4 Pediatric Studies Every Parent Needs to Know About (Archived Pedcast)

    Welcome, I am Dr. Paul Smolen, also known as Doc Smo and this is Portable Practical Pediatrics. Every once in a while I like to give my listeners a glimpse of what is new in pediatric research that can translate into practical knowledge.  I'm not talking about new high tech treatments for exotic diseases but rather new information that most parents can use in their everyday parenting. So here goes with a conversation about four, high quality, peer reviewed articles that I think you will find interesting. Stay engaged, stay informed, and of course, stay tuned.  Today's pedcast is brought to you by audible, the new way to digest books. For me, Audible has become my preferred method of exploring books, whether I am cutting the grass or driving in the car. Expand your world today by subscribing to audible. Just hit the link that accompanies this podcast to get started. Photo compliments of Pixabay Musical Introduction Article #1- Every year, most parents are put in the position of deciding if their children should get a flu shot or not. Is that flu shot important for your kids?  Is it worth all the effort, hassle, and expense to arrange for them to get vaccinated? It's only the flu, right? Besides, many parents claim that flu shots can give the flu to their children (not) and worst of all, my little junior hates shots. Why do I have to deal with this every year you may be asking? Which brings us to a recent excellent article by Dr. Mei Shang et al at the CDC.  Dr. Shang analyzed all the known pediatric deaths from influenza in the U.S. between the years 2010 until 2016. He discovered that 70% of those children who died from flu had not been vaccinated and that 1/2 of the those deaths occurred in children who were perfectly healthy prior to the having the influenza infection with no sign of asthma, diabetes, neurologic disorders, immune deficiencies or any other underlying complicating factors. This is new information since previously; we thought that most pediatric deaths from the flu were in children