2010/2011 Flu Vaccines Ingredients - Advice from Dr. Bob Sears

If you are going to go with the flu vaccine, this is a great article by Dr. Bob Sears. He's the doc that believes in a more conservative approach to infant/children's vaccinations. We started with his schedule and split our vaccines even further, but I like his thinking. Anyway, this article also includes the INGREDIENTS that go into different brands of vaccines.

THIS WAS SOURCED FROM http://mindfullivingnj.com/2010/09/27/dr-bob-sears-on-the-20102011-flu-vaccines/
Dr. Bob Sears on the 2010/2011 Flu Vaccines

By Dr. Bob Sears

How to make sure your flu shot is mercury-free

In my opinion it is very important for infants, young children, and pregnant women to make sure their flu vaccine is mercury-free. I know that the majority of published researched has failed to demonstrate that this mercury causes any harm, but I don’t think that anyone should take this chance with the susceptible brain of a developing infant. Although the information I provide above makes it very clear which brands and formulations contain mercury, it isn’t so easy to guard your child against this in the busy chaos of a doctor’s office. You can ask the nurse to make sure your child (or yourself) is getting a mercury-free dose, but when the nurse prepares the vaccine out of your site at the nurse’s station, then brings it into the room, how can you really be sure?

Here is how:
• You can get the nasal spray vaccine (approved for anyone two years and older). This has never had, and never will have, mercury.

• If getting the injected vaccine (which is most often the case), ask the nurse to allow you to see the labeled vial and watch her prepare it, either in your exam room or the nurse’s station. After rolling her eyes at you, most nurses will comply.

• If your dose is being drawn out of a little plastic or glass bottle that looks like it would hold many doses, then this is guaranteed to contain the full dose of mercury.

• If your dose is already pre-packaged in a single-dose syringe with a manufacturer’s label on it, then you are guaranteed that this is mercury-free. The one exception to this is the Fluvirin brand (see below); its pre-filled syringes have a trace amount of mercury, which I think is harmless.

• If your dose is drawn out of a very small plastic vial with a manufacturer’s label on it that only contained your single dose, then this is mercury-free.

• If you are getting the Fluarix or Agriflu brand, these are all mercury free.

• If you are getting the FluLaval brand, then you are getting the full mercury dose along with it.

• With the other brands (Fluzone, Fluvirin, and Afluria) it depends on the formulation. The single-dose syringes and vials do not have mercury (see the Fluvirin exception above); the large ten-dose vials do.

The bottom line on flu vaccine mercury is to stand up for yourself and for your child and be sure what you are getting is safe. You have this right. No nurse or doctor would purposely deceive you and give you mercury when you asked him or her not to. But people make mistakes. I get such emails all the time from angry parents who tell me their doctor’s office or a flu vaccine clinic gave them the wrong formulation. Until mercury is taken out of all flu shots (if ever), you need to exercise this vigilance. I would even go so far as to suggest that if your only option is a mercury-containing flu vaccine because your doctor or clinic doesn’t have any mercury-free doses, skip it for that year (if you are okay with the disease risk).

Note: These details apply to the most current flu vaccines for the 2010/2011 flu season:

The Fluarix brand (killed injected vaccine), made by GlaxoSmithKline, is approved
for anyone three years and older. It contains:

Killed and split virus particles
Saline solution
Octoxynol-10
Alpha-tocopheryl hydrogen succinate
Polysorbate 80
Hydrocortisone
Gentamicin (an antibiotic)
Formaldehyde (<>

The Fluzone brand (killed injected vaccine), made by Sanofi Pasteur, is approved for anyone six months and older. It contains:

The killed and split virus particles
Saline solution
Gelatin
Egg proteins (not mentioned in the PI, but residual amount is likely there as in other brands)
Formaldehyde (<50>

All four Fluzone pre-filled syringes or single-dose vials are mercury-free. It’s important to make sure infants and toddlers under age three are getting the proper dose, which is either the 0.25 ml pre-filled syringe labeled for infant use or a half-dose (0.25 ml) drawn out of the large multidose vial. An infant could technically be given half of one of the 0.5 ml pre-filled syringes or 0.5
ml vials; the leftover half would simply be discarded.

Child Safety Week Passes and Concerns Get Bigger

So for those of you that don't know, I am the CEO of a start-up media agency that owns the site Accidents.com. We've been crazy busy following distracted driving laws and more importantly, building our Distracted Driving Education and Resolution section, which launches soon.

We are looking for any technical and non-technical solutions to the distracted driving problem, particularly texting while driving. Also looking for any bloggers or writers that are already writing about child safety and accident prevention on the road, in parks, etc. Anyone in this category can get featured on the site at no cost, so please use the "Bat Phone" form on the top right to get in touch with me personally.

My own personal eye opening day.....

When we started to focus on this, my husband and I both became more aware of how much we were putting ourselves in jeopardy over such a stupid decision. We would never drink and drive, but we both admitted to glancing at our phones for "a quick second" when something popped up on the screen. This made us change that habit: when traveling at 55 MPH, a driver texting for 6 seconds actually looks away from the road for 4.6 seconds of it. The car can travel the LENGTH OF A FOOTBALL field in that time! You can read the details on that here.

So moms and dads, I hope that convinces you to stay off your handhelds while you are driving! Our kids need us to be role models in this. Please forward this to anyone you know that might be interested in partnering with us to fight this growing problem.

A Chance Encounter with a Sept. 11th Superhero

I make it a point to walk down different streets in NYC when I'm heading home. Two days ago, a friend and I walked west on 30th street, and ran into the amazing building of New York Police Department's Traffic Control Division, 23rd Precinct (between 6/7th Ave). As I snapped this quick i-phone picture, a police officer walked over to us.

The officer knew the building's history and told us that it has been a NYPD property since it was built in 1907. He mentioned that he was standing outside because the interior was hard to keep cool and he was uncomfortable from the heat. He had just returned back to work after a battle with colon cancer, which doctors believe was caused by September 11th. And there it was, a chance encounter with a real-life superhero of 9/11. What an amazing coincidence just two days away from the anniversary.

This officer was a chatterbox and had such great spirit! He was funny, sarcastic (of course!) and above all else, grateful. He told us how blessed he was that he's been able to see his children grow up. He has good medical coverage which allows him to battle through his illness. He loves his job and was so glad to be back. After about a 10 minute chat, we moved on. Before doing so, we thanked him for his sacrifice on 9/11, wished him the best with his battle and continued on.

The officer mentioned that he is 30 years old, which means he was just a rookie at the time of the attacks. In his young life he has already survived 9/11 and (hopefully) his battle against cancer. Moments like that, people like that, become a part of me and I am so grateful for them...

... they make me close my eyes and whisper 'thank you' for all I have.

... they remind me that America is full of superheroes that survived 9/11. Some of their battles continue but they feel blessed that they can keep on fighting. Amazing.

... I take a moment to remember and pray for the friends or friend's family members that passed on that day. I say thank you again, for the fact that I stayed home from work that day, and that all my neighbors came home.

... and above all else I know that these are the superheroes that I want my son to meet someday and thank for keeping New York and America safe.

Road to our Baby's Round Head - DOC Band Decorating

While some parents find it absolutely adorable to keep the DOC Band Helmet a blank canvas, I knew I was going to have fun decorating it. We waited until his second appointment (3 weeks) to make sure that there would be no major changes. While I waited I recruited the help of my brilliant neighbor/graphic designer to help me think of some ideas.

I decided I didn't want to go too 'baby'. Our little guy is a bit on the rough side, and we wanted something that fit his personality. I remembered that his papa told me that he was nicknamed "Shine-a-saurus" in high school because of his size, and that gave me an idea. We would create a "Lucas-a-saurus" helmet. I also decided on black and white because I was afraid too many colors would be difficult to match with outfits. Yes, I know - I'm nuts. I was also afraid to paint the helmet because (a) what if I got sick of the color and (b) I'm not crafty and would mess it up.

A Shorter Route to Decorating your DOC Helmet

Before you read all this and think that you just don't have the time, let me give you the quick option. Go to Michael's or similar and find any rub-on transfers. They have amazing pre-fabricated designs that you can play with. One baby at Cranial Tech had these on his helmet and they looked amazing! It will save you A LOT OF WORK. I just didn't find anything that I loved, and decided to go with a custom design. I would still recommend the mod podge final steps below if you go this way.

Not including the ink, I spent about $20 on the supplies. We bought all of our supplies at Pearl Art Center near the Cranial Technologies offices in Paramus so that I didn't have to pay for shipping. These links are meant to show you the exact products we used. We used (1) Inkjet printer (2) Grafix Rub-onz Film & Adhesive Film print at home transfer paper (3) Scissors (4) Mod podge (4) Foam paint-brushes

Decorating the DOC Band Helmet:

1. Search Google Images for ideas. We searched for 'cute dinosaurs' and 'cute dinosaur stickers'. Finally found images I wanted on a paid site, but had access through my designer friend. There are tons of free resources out there, including free coloring pages that you download, crop and save.

2. Download and save the images to your computer at the highest resolution possible (sometimes you don't have a choice on the resolution, but most download in a very acceptable size). Recommend you create one folder to save all the pictures in. It will make it easier for printing later.

3. Open the pictures using Microsoft Office Picture Manager. I find this has the best printing options for me, but Picasa or similar programs may work for you.

***Make sure that you select 'mirror' printing in your print options so that letters and "humps" go in the direction that you planned out. I made that mistake - - cost me a sheet of the Grafix paper.***

***First print on plain paper, cut the images and plan your layout.***

4. Select the images that you want to print the same size. To get the size effect we got for the dinosaurs, print in "wallet size".

5. Select the smaller sized images that you want to print. To get the size effect that we got for the dino prints, select "contact sheet". You can select the number of times that you want the image to print. I printed 15 prints.

6. To print your baby's name, find a font treatment that you like. Search for free fonts online. Download and install the fonts you like, and 'write' the name in MS Word (or similar). Print the name in different font sizes. Our "Lucas-a-saurus" was about a 14 point font.

7. Once you are ready to print on the Grafix paper, cut the images but NOT TOO CLOSE to the edge. Those are the instructions that come with the Grafix paper. I made that mistake and had to reprint a bunch of them. That was lost sheet #2!

8. Follow the instructions carefully for how transfering the images. Remember step 6! Don't go to step 9 for at least two hours.

***warning: I am NOT crafty and it took me two dumb tried to get the transfer to work. If you haven't done this before, test it on something else. I used ruined sheet #2 to test this process!

9. Once you are finished, lightly brush on the mod podge. It may look like it isn't going to be clear, but it really does dry clear. I put the helmet in front of a fan, and let it dry for an hour. I repeated this process again the next day, and did two coats.

***I should do another coat. I can see that the mod podge is starting to wear down, but I plan to replace the design at some point for Halloween, so I'm not going to bother.***

CT would probably yell at me, but I did end up keeping the helmet off for more than an hour, probably closer to 2 1/2, the night I decorated it. I wanted to make sure everything was SUPER dry before Lucas got his little hands on it. Though none of these items are toxic, better safe than sorry. Besides, this was a lot of work.

So I hope this was helpful. Though I'm not crafty, I am pretty good with printing, cropping, etc. so if you need any help at all, follow the blog and leave me a comment. I will gladly help out a fellow "helmet head'!

Road to our Baby's Round Head - First Sore

First let me say that I absolutely think the stocking used over the baby's head when they take measurements is hysterical. Lucas looks like he's ready to go break into someone's house and steal the latest Baby Einstein video or something.

So, we thought our visit last week went well. As usual Cranial Technologies (CT) took us on time and we were in and out. They couldn't find Lucas' head mold but promised to get to the bottom of that before the next visit. We were in and out in about 15 minutes. Good news for mommy.... until the next morning.

Lucas woke up with his first bad sore from the DOC helmet. I was mortified - it was pretty bad. He's been a little red here and there, but it has always passed. The sore was about the size of a quarter and bright red. As instructed in the past, we took off the helmet and waited one hour to see if it would fade. We also applied hydrocortisone and rubbed it in really well to make sure Lucas wouldn't get it on his hands. I was hoping he had slept on it wrong.

Three hours passed and it was still there. When I looked inside the helmet I noticed a pretty bumpy ridge in one of the areas they adjusted over the left ear temple. I called CT and they squeezed me in at the end of the day. Instructed me to keep the helmet off. There really was no choice in the matter. As soon as I had put it back on him earlier, the sore came back immediately.

When we arrived the technician was surprised to see us and apologized for the inconvenience. They really are super nice at the Paramus office! Problem fixed, except now it seems like the helmet is a bit too loose. That will have to wait until next week.

So, lessons learned last week:
1. Take a close look at the helmet and feel around with your own hands before you leave. It will give you a chance to address any doubts. Look for any ridges that might feel a little too much like a speed bump!

2. Check baby's head first thing in the morning, especially day first few days after a new adjustment, to make sure that that he doesn't have red spots from sleeping on it the wrong way.

3. Keep that hydrocortisone cream handy. It cools the sore spot and stops them from making it worse by scratching at it.

More soon!

Distracted Driving Now Deadliest Road Hazard - Accidents.com

Here is the article that I promised I'd share when it was completed.

Eye opening: According to a 2009 study by Virgina Tech Transportation Institute, when traveling at 55 mph, a driver texting for 6 seconds is looking at the phone for 4.6 seconds of that time and travels the distance of a football field without their eyes on the road.

http://www.accidents.com/distracted-driving.html