As you know, last week’s air quality in Beijing was seriously unhealthy, for all ages and all health levels. At that highest level, most AQI warning systems would recommend that all children and any sick people should have stayed inside, and all school-related outdoor sports should have been cancelled. In my clinic this week, I …

Wow, there’s a lot of heated debate about the H1N1 vaccine! Parents are being offered free vaccines for their schoolchildren here in Beijing, and we doctors are getting a lot of phone calls. Is there reason for concern? I hope that we all can at least review the most reputable sources of data and use …

Pneumonia is a disease of the lungs, usually a serious infection from a virus or bacteria. Healthy adults can usually recover well with outpatient antibiotics, but the elderly and youngest are most vulnerable to serious complications. For example, pneumonia is the #1 cause of death in the elderly from flu, and also is the worldwide …

A cough is one of the most annoying symptoms of the common cold, and OTC cough syrups are one of the most popular purchases in pharmacies. But which ones really work? No Combos For Children Under Four Recent reviews have consistently shown that, unfortunately, there is no major evidence that any common OTC products help …

Today, Septemer 28th, is World Rabies Day. It’s an international event designed to increase awareness about rabies. I’ve mentioned rabies in a few posts, including one about a great new website for children to teach them about rabies. I also had a post about the rabies vaccine , which includes an excellent PDF file from Beijing’s International …

I discussed in an earlier post that parents may want to consider ibuprofen (Motrin) as the first line medicine over acetaminophen (Tylenol) for their child’s pains and fevers. Now, there’s a new study comparing ibuprofen to a Tylenol-codeine combo for pain, and ibuprofen was just as effective. Here’s the comment from JournalWatch: These findings should …

With World Rabies Day approaching on September 28th, the U.S. Center for Disease Control has announced a new website geared towards children which discusses the terrible, fatal viral disease of rabies. It’s an extremely kid-friendly and high yield source for children. As I’ve mentioned before in my rabies posts, all Beijing expats, especially parents, should …

A child’s fever is one of the most common reasons for doctor visits. There are only a couple of medicines that are safe for infants; ibuprofen (aka Motrin) and acetaminophen (aka Tylenol, paracetamol). Which one works best? Recent studies show that ibuprofen 10mg/kg is slightly better than acetaminophen 10mg/kg in terms of more rapid effectiveness, …