Strollerderby : antibiotics

They Say: See Your Dentist to Avoid Pre-Term Labor

Miriam Axel-Lute — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:00:00 GMT

A new study from the Journal of Clinical Microbiology is estimating that up to 80 percent of pre-term labors could be caused by mouth bacteria—the kind that are usually in your mouth and don't cause much trouble there, but can apparently cause an immune reaction and labor if they get into the bloodstream, say through a cut in the gum or cheek.

Assuming further research bears this out (which it may or may not), it's one of those findings that I have very mixed feelings about.

On the one hand, given all the various problems that we know prematurity, even late prematurity, causes, identifying a reason for it is huge and exciting.

On the other hand, I can just see every woman with a preemie being told it's her fault for not brushing her teeth enough. Do we need another thing for pregnant women to freak out about? Especially since this is normal mouth bacteria, and it's probably going to get into the bloodstream from time to time no matter what you do. In fact, I'll bet that obsessive attempts at oral hygeine would probably backfire (think about those bleeding gums if you haven't flossed in a while).

Of course the other approach the article mentions—prophylactic antibiotics—sounds like a prescription for resistant bugs and nasty yeast infections unless you could target high-risk people pretty carefully.

The one fairly concrete takeaway from the article is the suggestion to see a dentist before pregnancy to make sure you don't have peridontal disease, and clearing it up if you do. That could be a useful thing to add to general pre-conception recommendations. Anything else, I think I'd want a separate study showing it really worked before anyone began adding another item to the pregnancy "thou shalts."

Photo by martinhoward.

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They Say: Antibiotics For Preterm Labor May Do More Harm Than Good

Amy Kuras — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:30:00 GMT

For most parents, the fear lurks that something you did to help your child -- supplements or prescriptions while pregnant, drugs during labor, or vaccines, for example -- will later turn out to have been harmful.

A British study shows that to have potentially been the case for children of mothers who were given erythromycin during preterm labor when the membranes were intact. Standard practice is to give it when membranes have been ruptured prematurely, to lessen the risk of infection to both mother and baby, and some doctors give antibiotics even when the membranes remain intact but the mother has gone into labor too early.

A study of more than 3,000 children whose mothers participaited in a widespread health study when they were born were tracked at age 7 to see what, if any, difficulties they may have experienced as a result of getting antibiotics. The study, called the ORACLE Children Study 2, was completed in 2001 and the findings were part of a follow-up conducted on the children at age 7.

Children whose mothers received erythromycin, were at 18 percent greater risk of functional impairment compared to children of mothers who had not received erythromycin - 42·3% to 38.3%, respectively. No increased risk was found for children whose mothers had received another popular antibiotic.

Also, either of the studied antibitoics during labor tripled the risk of the child devleping cerbral palsy -- although that went up from 1 percent o 3 pecent so the risk is still very small.

The study showed no increased risk for children whose mothers had received erythromycin because their membrances had ruptured prematurely, which puts them at higher risk for infection.

Bottom line: If there’s no signs of infection or a risk therof because the membranes have ruputured, avoiding antibiotics might be a good diea.

Tyson Foods Big Fat Liars

Amy S.F. Lutz — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:37:00 GMT

There was a great Seinfeld episode about a delicious "non-fat" frozen yogurt that actually made the gang pack on the pounds. And ever since I saw it, I've wondered if there's an ounce of truth in the labels I scan so religiously in my never-ending attempts to feed my family healthy food.

My confidence was hardly bolstered by the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service's recent order to Tyson Foods to remove the claim, "Raised Without Antibiotics" from its chicken.

Why?

Because they use antibiotics, natch! Although Tyson executives told the FSIS when they applied for the label that they don't use antibiotics, it was later discovered that Tyson uses Gentamicin all the time to keep its chicks healthy.

Next, they'll probably discover that the Cocoa Bumpers my kids chow down for breakfast aren't really organic after all, but are nothing more than expensive Cocoa Puffs. What's a health-conscious mom to do?

When To Call The Doctor

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:30:00 GMT

When is a cough the sign of a medical emergency and when should it be treated with a tablespoon of Robitussin? When is it not a big deal that your child is in so much pain that “she acts like she’s possessed”? And should you ever give your toddler Gatorade?

Thanks to Cookie for answering all of these questions in a concise article that details what to keep in your medicine cabinet and how to respond to any two a.m. attack of fever, nausea, earache, cough, or diarrhea. As the article makes clear, remaining calm when your child is sick increases the chance that you’ll get the illness under control without resorting to antibiotics--or a fun family outing to the ER.

I did notice there was no mention of what Mommy Pills to keep in the medicine cabinet, but perhaps that’s self-explanatory.

Photo: chpc.info

Baby Smells Awful? Like Hell!

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:01:00 GMT

Americans are so obsessed with cleanliness and germs and anti-bacterial soaps we're creating a land of bubble babies (who are not allowed to fall down, eat dirt, or play freely)...

But baby cologne? This is going too too far!!

Mommy Off the Record sums it up well here (it's a THROW DOWN, baby)...Can companies honestly believe that mamas and papas would forsake that natural baby smell (am I the only one who gets high smelling those sweet heads??), in favor of "dream"? Hopefully not.

Her Bad Mother culled together writings on the platonic but erotic love between parents and their children.. It's taboo in certain lights, and absolutely beautiful...

No Antibiotics for You!

Adrienne Martini — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Dr. Alan Greene over at the New York Times Well Blog insists that most earaches don't require antibiotics. He cites the reasons we've all become familiar with -- they are bad for the good bacteria in your body, they are bad for the environment, they are ineffective, etc. But two things leap out at any reader.

First, if parents can't approach an earache with antibiotics, what should they do?

And, second, how freaking cool is it that "a typical healthy child carries a pound or two of rapidly evolving microscopic bacteria in his or her body?" Now that is a fact to know and share.

Photo credit: www.ilovemybaby.org

Superbugs are Superbad

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:59:00 GMT

Superbugs, those anti-biotic resistant bacterial badacres that wreck havoc on our children's ears, and our otherwise hail and hearty good health are at it again. MRSA, a resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus, has typically been confined to hospitals, nursing homes, and the like.

But no more... A new strain of MRSA is now spread through skin-to-skin contact even among healthy people...

The ones who eat all their veggies even.

MRSA can appear first as an insect bite and among young children can be written off as severe diaper rash. Left untreated, the bacteria can cause abscesses and secondary infections that can lead to more serious illness and even death. Public health officials are concerned as the incidents of MRSA infections seem to be growing, particularly among gay men, athletes and schoolchildren.

Antibiotic Rocephin May Be Killing Newborns

Karen Murphy — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:06:00 GMT

A drug used to treat lower respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, gonorrhea and other infections, may be associated with severe complications including death in newborns. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned doctors that the injectable drug, ceftriaxone sodium, known by its tradename Rocephin and made by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG , when combined with other treatments, causes these complications. The other treatments mentioned include calcium and calcium-containing products, and has been known to cause fatal reactions in the lungs and kidneys of newborns.

No matter how you feel about antibiotics in general, usually with newborns they're given when it's something serious. The fact that a medicine designed to save a baby's life may be killing him is hugely distressing. Parents of newborns are stressed to begin with, and being the parent of a sick baby is even more so. How, then, is a parent of a sick newborn expected to keep up with this stuff?

Please, if you have a newborn, or know anyone else who does, watch for this drug.