We brought Darius down to our family doctor yesterday evening for his runny nose and cough (see Runny Nose). We do have leftover medicine for his cough but as we needed medication for his runny nose and phlegm too, we decided to consult a doctor.

"Darius, say Ahhhhh..."

Upon examination, the doctor determined that he’s suffering from a virus attack, evident from his fever and slightly reddish throat. Four bottles of medication were given for his fever, runny nose, phlegm and cough.

He also mentioned about nose allergy, and after informing him that both Catherine and I have some history of nose sensitivity/sinus, the doctor remakred that in this case, Darius would almost have a 100% chance of having some form of nose allergy too. Poor boy.

We also enquired about Darius’ upcoming vaccinations and a new combined vaccination known as MMRV or ProQuad by Merck was mentioned. On top of the three vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella in the original MMR vaccination, varicella (responsible for Chickenpox) vaccine is also included in this new combined vaccination.

The benefit of this new vaccination would be having one less jab as compared to taking the MMR and Chickenpox vaccines separately. However, as this vaccine is relatively new (approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only in 2005), we are having some reservations letting Darius take it.

Searching the web, I came across this article which made me even more skeptical about MMRV:

At the time of FDA approval, there was evidence of a slightly increased risk of fever-related seizures among children who got the vaccine, but the vaccine was approved with a commitment from Merck to do a large post-marketing study to further understand this risk. Now, these studies are showing that children who get this vaccine are twice as likely to have seizures caused by high fevers.

Although the combination vaccine started being sold in 2005, relatively few children have gotten it because it has been in short supply. Merck stopped making the vaccine because of manufacturing difficulties, but it is expected to be widely available again in 2009. Originally, the CDC recommended vaccinating children with ProQuad instead of the two separate vaccines. However, due to these new data, the CDC is changing its recommendation and saying that the combination vaccine is no better, and is not preferred.

From this, it looks pretty clear that we should let Darius take an extra jab (i.e. separating the MMR and Chickenbox jabs) instead of risking his chances of getting a fever-related seizure (despite there’s no evidence of long-term problems due to these seizures).

Here’s another interesting point raised in this article:

It is important to remember that it is safer for your child to get these vaccines than for them to get the diseases they protect against.

This might clear up the doubts in some parents if they were wondering if to vaccinate their children from chickenpox or to just let him contract the disease naturally. For us, we would rather Darius take the vaccination now than to suffer from the disease in the future. Both Catherine and I had gone through Chickenpox ourselves so we know how uncomfortable it can get (I still have scars left from the ordeal).

Back to Darius’ runny nose, we haven’t been getting good night sleeps as he has been waking up several times through the nights due to his coughing and blocked nose. Hopefully it will begin to clear soon.

Darius slightly 'stoned' while on the bus after doctor's visit

Oh by the way, Darius is 10kg now~ ^^

Related posts:

1. Darius’ Visit to Doctor Unlike the previous visits to the GP clinic for Darius’...
2. Separate or Combined? Yesterday morning, Catherine and I brought Darius down to our...
3. Concerns on Darius’ Vaccination Darius has turned 6 months old as of today, and...
4. Runny Nose Darius started coughing yesterday while I was sneezing away and...
5. Our Brave Little Boy Following Darius’ 6 Weeks Examination, it’s time for him to take...