Category Infectious Disease

Hypothermia in a Neonate

Well, it is officially cold now and this fact was highlighted during my last shift in the Peds ED when two patients presented with parents concerned for their children having “low temperatures.” This begs the questions (and was actually later…

Oral Rehydration Therapy for Acute GastroEnteritis

This time of year brings so many fond memories to mind: jumping in piles of leaves (after someone else rakes them preferably), breaking out the wind-breaker jackets, going to football games, and carving pumpkins. All fun things!! Another memory that…

Tapping a VP Shunt

The number of technology dependent children that we see seems to steadily be increasing. These technologies can be quite beneficial for the patient, but are associated with potential complications and issues. Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts certainly benefit patients who have hydrocephalus;…

Acute Rheumatic Fever – Don’t Forget about it!

              We’ve discussed Strep Pharyngitis (12/3/2010) and how in treating it we are primarily focusing on preventing Rheumatic Heart Disease. It is certainly safe to say that we’ve done a great job of reducing…

Staph Scalded-Skin Syndrome

    The Chief Complaint of “rash” is such a misleading complaint. It seems so innocuous…“I’ll just run in this room real quick and diagnose non-specific viral rash in a well appearing kid and be done.” But, we all know…

Tinea Capitis & Kerions

I think that we all believe we are adept at diagnosing tinea capitis in the pediatric emergency department. We certainly see it enough… but, remember: The diagnosis can be unclear: Tinea Capitis (caused by a dematophyte fungal infection in the…

Diarrhea and the Petting Zoo

Now that it is “Summer Time”, and everyone is out of school (driving their respective parents crazy (or at least in my home)), there will be more frequent trips to the Zoo and to Pools. This effort to save some…