Our very own Donna Lyons, a seasoned pediatric nurse, instructor at Ridley-Lowell, and CPR trainer, will be offering a Basic Life Support (BLS) class here on Saturday June 20th at 1 PM.

Fee is $50; students that successfully complete course will be awarded a certificate; emphasis will be on pediatric resuscitation.  For further details, please contact Donna directly:  dlyons@bambini-peds.com.    

Probiotics aren't just for babies. In a study published a few weeks ago in Clinical Infectious Diseases, 310 students from Sheffield, United Kingdom were given either a probiotic nose drop containing 10,000 colony forming units of Neisseria lactamica or a sham inoculation.

The proportion of students colonized with N. meningitides, the bug that causes about 2,000 cases per year of serious bacterial meningitis, dropped after inoculation, going from 24.2% to 6.7% after 4 weeks. In students receiving the placebo, there was no change.

For kids going off to college or boarding school, doctors are now compelled to offer two vaccines to reduce the risk of meningococcal meningitis: Menveo (or Menactra) - which covers certain strains, and now Bexsero, which was just introduced to cover group B strains.

But the probiotics have a more pronounced effect on colonization than vaccines currently produce. Sure something to think about, especially during an outbreak.

Speaking again of probiotics, we know that oral administration is showing promise in allergic rhinitis, a condition that many if not most of us have had some trouble with this spring.

But here's a twist: spraying probiotics on bed linens to reduce dust mites. Although this sounds safer than other products such as benzyl benzoate, doesn't it seem a little counter-intuitive to spritz your daughter's bed with bacteria? And rather pricey bugs, no less.

The posted product reviews on MarsVenus are pretty striking, but we're not quite convinced.  Have any of you tried Chrisal?  Share your experience on our Facebook page under the link to this newsletter.