Charlotte doctor offers alternative to PediaSure

Charlotte pediatrician Sheila Kilbane has a keen interest in good nutrition and helping children who have developed allergies or aversions to particular foods.

Kilbane

As an integrative medicine practitioner, trained by Dr. Andrew Weil at the Univesity of Arizona, Kilbane was asked by "100 Days of Real Food" to write a recipe for a natural alternative to PediaSure, advertised as a "nutritional drink for children."

Her report, including a recipe for Dr. Kilbane's Liquid Vitality, starts by describing her own experience with Pediasure. On a road trip years ago, she stopped at a gas station and bought a bottle of PediaSure instead of indulging in chips or candy bars. She began drinking as she finished pumping my gas, and she described what happened next as a "scene from a Jim Carrey movie."

She gagged and nearly spit the contents all over her car. THEN she read the ingredient list. After water and sugar, the list was rife with items such as short-chain fructooligosaccharides, carrageenan, calcium pantothenate, phylloquinone and cyanocobalamin.

She realized she should have followed the advice she has given parents for years: “If you can’t pronounce the product ingredients, put it back on the shelf.”

Chikungunya virus strikes North Carolina resident

North Carolina’s first case of chikungunya, a viral infection that can be transmitted to humans by infected mosquitos, was confirmed in a resident who recently traveled to the Caribbean.

The virus has been spreading rapidly through the Caribbean, but for now, no cases of the disease are known to have been acquired in North Carolina or in the continental United States.

Still, state health officials say the Asian Tiger mosquito that is commonly found in North Carolina could effectively transmit this virus.

Prior to its introduction in the Caribbean, chikungunya was established in East Africa, India, the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific regions. It was introduced in the Caribbean in 2013 through travelers returning from affected areas. As of June 6, chikungunya has caused illness in over 130,000 persons in the Caribbean, state health officials said.

Symptoms of chikungunya usually begin three to seven days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. They typically include sudden onset of fever and severe, often disabling, joint pains in the hands and feet. Many patients feel better within a week, but joint pain may persist for months in some people. Newborns exposed during delivery, adults over 65 years and people with chronic medical conditions have a greater risk for a severe form of the disease.

State health officials advise people traveling to countries where chikungunya transmission is occurring to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites and immediately consult a doctor if they develop fever in the two weeks after their return.

“With North Carolina residents traveling to and from the Caribbean and other affected areas, we have been monitoring for possible imported cases,” said Dr. Megan Davies, state epidemiologist for the Department of Health and Human Services. “Travelers who visit countries where chikungunya is widespread should take extra precaution against mosquito bites.”

Precautions include wearing light-colored long pants and long-sleeved shirts, reducing time outdoors during early morning and early evening hours when mosquitoes are most active, and applying mosquito repellents such as DEET, picardin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR3535 to exposed skin areas.

Also, residents should take steps to decrease possible breeding grounds for the Asian Tiger mosquito. That means removing containers that hold water, changing water in bird baths and pet bowls, keeping gutters in good repair, using screens for doors and windows.