence delirium’ post-surgery do not have long-term effects

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    Newswise — NEW ORLEANS — Emergence delirium — a confused state during recovery from anesthesia that may include disorientation, hallucination, restlessness and purposeless hyperactivity —  does not affect a child’s behavior three months after surgery, according to research being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2022 annual meeting. 

    “Sitting in the waiting room while your child has surgery is always a distressing time for parents and it’s even more upsetting watching your child come out of anesthesia displaying unusual behavior such as inconsolability, unresponsiveness, restlessness or incoherence,” said Amira Joseph, M.D., lead author of the study and anesthesiology resident, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota. “We wanted to see if there was an association between those children who exhibited emergence delirium, a common issue experienced by young children after surgery, and behavioral changes three months out.”

    Sixty-eight preschool children aged 2.5 to 6 years old were enrolled in the study between September 2018 and February 2021. Behavior was measured using the Behavior Assessment System for Children on two occasions — preoperatively (from a week to one day before anesthesia) and three months postoperatively. Ear, nose and throat procedures were most commonly performed. The median anesthesia duration was 75 minutes. Thirty-five percent of the children experienced emergence delirium. 

    The study found that regardless of emergence delirium, there were no measurable behavioral problems at three months postoperatively. 

    “It was previously unknown if emergence delirium affects children’s behavior in the longer term,” said Dr. Joseph. “Our study provides reassurance to health care providers and parents of children who need surgery that there won’t be behavioral issues long-term from having general anesthesia administered.”   

     

    THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS

    Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) is an educational, research and scientific society with more than 55,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology. ASA is committed to ensuring physician anesthesiologists evaluate and supervise the medical care of patients before, during and after surgery to provide the highest quality and safest care every patient deserves. 

    For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists online at asahq.org. To learn more about the role physician anesthesiologists play in ensuring patient safety, visit asahq.org/MadeforThisMoment. Join the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2022 social conversation today. Like ASA on Facebook, follow ASALifeline on Twitter and use the hashtag #ANES22.

     

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  • ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ author Jeff Kinney shares his book picks for middle readers | CNN

    ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ author Jeff Kinney shares his book picks for middle readers | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    When author Jeff Kinney started writing the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series more than 15 years ago, he set out to create a comic that would resonate with adults and live in the humor section of book stores.

    “I’m really glad that I didn’t know that I was writing for kids because I think that oftentimes when an adult writes a kid’s book, they start with the lesson in mind. And so the priority of the book becomes the lesson,” Kinney recalled in a recent interview with CNN. “I focus on humor and I focus on the things that would make me laugh. And I think that’s part of the secret sauce of ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid.’”

    Kinney’s “secret sauce” of chronicling seventh-grader Greg Heffley’s awkward, hilarious, and highly-relatable middle school life, it turned out, became wildly popular with young readers. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” has sold more than 275 million copies, according to its publisher, with book number 17 in the series, “Diper Överlöde,” releasing Oct. 25.

    “Greg is wimpy. Usually, it means kind of like a physical weakling, but it can also just mean somebody who’s not that effective. And I think that Greg feels that way,” Kinney said. “If you look at him on the cover of book one, you know everything you need to know about Greg. He feels like he’s sort of shouldering the weight of the world on that backpack that he carries.”

    Kinney said he thinks of Greg more as a cartoon character than a literary character. With that, he explained, comes a commitment of consistency to his audience.

    “When you have a cartoon character, it’s a promise to the reader that they won’t go away and that they won’t change or really evolve that much. They’re recognizable,” Kinney said. “Kids grow out of my books, of course, but there’s a ton of a comfort in knowing that the story continues… these books have been a consistent part of many young people’s lives for a great long time. It’s kind of a cool thing to think that you’re a part of the fabric of people’s growing up years.”

    Exposing kids to a wide range of books is something Kinney values, both as an author and as co-founder of independent book store An Unlikely Story in Plainville, Massachusetts, which he owns with his wife.

    When asked about a recent cultural move to ban various books from school and public libraries, Kinney cited a letter to Congress signed by him and more than a thousand other authors, written by two-time Newbery Honor-winner Christina Soontornvat: “‘Reading stories that reflect the diversity of our world builds empathy and respect for everyone’s humanity.’”

    “Representation isn’t just a buzzword,” Kinney added. “It’s essential. Sometimes it’s essential to a kid’s long-term survival. I think we all should be making sure that our kids experience different types of views because it makes us better as people and makes us better as a country.”

    With that goal in mind, here are five books for middle school readers recommended by Kinney:

    “The Door of No Return,” by Kwame Alexander

    In this novel inspired by history, a sudden loss sends 11-year-old Kofi Offin on a “harrowing journey across land and sea, and away from everything he loves,” reads the publisher’s description of the story.

    “Class Act: New Kid,” by Jerry Craft

    A graphic novel with heart and humor, eighth-grader Drew Ellis is one of the few kids of color at a prestigious private school. As social pressures mount, “will Drew find a way to bridge the divide so he and his friends can truly accept each other? And most important, will he finally be able to accept himself?” the publisher synopsis asks.

    “Three Keys,” by Kelly Yang

    A sequel to the award-winning novel “Front Desk,” sixth-grader Mia faces some new challenges at school and at home in her family’s Calivista Motel. “But if anyone can find the key to getting through turbulent times,” the author’s description reads, “it’s Mia Tang!”

    “The Last Last-Day-of-Summer,” by Lamar Giles

    A magical story with imagination and heroism about two adventurous cousins who wish for an extended summer and accidentally freeze time. According to the publisher’s synopsis, the boys learn that “the secrets hidden between the seconds, minutes, and hours aren’t quite the endless fun they expected!”

    “Boys Will Be Human,” by Justin Baldoni

    A self-esteem building guidebook for boys ages 11 and up, producer, actor and author Baldoni explores the social and emotional learning around confidence, courage, strength and masculinity. “This book isn’t about learning the rules of the boys’ club,” a tagline reads, “it’s about UNLEARNING them.”

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  • RSV in children: Symptoms, treatment and what parents should know | CNN

    RSV in children: Symptoms, treatment and what parents should know | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    In September, an 8-month-old baby came into Dr. Juanita Mora’s office in Chicago with an infection the doctor hadn’t expected to see for another two months: RSV.

    Like her peers across the country, the allergist and immunologist has been treating little ones with this cold-like virus well before the season usually starts.

    “We’re seeing RSV infections going rampant all throughout the country,” Mora said.

    Almost all children catch RSV at some point before they turn 2, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Most adults who catch it have a mild illness; for those who are elderly or who have chronic heart or lung disease or a weakened immune system, it can be dangerous. But RSV can be especially tricky for infants and kids.

    Mora, a volunteer medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association, says it’s important for parents, caregivers and daycare workers to know what to watch for with RSV, which stands for respiratory syncytial virus. That way, they know whether a sick child can be treated at home or needs to go to a hospital.

    “The emergency department is getting completely flooded with all these sick kids, so we want parents to know they can go to their pediatrician and get tested for RSV, influenza and even Covid-19,” Mora said.

    Here’s what else parents need to know amid the surge of respiratory illnesses.

    For many, RSV causes a mild illness that can be managed at home.

    On average, an infection lasts five days to a couple of weeks, and it will often go away on its own, the CDC says. Sometimes, the cough can linger for up to four weeks, pediatricians say.

    Symptoms may look like a common cold: a runny nose, a decreased appetite, coughing, sneezing, fever and wheezing. Young infants may seem only irritable or lethargic and have trouble breathing.

    Not every child will have every potential RSV symptom.

    “Fevers are really hit or miss with RSV infections, especially in young infants,” said Dr. Priya Soni, assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

    Parents should watch for any changes in behavior, she said, including taking longer to eat or not being interested in food at all. The child can also develop a severe cough and some wheezing.

    It’s also important to watch for signs that your child is struggling to breathe or breathing with their ribs or belly – “symptoms which may kind of overlap with many of the other viruses that we’re seeing a resurgence of,” Soni added.

    Since it’s not easy for parents to tell the difference between respiratory illnesses like, say, RSV and flu, it’s good to take a sick child to a pediatrician, who can run tests to pinpoint the cause.

    “You may need to take your baby to be evaluated sooner rather than later,” Soni said.

    When it comes to RSV, parents should be especially cautious if their children are preemies, newborns, children with weakened immune systems or neuromuscular disorders, and those under age 2 with chronic lung and heart conditions, the CDC says.

    “Parents should be really astute to any changes, like in their activity and their appetite, and then pay particular attention to any signs of respiratory distress,” Soni said.

    Testing is important because treatment for things like flu and Covid-19 may differ.

    There’s no antiviral or specific treatment for RSV like there is for the flu, nor is there a vaccine. But if your child is sick, there are things you can do to help.

    Fever and pain can be managed with non-aspirin pain relievers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Also make sure your child drinks enough fluids.

    “RSV can make kids very dehydrated, especially when they’re not eating or drinking, especially when we’re talking infants,” Mora said. “Once they stop eating or their urine output has decreased, they’re not having as many wet diapers, this is a sign they may have to go to the pediatrician or emergency department.”

    Talk to your pediatrician before giving your child any over-the-counter cold medicines, which can sometimes contain ingredients that aren’t good for kids.

    Your pediatrician will check the child’s respiratory rate – how fast they’re breathing – and their oxygen levels. If your child is very sick or at high risk of severe illness, the doctor may want them to go to a hospital.

    “RSV can be super dangerous for some young infants and younger kids, particularly those that are less than 2 years of age,” Soni said.

    Mora said labored breathing is a sign that a child is having trouble with this virus. RSV can turn into more serious illnesses such as bronchiolitis or pneumonia, and that can lead to respiratory failure.

    If you see that a child’s chest is moving up and down when they breathe, if their cough won’t let them sleep or if it’s getting worse, “that might be a sign that they need to seek help from their pediatrician or take them to the emergency department, because then they might need a supplemental oxygen, or they may need a nebulization treatment.”

    CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen says this respiratory difficulty – including a bobbing head, a flaring nose or grunting – is one of two major trouble signs with any respiratory infection. The other is dehydration. “That particularly applies to babies with stuffy noses. They may not be feeding.”

    Much of the care provided by hospital staff will be to help with breathing.

    “We provide supportive measures for RSV and these kids with oxygen, IV fluids and respiratory therapies, including suctioning,” Soni said.

    A thin tube may need to be inserted into their lungs to remove mucus. A child can get extra oxygen through a mask or through a tube that attaches to their nose. Some children may need to use an oxygen tent. Those who are struggling a lot may need a ventilator.

    Some babies might also need to be fed by tube.

    The best ways to prevent RSV infections, doctors say, is to teach kids to cough and sneeze into a tissue or into their elbows rather than their hands. Also try to keep frequently touched surfaces clean.

    If a caregiver or older sibling is sick, Mora says, they should wear a mask around other people and wash their hands frequently.

    And most of all, if anyone is sick – child or adult – they should stay home so they don’t spread the illness.

    There is a monoclonal antibody treatment for children who are at highest risk for severe disease. It’s not available for everyone, but it can protect those who are most vulnerable. It comes in the form of a shot that a child can get every month during the typical RSV season. Talk to your doctor about whether your child qualifies.

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  • Add COVID Shot to Routine Vaccine Schedule: CDC Panel

    Add COVID Shot to Routine Vaccine Schedule: CDC Panel

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    By Cara Murez and Robin Foster 

    HealthDay Reporters

    FRIDAY, Oct. 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) – In an unanimous vote on Thursday, a panel of U.S. vaccine experts recommended that COVID shots be added to the list of recommended vaccinations for children and adults.

    Now it’s up to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention to decide whether to follow the advice of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

    Even if the agency does approve adding the shots to the schedule, it doesn’t amount to a vaccine mandate. State and local jurisdictions will still decide what vaccines are required for schools, NBC News reported.

    “Moving COVID-19 to the recommended immunization schedule does not impact what vaccines are required for school entrance, if any,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “Local control matters. And we honor that the decision around school entrance for vaccines rests where it did before, which is with the state level, the county level and at the municipal level, if it exists at all.”

    “This discussion does not change that,” he told NBC News.

    An example of local jurisdictions making their own choices includes the HPV vaccine, which has been on the immunization schedule since 2006. Only Puerto Rico, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., actually require it for both girls and boys. Virginia requires the vaccine for girls, NBC News reported.

    Despite having a recommended national vaccine schedule, vaccination rates for American children have dropped during the pandemic.

    COVID cases are also declining among U.S. children, totally close to 28,000 last week, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is the first time since early April that cases were under 30,000.

    An advantage to having COVID-19 shots on the vaccine schedule is that insurance providers typically will cover recommended vaccines. Though federal dollars are still paying for those vaccines, that will eventually end, NBC News reported.

    The COVID vaccines could also become a part of the federal Vaccines for Children program, which would provide them free to children covered by Medicaid.

    “By adding it to the VFC program, it now makes these vaccines available to these uninsured and underinsured children,” said Dr. Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, former public health commissioner for Chicago and a former practicing pediatrician.

    Morita called the schedule the “gold standard” for clinicians.

    “I used to look every year, waiting for this vaccine schedule, to make sure I was following the best vaccination guidance available,” Morita told NBC News.

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  • Korean auto giant Hyundai investigating child labor in its U.S. supply chain | CNN Business

    Korean auto giant Hyundai investigating child labor in its U.S. supply chain | CNN Business

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    CNN Business
     — 

    Hyundai Motor Co, Korea’s top automaker, is investigating child labor violations in its U.S. supply chain and plans to “sever ties” with Hyundai suppliers in Alabama found to have relied on underage workers, the company’s global chief operating officer Jose Munoz told Reuters on Wednesday.

    A Reuters investigative report in July documented children, including a 12-year-old, working at a Hyundai-controlled metal stamping plant in rural Luverne, Alabama, called SMART Alabama, LLC.

    Following the Reuters report, Alabama’s state Department of Labor, in coordination with federal agencies, began investigating SMART Alabama. Authorities subsequently launched a child labor probe at another of Hyundai’s regional supplier plants, Korean-operated SL Alabama, finding children as young as age 13.

    In an interview before a Reuters event in Detroit on Wednesday, Munoz said Hyundai intends to “sever relations” with the two Alabama supplier plants under scrutiny for deploying underage labor “as soon as possible.”

    In addition, Munoz told Reuters he had ordered a broader investigation into Hyundai’s entire network of U.S. auto parts suppliers for potential labor law violations and “to ensure compliance.”

    Munoz’s comments represent the Korean automotive giant’s most substantive public acknowledgment to date that child labor violations may have occurred in its U.S. supply chain, a network of dozens of mostly Korean-owned auto-parts plants that supply Hyundai’s massive vehicle assembly plant in Montgomery, Alabama.

    Hyundai’s $1.8 billion flagship U.S. assembly plant in Montgomery produced nearly half of the 738,000 vehicles the automaker sold in the United States last year, according to company figures.

    The executive also pledged that Hyundai would push to stop relying on third party labor suppliers at its southern U.S. operations.

    As Reuters reported, migrant children from Guatemala found working at SMART Alabama, LLC and SL Alabama had been hired by recruiting or staffing firms in the region. In a statement to Reuters this week, Hyundai said it had already stopped relying on at least one labor recruiting firm that had been hiring for SMART.

    Munoz told Reuters: “Hyundai is pushing to stop using third party labor suppliers, and oversee hiring directly.”

    Munoz did not offer further detail into how long Hyundai’s probe of its U.S. supply chain would take, when Hyundai or any partner plants could end their dependence on third party staffing firms for labor, or when Hyundai could end commercial relationships with two existing Alabama suppliers investigated for child labor violations by U.S. authorities.

    In a statement on Wednesday, SL Alabama said it had taken “aggressive steps to remedy the situation” as soon it learned a subcontractor had provided underage workers. It terminated its relationship with the staffing firm, took more direct control of the hiring process and hired a law firm to conduct an audit of its employment practices, it said.

    SMART Alabama did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Munoz’s comments come on the same day that an investor group working with union pension funds sent a letter to Hyundai, pushing it to respond to reports of child labor at U.S. parts suppliers, and warning of potential reputational damage to the Korean automaker.

    The letter said that the use of child labor violated international standards Hyundai committed to in its Human Rights Charter and its own code of conduct for suppliers.

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  • Covid-19 vaccines will be on the 2023 vaccine schedule, but that doesn’t mean they’re required in schools | CNN

    Covid-19 vaccines will be on the 2023 vaccine schedule, but that doesn’t mean they’re required in schools | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Covid-19 vaccines will be part of recommended immunization schedules in 2023 for both children and adults, after a unanimous vote by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

    That doesn’t make the vaccines mandatory for anyone, a point that was emphasized in a discussion before Thursday’s vote. The board members addressed concerns from the public that adding Covid-19 vaccinations to the schedule would force schools to require the shots.

    “We recognize that there is concern around this, but moving Covid-19 to the recommended immunization schedule does not impact what vaccines are required for school entrance, if any,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, a committee member and director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “Indeed, there are vaccines that are on the schedule right now that are not required for school attendance in many jurisdictions, such as seasonal influenza. Local control matters, and we honor that. The decision around school entrance for vaccines rests where it did before, which is with the state level, the county level and at the municipal level, if it exists at all. They are the arbiters of what vaccines are required, if any, for school entry. This discussion does not change that.”

    In fact, Covid-19 vaccines are explicitly banned from being included in school mandates in at least 20 states. Only California and the District of Columbia have announced that Covid-19 shots will be among mandated vaccinations for students, but those mandates were not implemented for this school year.

    It’s been nearly a year since eligibility for the Covid-19 vaccine was expanded to include everyone in the US 5 and older, but coverage among children still lags behind that of adults. Even as these vaccines and the related mandates have become highly politicized over the course of the pandemic, experts say vaccine hesitancy among parents isn’t new.

    Although the Covid-19 shot will not become mandatory for school, all 50 states do have laws requiring specific vaccines for students – most of which include shots for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) and varicella.

    Uptake for these vaccines, mandated by schools long before Covid-19, fell during the pandemic.

    In the 2020-21 school year, vaccination coverage for kindergarteners fell to less than 94% – dropping below the overall target of 95% that was set as an objective by the US Department of Health and Human Services in the Healthy People project for the first time in six years.

    A CNN analysis of the latest CDC data suggests that students in states with stricter school vaccine requirements are more likely to have their shots.

    All school immunization laws grant exemptions to children for specific medical reasons. But 44 states and Washington, DC, also grant religious exemptions, and 15 states allow philosophical or moral exemptions for children, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    According to the CNN analysis, states that were stricter with exemptions were much more likely to still meet the 95% coverage target. In the 2020-21 school year, an average of about 96% of kindergarten students had their MMR vaccine in states that allowed only medical exemptions, compared with 92% of students in states that also allowed philosophical or moral exemptions.

    The full effect of the pandemic on children’s routine vaccination rates isn’t clear: It will be another few months before the CDC shares national data for compliance rates for mandatory vaccinations in the 2021-22 school year, and schools are in the midst of outreach and programming to ensure that as many students as possible will continue through the 2022-23 school year up to date on their vaccines.

    Correcting the drop in vaccination coverage in students will probably depend more on better access to care, information and outreach – and school vaccine mandates can help.

    With many people who are hesitant, it’s “because of something they’ve heard or something they’ve read,” said Dr. Jesse Hackell, a pediatrician who co-authored a clinical report about countering vaccine hesitancy in 2016. “Most people [who are hesitant] have a very free-floating worry about vaccines. It’s not specific in most cases.”

    A small share of parents – about 2% or 3% – are adamantly opposed to vaccines, and that rate has stayed mostly consistent over the years, said Hackell, who is also chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine.

    Overall vaccination coverage fell among kindergarteners in the 2020-21 school year, but the share of students who had an exemption also declined from 2.5% to 2.1%, according to CDC data. The rate has changed by less than 1 percentage point over the past 10 years.

    About 3% of kindergarteners in the US – about 120,000 students – were considered to be out of compliance with mandatory vaccines in the 2020-21 school year.

    “Mandates may not do anything to those people who would pull their kids out of public school,” Hackell said. “But the vast majority of parents are not opposed. They’re hesitant, or they’re uncertain. And when there’s pressure to do it for another reason, such as getting your kid into school, they come around.”

    Responsibility for enforcing vaccine mandates falls to the education system, and practices vary by state. Some students are ultimately turned away because they aren’t up to date, but most states offer provisional enrollment periods that allow kids to stay in school if they are in progress with at least one shot in a series or evidence of an upcoming appointment.

    According to the CDC, “school officials may prefer to keep students in school where they have access to education, safe supervision, nutrition, and social services while working with parents or guardians to get children vaccinated.”

    And many states do their best to help students stay up to date on their immunizations, with vaccination drives and direct followup with parents.

    “I think that the drop in the past year or two is partly pandemic-related,” Hackell said. “What we’re seeing, I think, is a little bit of a disparity between kids who have a medical home and have a private [doctor] versus kids who get their immunizations from a public source” like a school clinic.

    Mississippi is an impressive example of finding ways to keep child vaccination rates high, Hackell says. Public schools are the only option for many in the state, where poverty rates are higher than anywhere else in the US.

    Despite the large public need and additional resource struggles that the pandemic brought, 99% of kindergarteners in Mississippi met required vaccination coverage in the 2020-21 school year – better than any other state, according to the CDC.

    “They’ve done a tremendous job at that,” Hackell said, and it demonstrates the power of mandates. Mississippi is strict with exemptions – one of just six states allowing medical reasons only – and just 0.1% of kindergarteners were exempt in the 2020-21 school year.

    Hackell says he would be most concerned if he sees a sustained drop in vaccination rates for highly transmissible diseases, especially measles and polio. And he’s worried about pockets of low vaccination rates in certain communities.

    Schools are public spaces with a level of control, and 95% vaccination coverage is a goal with intent.

    “We know it’s never going to be 100% because there are some people who cannot medically be vaccinated. But if you have 95%, that means in any given school classroom of 30 kids, there might be one unvaccinated kid. And so if that child brings a case of something into the class, there’s nobody else to give it to,” he said. “It stops there with one case.”

    And when it comes to adding Covid-19 vaccines to the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule, the focus is still on public health – not on adding another requirement.

    “I’ve had parents who come in my office, and I say, ‘What are you here for?’ And they say, ‘Well, we’re here for vaccines so that our kids can go to school.’ And I’ve said, ‘OK, I understand that, but really I’m not vaccinating so you can go to school, I’m vaccinating because I want to prevent serious disease and death in your kids,’ ” Dr. Matthew Daley, an ACIP member and senior investigator with the Institute for Health Research at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, said at Thursday’s advisory meeting.

    “And the fact that there’s a school immunization requirement helps because it brought you into the office, but that’s not my goal. My goal is to prevent serious disease.”

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  • Infants Who Die Unexpectedly in the First Week Might Have Different Risk Factors Than Those Who Die in the First Month

    Infants Who Die Unexpectedly in the First Week Might Have Different Risk Factors Than Those Who Die in the First Month

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    Newswise — While a sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) is rare in the first month of life, a new Rutgers study found that those occurring in the first week, an even rarer event, have different risk factors compared to those dying later and recommended more thorough investigations into the possible causes of these early deaths.

    “SUID in the first month of life is rare,” said Thomas Hegyi, co-author of the study and medical director of the SIDS Center of New Jersey, “however, data suggest that within that first month, there are differences in risk patterns for SUID based on age at death. The first month of life is especially crucial to study as it is a time when mothers are in postpartum recovery, experiencing fatigue, establishing breastfeeding practices and developing new household routines, which can influence risk factors.”

    The study, published in The Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, compared sudden unexpected infant death risk factors in the first week to those in the remainder of the first month in infants at and above 34 weeks of gestational age. “When it comes to risk factors for SUID in the first year of life, one size may not fill all,” said co-author Barbara M. Ostfeld, program director of the SIDS Center of New Jersey. “Identifying age-specific risks can lead to improvements in outcome. In our study, some of the more common social and health risk factors associated with SUID were less evident in the first week.”

    Researchers analyzed data from 2000 to 2015 in the SIDS Center of New Jersey’s SUID case database and the New Jersey State Health Assessment Database (NJSHAD). They found that out of the 889 deaths of infants born at or above 34 weeks of gestation classified as SUID, 123 occurred in the first 27 days of life and 24 in the first week.

    Of the three commonly reported types of SUID — Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, and ill-defined and unknown causes — the cause of death of infants who died in the first six days was more likely to be classified as of an ill-defined and unknown cause compared with infant deaths from 7 to 27 days, which were often classified sudden infant death syndrome.

    “The greater use of the ill-defined and unknown classification in the first week suggests greater uncertainty as to whether all possible causes have been considered and ruled out,” Hegyi said. 

    In the United States, each year, there are about 3,400 SUIDs — deaths occurring among infants less than one-year-old with no apparent cause — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infants at or above 34 weeks gestational age account for 91 percent of the cases.

    The Rutgers study found that mothers of those dying in the first week showed less evidence of common risk factors. A higher percentage of mothers whose infants died in the first week had education beyond high school and adequate prenatal care, in contrast to the typical pattern of adverse social and health risk factors associated with SUID. There were also trends toward less smoking during pregnancy, a significant risk factor for SUID, and a greater likelihood that the infant was the mother’s first birth.

    “Mothers of infants dying in the first week were more likely to have delivered via a primary cesarean section, which carries potential distraction risks such as postpartum fatigue, postpartum depression or pain-relieving medication,” noted Hegyi. “If these challenges result in poor positioning of the infant during breastfeeding or skin-to-skin contact, especially with first-time mothers unfamiliar with signs of infant distress or who may be recovering from a Cesarean section, there can be an increased risk. 

    “Our study supports the need for further investigation of risk factors unique to a sudden unexpected infant death in the first week,” he continued. “However, any possible challenge to good positioning underscores the importance of following the guidelines issued by the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nursing and the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on the Fetus and the Newborn advising on managing and monitoring early maternal and infant interactions following a cesarean birth and on educating all new parents about positioning and other safety-related behaviors.”

    “Skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding are highly beneficial to newborns and parents and merit guidance, support and education to achieve optimal outcomes,” Ostfeld said. 

    “A recently published study of safe management of skin-to-skin care during hospitalization found gaps in education and supervision, which underscore the importance of increasing staff education and standardization of policies across hospitals,” Hegyi said.

    Ostfeld noted that New Jersey’s rates of SUID have been among the lowest in the US, in association with risk reduction education provided by the SIDS Center and its institutional and provider partners.  “However, even one death is one too many,” she noted. “Therefore, the work to learn more about risk factors and potential interventions must continue.”

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    Rutgers University-New Brunswick

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  • Indonesia bans sale of all cough syrups after 99 child deaths | CNN

    Indonesia bans sale of all cough syrups after 99 child deaths | CNN

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    Jakarta, Indonesia
    CNN
     — 

    Indonesia has halted the sale of all syrup and liquid medicines following the deaths of nearly 100 children and an unexplained spike in cases of acute kidney injuries.

    The ban, announced by the country’s Health Ministry on Wednesday, will remain until authorities complete an investigation into unregistered medical syrups suspected of containing toxic ingredients.

    Health Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Syahril said 99 deaths and 206 cases of acute kidney injuries in children, mostly under the age of 6, were being investigated.

    “As a precaution, the ministry has asked health workers in health facilities not to prescribe liquid medicine or syrup temporarily,” he said. “We also ask that drug stores temporarily stop all sales of non-prescription liquid medicine or syrup until our investigations are completed.”

    The ban comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) linked four Indian-made cough syrups to the deaths of up to 70 children suffering acute kidney failure in The Gambia, West Africa. Earlier this month Indian authorities shut down a factory in New Delhi where the medicines were made.

    WHO suspects that four of the syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited – Promethazine oral solution, Kofexmalin baby cough syrup, Makoff baby cough syrup and Magrip N cold syrup – contained “unacceptable amounts” of chemicals that could damage the brains, lungs, livers and kidneys of those who take them.

    The syrups being used in The Gambia were not available in Indonesia, according to the Southeast Asian country’s food and drugs agency.

    However, on Thursday, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol – which are more usually found in products like antifreeze, paints, plastics and cosmetics – had been detected in syrups found in the homes of some child patients.

    “(The chemicals) should not have been present,” Budi said.

    He added that the number of acute kidney failure cases could be higher than reported and his ministry was taking a conservative approach by banning the sale of all syrups.

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  • Safe gun storage programs are successful (if implemented)

    Safe gun storage programs are successful (if implemented)

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    • Firearm suicide among minority youth has steeply risen over the past decade
    • Examined 694 patients ages 5 to 17 during primary care visits with 47 doctors
    • Study suggests ways to improve implementing the program during a larger trial

    Newswise — CHICAGO — A secure firearm storage program in which pediatricians engage with parents on the importance of secure storage has been proven to help keep firearms out of the hands of young people. But a new study from scientists at Northwestern Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, Henry Ford Health and Kaiser Permanente Colorado has found preliminary evidence that this program may not be reaching all parents equitably. 

    In the new study, scientists examined a well-established firearm violence-prevention program offered to parents of children ages 5 to 17 during routine pediatric checkups as a way to universally prevent suicide. They discovered preliminary evidence that the program is often not offered to parents of girls and some racial and ethnic minorities.

    By fixing these unjust — and avoidable — access issues, the study’s authors hope the program can evenly reach all communities.

    “One in three homes in the United States have a firearm,” said principal investigator and senior author, Rinad Beidas. “Half of suicide deaths are due to firearms. Secure firearm storage is an important target for reducing suicide deaths in young people and pediatricians are trusted messengers who can discuss the importance of secure firearm storage with parents and offer locking devices. By prospectively examining potential inequities to implement evidence-based interventions, we can better reach and benefit all individuals.”

    The study was recently published in the journal Preventive Medicine. 

    Beidas is the chair of the department of medical social sciences and the Ralph Seal Paffenbarger professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

    “With rising rates of suicide among racially and ethnically minorized youth, we must ensure that firearm safety programs deployed in health care settings reach all populations to realize the goal of keeping young people safe,” said lead author Katelin Hoskins, assistant professor in the department of biobehavioral health sciences at Penn Nursing. “Beyond clinical research, our work highlights the potential for health systems to engage in data-driven monitoring for inequities to ensure that implementing firearm violence prevention programs translates into meaningful impact for all families.”

    In the study, the scientists focused on S.A.F.E. (Suicide and Accident prevention through Family Education) Firearm, an evidence-based program in which doctors distribute free cable locks to all parents or guardians during a routine pediatric primary care appointment and have a brief discussion about how to securely store their firearms. If the parents self-disclose they don’t own firearms, the physician can discuss how to inquire about firearm safety at friends’ and family members’ houses. 

    The scientists undertook a unique five-step pre-trial analysis focused on equity-informed implementation. They found:

    • Parents/guardians of children with medical complexity (including autism or ADHD) were not overlooked by the program
    • There were potential signals of inequities by race and ethnicity but these effects must be interpreted with caution. Specifically, there were greater odds of documentation reach, discussions and lock offers for non-Hispanic white young people compared to non-Hispanic other groups, which included American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, multiracial, native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and other racial groups as reported in the electronic health record 
    • Some clinicians were more likely to deliver the program to parents of boys than girls 

    “While overall rates of firearm injury are higher among males than females, program delivery should not be limited by population-level data,” the study reads. “It is critical that clinicians consistently provide guideline-concordant care so that girls are not marginalized in well-intentioned suicide prevention efforts.”

    The two implementation strategies Beidas and her co-authors will test in the larger, ongoing study include: (1) a “nudge,” or prompt, from an electronic health record during the doctor visit and (2) an electronic health record “nudge” paired with a trained professional working with the doctor to support and problem solve while the doctor learns to teach the firearm safety program. 

    “The implementation strategies we’ve suggested for the larger trial have the potential for making sure that all of the things we deploy reach all populations and to ensure that we are keeping all of our young people safe,” Beidas said. 

    ‘Implementation science is closing that huge chasm’

    Beidas is an internationally recognized leader in the field of implementation science. Her research broadly focuses on designing, implementing and evaluating strategies to make it easier for clinicians, leaders and organizations to improve the quality and equity of health care.

    “We spend a lot of money on discoveries to improve peoples’ lives but we only invest a very minuscule amount of money on actually getting people to do those things,” Beidas said. “Implementation science is closing that huge chasm. This example represents the potential of the type of work that we do in implementation science.” 

    The pilot study, called Adolescent and child Suicide Prevention in Routine clinical Encounters (ASPIRE), included five pediatric primary care clinics in two health system sites. The scientists examined a total of 694 patients during well-child visits with 47 clinicians. The larger trial is ongoing and includes 30 clinics and more than 150 clinicians.  

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    Northwestern University

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  • Tucker Carlson Incorrectly Claims CDC Mandating Kids Get Covid-19 Vaccine For School

    Tucker Carlson Incorrectly Claims CDC Mandating Kids Get Covid-19 Vaccine For School

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    Before you make a claim about what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is going to do, maybe, just maybe, you should look at what the CDC can and can’t actually do. On October 18, FOX News host Tucker Carlson claimed on a tweet that “The CDC is about to add the Covid vaccine to the childhood immunization schedule, which would make the vax mandatory for kids to attend school.” Yet, the CDC clearly states on its website that “State laws establish vaccination requirements for school children.” And the CDC, by the way, ain’t one of the 50 states in the U.S.

    On the tweet, Carlson included a video of himself from his FOX News show named after himself “Tucker Carlson Tonight” essentially making the same claim:

    As you can see in the video, Carlson began the segment with, “So here’s an amazing story that’s been effectively buried.” Whoa. Buried? By whom and for what reason? And buried in what? In cheese? Carlson did not really specify any of these but went on to say, “This week the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is expected to add the Covid-19 vax to the list of required childhood vaccines. If this happens, your children will not be able to attend school without taking the Covid shot.” The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is indeed meeting on October 18 and 19 in a virtual meeting that can be viewed on a webcast. The agenda does include a discussion about “Covid-19 vaccines in children.” The ACIP develops recommendations on the use vaccines that in turn are forwarded to CDC’s Director and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for approval. Once approved, these recommendations will be published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The ACIP consists of public health, medical, and scientific experts external to the CDC.

    While Carlson may be a number of things, he is neither a medical, public health, or scientific expert nor a lawyer. A number of real medical doctors, scientists, and other relevant experts pointed out the clear problems with Carlson’s statement. For example, Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, wrote, “Actually, the CDC clearly says that ‘state laws establish vaccination requirements’ and Fox News knows this. Guessing just another antivaccine dog whistle for their ratings,” in the following tweet:

    In his tweet, Hotez thanked @doritmi, who is Dorit Reiss, LLB, PhD, a Professor of Law at the University Of California (UC) Hastings School of Law and expert in these law-ish kind of things, for alerting him to Carlson’s claim.

    Later in his tweet thread, Hotez offered something that Carlson didn’t include in his tweet, verifiable official sources supporting what he was saying: links to CDC websites. Once of these websites clearly indicates that, “State laws establish vaccination requirements for school children. These laws often apply not only to children attending public schools but also to those attending private schools and day care facilities.”

    So does that make what Carlson tweeted a “swing and a mis,” as in misinformation? Well, Tara C. Smith, PhD, a Professor of Epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health, used the word “misinformation” in the following tweet about Carlson’s tweet:

    So with a number of real experts out there who have had many research publications on vaccines and infectious diseases, whom did Carlson bring on as a guest? Well, he gave some air time to Martin Makary, M.D., M.P.H., a Professor of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and whose stated areas of expertise on the Johns Hopkins website are things like abdominal Surgery, advanced laparoscopy, bile duct surgery, pancreatic surgery, and various other pancreas and gall bladder related procedures.

    So did this air time turn out to be hot air time? Well, in the video, Makary made some pretty strong statements without providing much evidence to support them. For example, he asserted that “the CDC’s committee that’s voting, I mean, that it is essentially a kangaroo court, you have to be an official ‘card-carrying vaccine fanatic’ to be on that committee. If you are not then they are basically not going to accept that some vaccines are important and others lack the evidence to support broad distribution.”

    Wow. Presumably by “kangaroo court,” Makary didn’t mean a court of actual kangaroos, which would be weird and fascinating at the same time. Dictionary.com defines a “kangaroo court” as a “self-appointed or mob-operated tribunal that disregards or parodies existing principles of law or human rights, especially one in a frontier area or among criminals in prison.” Hmm, isn’t calling the ACIP a “kangaroo court” jumping like a kangaroo to conclusions about the ACIP without providing real supporting evidence? Makary also mentioned a German study without clearly describing the study, pointing out its strengths and limitations, or providing enough information so that viewers could find the study themselves.

    There certainly have been plenty of problems with the Covid-19 response from the CDC, the Biden Administration, and the Trump Administration. Throughout the pandemic, communications and policies have often been very inconsistent. For example, the CDC relaxed their face mask recommendations in the Spring of 2021 and then again in the Spring of 2022 despite scientific studies showing the value of face masks in preventing transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and other countries like Japan maintaining greater face mask use. In both cases, Covid-19 surges in the U.S. soon followed. Plus, in a number of situations, the Biden and Trump Administrations could have done more to push Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to publicly release more of their Covid-19 vaccine data earlier.

    But suggesting that the CDC will be somehow making the Covid-19 vaccine mandatory for all kids to attend school around the U.S. and calling the ACIP a “kangaroo court” would be leaping way too far in a way that may court even more problems for our society. It could leave the very wrong impression that the CDC is somehow a dictatorial organization when the opposite may have been the case during the pandemic. Public health experts and scientists have raised concerns that the CDC has continued to bend to political pressure and prematurely relax Covid-19 precautions. mandating alling the

    If Carlson is really interested in seeing real science drive pubic health decision making then why not have a panel of real relevant scientists on his show. Such a panel could then provide real scientific facts that discount what Carlson has asserted. They could even say things like, “by the way, did you actually look at the CDC web site that says what the CDC can and can’t do. It’s on something called the Internet.”

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    Bruce Y. Lee, Senior Contributor

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  • This family owns a ‘princess cottage’ in Disney World’s gated community—where homes sell for $12 million: Take a look inside

    This family owns a ‘princess cottage’ in Disney World’s gated community—where homes sell for $12 million: Take a look inside

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    In 2020, when the pandemic put our travels to a halt, my family bought a four-bedroom, 3,600-square-foot home in Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.

    My parents had been wanting to buy a vacation home for some time. I have a now five-year-old daughter, and my brother was about to become a father, so we were looking for a place to spend quality time together.

    My husband and I live about three and a half hours away in Miami, but Golden Oak is our home away from home. Since we both work remotely, we’re able to visit at least twice a month with our daughter.

    As a travel and parenting blogger, I get a lot of questions from my followers about what it’s like to have a home in Disney’s highly coveted residential community.

    What is Disney’s Golden Oak?

    Disney’s Golden Oak is a gated property of luxury, single-family homes, just four miles from Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park.

    There are about 300 homes that range from 1,800 square feet to 12,000 square feet. One house sold for $12 million this year, and another is currently listed at $9.5 million.

    Sectioned into eight neighborhoods, the homes were designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, the Walt Disney Company division that oversees the design and construction of its theme parks.

    Residents have access to pools, a fitness center, restaurants and other Disney resorts. They also have membership to the exclusive Golden Oak Club, which offers “concierge-style services,” including private VIP park tours and special event tickets.

    Buying a home in Disney’s Golden Oak

    Golden Oak first started listing homes in 2010. But despite being a Disney regular, I’d never heard of it until my parents visited friends at their vacation home there in 2020.

    Cristie lives in Miami with her husband and their daughter, but they travel to their Disney-themed vacation home near Orlando, Florida twice a month.

    Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

    During their visit, they got to tour one of the newer houses. They FaceTimed my brother and me to show us the home. We all fell in love with the place and put a contract in at full asking price.

    Houses in Golden Oak sell quickly, but we got lucky with timing. The entire first floor came furnished, so we were all able to enjoy Thanksgiving weekend there together just days after closing that year.

    A look inside our ‘princess cottage’

    We live in The Cottages at Symphony Grove neighborhood. Each house has its own whimsical look. Ours was inspired by Belle’s cottage in “Beauty and the Beast.”

    Each house in The Cottages at Symphony Grove has its own unique theme.

    Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

    One thing that all the Golden Oak homes have in common are the tiny Disney-themed details. Our property, for example, has over 50 hidden Mickey Mouses. The kids love trying to find them every time they come over.

    Our house is styled as a French cottage, particularly on the first floor.

    The entrance to the home is styled with a carved door and an elegant chandelier.

    Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

    The kitchen and dining room are complete with wooden beams and other countryside accents.

    Distressed wooden details, intricate tiles and a towering kitchen hood give the space a French-countryside feel.

    Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

    Upstairs, the house becomes more clearly Disney-themed. On the second floor, my bedroom has a quote from “Beauty and the Beast” above the bed.

    My brother’s room has “Winnie the Pooh” characters hand-painted on the walls.

    The bunkbed room (a.k.a. the “Bambi” room) is tiny but full of beautiful details like wood-paneled walls and a small nightlight for each bed.

    The cozy bunk beds in this “Bambi”-themed room makes it a family favorite.

    Photo: Cristie Anne Cabrera

    My favorite feature in entire house is a spiral staircase on the second floor that leads to “Belle’s Reading Room” on the third floor, which is now the girls’ playroom.

    It has reclaimed wood beams on the ceilings, hand-painted drawings on the walls, a built-in bookshelf, and the same railing as the staircase on the windows.

    Finally, there’s a guest suite that connects to the home through the outdoor patio. That whole area feels like you’ve entered a princess suite, thanks to a few Disney touches like the “Alice in Wonderland” doorknob.

    We also have a small pool and jacuzzi. It’s completely surrounded by the home, making the space more private. In the patio area, there’s a dining table for six, a sitting area with a couch and chairs, a fireplace and an outdoor kitchen.

    Inside the Golden Oak neighborhood

    We don’t visit the theme parks too often when we’re in Golden Oak. Most of the time, we just enjoy the neighborhood and spend time at home together.

    We have golf carts that we can use to visit Golden Oak’s playground, parks and resident-only clubhouse.

    The kids love watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the dock at Disney’s Fort Wilderness. We also take my daughter there to ride ponies. In the summer, we use their splash pad and pool that has an amazing slide.

    For us, this truly is the happiest place on earth.

    Cristie Anne Cabrera, a.k.a. The Traveling Red, is a Miami-based mom, social media influencer and travel blogger. Follow her on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and her blog for a look into her travels to Disney’s Golden Oak and road trips in her school bus conversion.

    Don’t miss:

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