Nov 9
Guest post by Elizabeth Brown
When my son started public school, he had recently been diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency. His body could not produce cortisol, which negatively affects different systems in the body—especially the immune system. What is an innocuous cold for an otherwise healthy person could easily become life threatening for him. Read more
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released its annual report on adolescent vaccination coverage.
While it’s encouraging to see slight improvement in vaccination rates, too many Colorado teens remain under-vaccinated against serious infectious diseases. Rates are particularly low for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination series in Colorado – only 52.1 percent of girls and 44 percent of boys completed the HPV series. Nationally, just 39.1 percent of teens have received the recommended second dose of quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY), which means they might not be protected against meningococcal meningitis. Additionally, in 2015, less than half of teens 13 through 17 years of age received the influenza vaccine.
Read more
In honor of National Immunization Awareness Month, Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) encourages parents to ensure their child is up to date on all recommended immunizations, including the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine, before heading back to school.
Guest post by Heather Carlsen
As parents, we all want to do the best we can by our kids. We want to minimize the amount we screw them up. However, I think we can all readily admit that screwing our kids up is just part of the game, the nature of the beast. I am a mother of an 11-year-old boy, with blue hair who loves acting and video games. I am the mother of a 4-year-old girl whose favorite pastime is fighting imaginary zombies, dressed as a princess while covered in marker tattoos (thanks, Moana!). And, I am a new mom to a just-barely 2-month-old girl who is still mostly un-screwed up. Except for one thing: She hates people touching her feet. Now, I get that it is a fairly normal thing to not like. In this case, though, it is way more nurture than nature. Read more
