Breezy Mama

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whooping cough

Best Ways to Treat Colds/Flu; This Year’s Shot & More

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Ahhhhh…choooo! Oh boy! Here comes Cold/Flu season. Always a good time… cough, cough. I’ll never forget the joys of my whole family getting the flu three years ago when I was pregnant. There was, um, barfing galore and no person in their right mind would come help us because they didn’t want to catch it! Somehow we managed to avoid it the next two years (read: the flu shot actually worked those years) but colds are always inevitable. To get the best approach for treating the good times of sick season, Breezy Mama turned to Dr. Gregg Alexander. Plus! Answers to all of this season’s flu questions, such as will the Swine Flu be a concern and what is THE shot of the season to (knock on wood) avoid the flu, when to treat a fever and when to let it do its job and more.

Is Swine Flu a threat again this season?

The possibility of getting Swine Flu this season does [Read more…] about Best Ways to Treat Colds/Flu; This Year’s Shot & More

Whooping Cough: Why You Need to be Concerned

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If you’ve listened to the news lately, you’ve heard about whooping cough. Everyone, from babies to grandmas, has gotten it–no one is immune. Whooping cough–one of those diseases that seems like it should’ve been eradicated long ago–is back. And it’s scary. Breezy Mama turned to Pediatrician Dr. Jon Conti for the low-down on this infectious disease.

What exactly is Whooping Cough?
‘Whooping Cough’ is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable bacterial disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. It lasts for many weeks and typically manifests in children as raging spasms of severe coughing,  or ‘whooping’, and vomiting after the coughing episode has completed.

Why are we suddenly hearing about so many cases in the news?
For many people, pertussis (commonly known as Whooping Cough) is old news—a once-feared disease long controlled by vaccination. The perception that pertussis is something we don’t have to worry about obscures the fact that, despite effective vaccines and generally high coverage, pertussis remains a stubborn public health threat, more prevalent and severe than [Read more…] about Whooping Cough: Why You Need to be Concerned