Study: Taking Your Child to a Pediatrician Increases Flu Risk – Doctors are a Health Risk for Children

Health Impact News Editor Comments:

A new study published in the March issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology shows that routine well-child visits to pediatricians actually increase a child’s chance for catching the flu within two weeks.

This confirms what many parents have already discovered, that well-child visits are usually counterproductive, and are a primary method of distributing vaccines.

Renowned pediatrician Dr. Robert Mendelsohn wrote about this phenomenon years ago in his best-selling book, How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor. He has a whole chapter devoted to this topic: How Doctors Can Make Healthy Kids Sick.

The study conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa was based on a large data sampling of over 84,000 families. They concluded that well-child doctor appointments for annual exams and vaccinations carry a risk that translates to more than 700,000 avoidable cases of flu-like illnesses each year.

Dr. Lisa Saiman wrote in the commentary that the true effects are quite likely much larger, since the study only looked at actual records of visits to doctors’ offices or hospitals, and therefore would not include those who got the flu but never went in for a doctor exam. So the well-child visit could easily be causing over 1 million cases of the flu each year.

The only statement made by the lead author, Dr. Phil Polgreen, that seemed to have no corresponding data referenced, was this statement: “Well child visits are critically important.”

Important for whom? The financial health of the medical system and its sales of childhood vaccines?

Well-child visits linked to more than 700,000 subsequent flu-like illnesses

by ScienceDaily

Excerpts:

New research shows that well-child doctor appointments for annual exams and vaccinations are associated with an increased risk of flu-like illnesses in children and family members within two weeks of the visit. This risk translates to more than 700,000 potentially avoidable illnesses each year, costing more than $490 million annually. The study was published in the March issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

“Well child visits are critically important. However, our results demonstrate that healthcare professionals should devote more attention to reducing the risk of spreading infections in waiting rooms and clinics. Infection control guidelines currently exist. To increase patient safety in outpatient settings, more attention should be paid to these guidelines by healthcare professionals, patients, and their families,” said Phil Polgreen, MD, MPH, lead author of the study.

Researchers from the University of Iowa used data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to examine the healthcare trends of 84,595 families collected from 1996-2008. Included in the analysis were demographic, office-based, emergency room, and outpatient cases records. After controlling for factors, such as the presence of other children, insurance, and demographics, the authors found that well-child visits for children younger than six years old increased the probability of a flu-like illness in these children or their families during the subsequent two weeks by 3.2 percentage points.

This incremental risk could amount to more than 700,000 avoidable cases of flu-like illness each year and $492 million in direct and indirect costs, based on established estimates for outpatient influenza.

In a commentary accompanying the study, Lisa Saiman, MD, notes, “The true cost of flu-like illnesses are much higher since only a fraction result in ambulatory visits and many more cases are likely to result in missed work or school days. Furthermore, these flu-like illness visits are associated with inappropriate antimicrobial use.”

Read the Full Article here.