Pediatric Medicine Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. DHHR Reminds Parents Of Back To School Vaccinations

Summer is coming to an end and officials at the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) are reminding parents to keep their children up-to-date on vaccinations before going back to school.

“As families, students, educators and county school systems prepare for the upcoming school year, it’s important for students to receive vaccinations before school starts to prevent potentially fatal or severe illnesses,” said Dr. Matthew Christiansen, commissioner for DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health and the State Health Officer.

Students entering school in West Virginia for the first time in K-12 must show proof of immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and hepatitis B.

All children in grades 7 through 12 must show proof against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and meningococcal disease unless properly medically exempted.

Dr. Lisa Costello, hospitalist at West Virginia University (WVU) Medicine Children’s Hospital and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said childhood immunizations are one of the most effective public health measures.

“When [students] are going into school, they’re going to be around other children, and so being vaccinated and making sure you’re up-to-date on your vaccines are important so that children have the protections they need,” Costello said.

Parents are encouraged to discuss their child’s vaccination status with their primary care provider or local health department. Children who are current with their vaccinations will automatically meet school immunization requirements.

For more information, visit https://oeps.wv.gov/immunizations/Pages/immunization_Requirements.aspx.

Seeking Alternatives In An Amoxicillin Shortage

While obtaining an antibiotic prescription for their children, parents have noticed increased difficulty in filling those prescriptions at their pharmacies.

As temperatures drop and the rate of respiratory infections increase, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns of a months-long antibiotic shortage.

The most obvious shortage is that of Amoxicillin, a common antibiotic doctors use to treat a variety of infections, including ear infections, strep throat, and pneumonia.

Physicians are advising parents to talk to their family’s pharmacist as well as the health care provider who prescribed the medication because there are other alternatives that can be used to fight certain bacterial infections.

Colds, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19 are all respiratory viruses that cannot be treated with antibiotics. However, illnesses that are treated with Amoxicillin, such as ear infections, bacterial pneumonia and sinus infections can happen after a surge of respiratory viral infections.

Parents Urged To Check Insurance Status Ahead Of Likely Winter Illness Surge

As medical experts warn parents of a possible "tridemic" of RSV, flu and COVID-19, a pediatrician says it’s a good time to check your child’s health insurance in order to avoid medical debt.

As medical experts warn parents of a possible “tridemic” of RSV, flu and COVID-19, a pediatrician says it’s a good time to check your child’s health insurance in order to avoid medical debt.

Around 60 percent of kids are covered by Medicaid or the West Virginia Children’s Health Insurance Program, better known as CHIP.

Families using these programs for insurance coverage have been automatically re enrolled during the current COVID-19 federal public health emergency.

The public health emergency will remain in effect until mid-January, and the Department of Health and Human Services has promised to give 60 days’ notice ahead of letting the public health emergency expire.

But Dr. Jennifer Gerlach, vice president of the West Virginia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said now is the time to verify children’s insurance status ahead of any federal changes or costly medical bills.

“We don’t want it to be a situation where it’s harder for parents to seek health care for their children because of their health insurance status,” Gerlach said. “We want to make sure everyone is covered … so West Virginia children can get help when they need it.”

Health care accounts for one of the country’s leading sources of debt, and NPR reported more than 100 million Americans are saddled with medical debt.

Gerlach, who also serves as the state’s medical consultant for CHIP, said Medicaid and CHIP applications are down 30 percent.

Once the public health emergency is lifted, families will have to re enroll in Medicaid and CHIP.

“We want to make sure families are re enrolled so they don’t lose their coverage,” Gerlach said.

Contact the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to check the status of Medicaid and CHIP coverage.

A New Study Suggests New Ideas to Overcome Pediatric Cancer

The University of Texas Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital released a study this month showing that diet and exercise may improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Healthy eating is already encouraged during treatment but diet plans are uncommon. When it comes to physical activity, the study says, doctors are cautious when suggesting an exercise routine.

The study also shows that obesity is a risk factor for several cancers and can lower survival rates. West Virginia has the highest obesity rate in the nation and more than a third of children ages 10 to 17 in the state are obese.

In West Virginia, 1 in 285 children were diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and that is rising each year. The University of Texas research team says it plans to explore the impact diet and exercise have on chemotherapy and survival rates.

Families Needing Specialty Care May Have to Go Out of State

If you look at the data, West Virginia has enough pediatricians to cover the number of children here. What there aren’t enough of is many pediatric specialties such as pediatric allergists, neurologists or rheumatologists. And that’s forcing many families like the Laxtons to seek care out of state.

Lori Laxton met me at McDonalds in Beckley. When her daughter was four she began having trouble with her kidneys.

The closest pediatric urologist was at the University of Virginia Medical Center – 3.5 to four hours away from her home in Pineville.

A few years later, her son was diagnosed with general epilepsy. The closest neurologist was in Charleston – almost two hours away. Although closer, that experience didn’t go well.

“He pretty much looked at us and said your son will have seizures. Get over it and go on,” said Laxton.

Laxton didn’t accept that diagnosis and ended up driving farther for a second opinion. That experience went better so she continued making the three-four hour trip with her son.

A pediatric cardiologist based in Morgantown, Larry Rhodes, said pediatric and adult subspecialties are totally different ballgames.

“There’s really a lot of difference between – let me just use peds cardiology as an example – what we take care of as pediatric cardiologists is not the same thing as that adult cardiologists take care of…The only thing we really share is the word cardiologist – we’re really two completely different specialists,” said Rhodes.

In 2014, Rhodes set up a specialty pediatric clinic in Summersville. Twelve days a month about ten different pediatric specialists now come to the central part of the state to see patients. He also helped grow the number of pediatric cardiology clinics across the state to eight.

“My ultimate goal would be that no child would leave West Virginia for care,” said Rhodes. “But there are some specialties that we don’t have and sometimes the wait time to get in to see a specialist in some of these specialties that only have one or two providers is prohibitive.”

Sending specialties out to communities helps bridge the gap. But Rhodes points out, travel eats into how much time physicians have to actually see patients. So efforts to expand in-state access to specialists include improving access to telemedicine services. Those efforts are hindered by a lack of reliable statewide broadband.

“So we kind of put it together with duct tape – we do the best we can and if get to some place where we can do you know telemedicine and then we have the patients they have to come some distance to get there,” he said

But ultimately if we can improve broadband access, that could help solve the problem, he said. Giving patients better access and more choice.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.