Tag Archives: infection

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast #100 Wayne Koontz, MD – Vaccines and Disease over 50 years

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Today on Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast, we welcome Dr. Wayne Koontz, a founding partner at Salisbury Pediatric Associates in Salisbury North Carolina, where he has spent over 5 decades caring for generations of families with compassion, wisdom, and a deep commitment to community health.

Dr. Koontz earned his Undergraduate degree and his Doctor of Medicine from Wake Forest University, where his early love of science and service began to take shape. He went on to complete his pediatric residency at Dallas Children’s Medical Center, part of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, where he received outstanding training in both academic and clinical pediatrics.

As one of the founding physicians at Salisbury Pediatrics, Dr. Koontz helped to build a model of child-centered, family-oriented care that has served the Rowan County. His commitment to children’s well-being extends beyond the clinic, reflecting a lifelong dedication to preventive medicine, developmental health, and the nurturing of strong physician–family relationships.

It’s an honor to have Dr. Koontz with us today to share his clinical insights as they relate to infection and vaccination from a longevity based pediatric career. Dr. Koontz has a unique perspective to share as his 50 plus years of experience cover the prevaccine infectious disease based practice of pediatric medicine all the way to the current vaccine centric and reduced infectious disease burden reality. That is a timeline worthy of exploration.

So lets explore.

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Volume 15 Issue 5

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Picture this, a tiny, 30 nm, relentless RNA virus named norovirus slips into your life, uninvited, and turns your gut into a battlefield. It’s not the flu. Forget that “stomach flu” misnomer. It’s a Caliciviridae family member, a nonenveloped, single-stranded RNA ninja that thrives in making chaos. As a pediatrician, I’ve seen it wreak havoc in kids and parents alike, and it’s a master of surprise.

It just played Risk in my GI tract last week. Not Fun!

Let’s unpack how it infects, spreads, and toys with us humans, straight from the AAP’s Red Book (2024) and other research. Norovirus causes an estimated 1 in 15 US residents to become ill each year as well as 71,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths annually, predominantly among young children and the elderly.

Norovirus doesn’t knock, more so it sneaks in, needing under 100 viral particles to ignite trouble. You’re sipping contaminated water, munching an oyster from a shady bay, or your toddler’s unwashed hands after a playdate deliver the payload. It’s mostly fecal-oral, stool to mouth via food, water, or surfaces. But don’t sleep on aerosolized vomit. One hurl in a crowded daycare, and airborne particles linger, landing on toys, doorknobs, you name it for days. Did I say lingering! Smart viral spread!

Gorilla warfare is on!

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Volume 15 Issue 4

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What is measles – a refresher?

Measles is a serious, highly contagious and potentially deadly viral infection. It is caused by an RNA paramyxovirus. It is spread by contact with droplets from an infected person’s nose, mouth or throat. Sneezing and coughing can aerosolize the droplets and increase the range of infectious spread. Symptoms usually develop 8 to 10 days following exposure to an infected individual. A sick individual is contagious for 4 days before and 4 days after symptom onset. The reproductive rate is very high at 12+ meaning that 1 person will infect 12 and those 12 will get 12 more sick (144) and then 144 X 12 = 1728 X 12 = 20,736 and you are off to the exponential races….Plus, The Shock of a New Diagnosis: A Stoic Path Through the Storm.

Enjoy,

Dr. M

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 14 Issue 22

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What are the main preventable etiologies for childhood death under the age of five years?
According to the data compile by UNICEF, we see the following for the world:
1) Prematurity 18%
2) Pneumonia 14%
3) Birth Asphyxia 12%
4) Malaria 9%
5) Diarrhea 9%
6) Congenital anomolies 8%
7) Injuries 5%
8) Blood infections/sepsis 3%
9) Tuberculosis 3%
10) all others
From a global perspective, we are on the right track as deaths have decreased significantly from 12 million in 1990 to less than 5 million annually in 2022. This is a massive improvement in global childhood health. More work to be done as pneumonia and diarrhea based death should be less than 1%. Access to clean water, clean medicines and adequate medical care could crush these issues….plus a literature review as well as an ode to mothers.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

 

Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 13 Issue 49

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Respiratory Syncytial Virus
RSV is a 150 nanometer RNA virus that comes from a human orthopneumovirus that circulates in the winter primarily. Young children and infants infected with RSV mostly have upper respiratory tract symptoms where a subset develop lower respiratory tract disease known as bronchiolitis with the primary infection. It is the most common reason for hospitalization in infants between 0 and 6 months of age. Bronchiolitis appears as a wheezy, cough centric illness that rarely may progress to increased respiratory effort noted by wheezing, rales (lung crackles – sounds like stepping on leaves), chest wall rib retractions, grunting, fast breathing, nasal flaring and eventually respiratory hypoxia. If it persists, the event can rarely lead to respiratory collapse and death. Annually, 150 children under 5 years of age die from RSV in the US. Most of these children are premature births and have cardiopulmonary disease issues. Term healthy children rarely succumb to RSV in a serious way. A recent study of German infants and children hospitalized with RSV identified these risk factors: age <6 months, birth at 28–37 weeks gestational age, congenital defects, perinatal respiratory and cardiovascular disorders, and various other comorbidities as significant risk factors for ICU admission and death. ( Cai et. al. 2020) plus a mini lit review and a discussion on thanksgiving.
Enjoy
Dr. M

Dr. M’s Women and Children First Podcast – The Growing Brain and Autism

The Growing Brain and the Upstream Etiologies of Neurodevelopmental disorders – AUTISM
This weeks guest is me! I re-recorded a lecture that I gave in Florida this month at the Annual International Conference for the Institute for Functional Medicine. My goal in this lecture is to look at the upstream reasons that we are seeing more Autism and neurological diversity in children year upon year. It is a wide ranging look at the current state of the science and my thoughts on a unifying theory. As with Dr. Stone’s interview last week with Grow Baby, this is a follow up discussion that is a critical primer for “mother’s to be” regarding disease avoidance measures that can be taken for the best health of the maternal child dyad.
Enjoy,
Dr. M

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Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Audiocast Volume 12 Issue 24

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A subset of children may be more susceptible to respiratory infections of viral and bacterial varieties based on some new research. It appears that the microbiomes of the nasopharyngeal respiratory tract and host immune defenses play a major role here. We discuss some new research regarding infection risk. We also discuss snakes, post bite care and avoidance.

More to learn,

Dr. M

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