Alicia DelliPizzi and Daryl Costa welcomed their son Theo Everest Costa to the world on New Year’s Day at Stony Brook University Hospital.
Weighing eight pounds, twelve ounces, the new baby boy was born at 2:09 am, about two hours into the start of 2024. Theo was delivered by Kathleen Sharrott, CNM and Catherine Leonard, RN.
“This New Year surpasses all others because we’re stepping into it with you in our arms,” said the couple from Medford as they celebrated the arrival of their third child.
By Mallie Jane Kim
Patients at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital this holiday season can enjoy a football-themed activity book, thanks to Ward Melville High School’s rising varsity football team, which is training in the offseason for 2024.
The team worked together to wrap crayon sets to go along with the activity books, entitled “Ward Melville Football Coloring Book,” before delivering them to the hospital together on Sunday, Dec. 10.
“It’s always nice to see our players give back to their community, but it’s especially great to see them work together for a cause,” said head coach Chris Boltrek.
He noted that most team members participate in community service through various clubs, but quarterback Hudson Philbrick, currently a ninth grader at Gelinas Junior High School, had the idea to serve together as a varsity team. The head coach said he and assistant coach John Sorbera were happy to help facilitate after Philbrick approached them.
Philbrick said he wanted to help hospitalized children because he knows firsthand how hard it can be to stay in a hospital — he had to spend part of summer vacation that way when he was 6, due to an allergic reaction.
“It was horrible,” he said, adding, “It is not very fun to be in the hospital for the holidays.”
Philbrick said he initially wanted to arrange a visit to hospitalized children, but when that wasn’t possible, he said, he thought of the activity book and called Stony Brook to see if the hospital would accept the donation. He said he used design software Canva to create the book, which includes coloring pages, as well as activities like a football-themed word search, a design-a-helmet activity and a maze guiding a player to score a touchdown. He then had 100 copies printed through a self-publishing website.
Joan Alpers, director of child life services at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, said in an email that the coloring books will “help hospitalized kids remain calm and relaxed during their hospitalization. Having quiet activities to do fills wait times and provides enjoyment to kids of all ages.”
She added that hospital staff is especially grateful to see young people help other young people through hard times.
For his part, Philbrick initially wasn’t sure if his teammates would buy in. “When they all showed up, it was amazing,” he said. “It was a lot of fun, and I’m pretty sure it makes everybody feel good about themselves knowing they get to help out some kids during the holidays.”
Philbrick said he added a section for children to write their goals at the back of the activity books. “Goals give you something to look forward to and work toward like, ‘Hey I’m going to do this someday.’ So it gives them hope.”
As for Philbrick, he said his personal goal is to grow his efforts to help children by making a bigger contribution to the community each year during the holiday season.
For the hospital’s plethora of policies that protect the planet, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently recognized Stony Brook, among others, for a commitment to decarbonize its operations and improve its resilience amid climate change.
During the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference, called COP28 in Dubai, HHS recognized Stony Brook as one of more than 130 organizations that joined the White House-HHS Health Sector climate pledge, which committed to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and have net zero emissions by 2050.
The recognition is “validating” and “wonderful” and provides the kind of excitement that “pushes you along a little further,” said Barbara Boyle, Director of Healthcare Safety at Stony Brook University Hospital.
Carol Gomes, chief executive officer and chief operating officer at Stony Brook University Hospital, added that green practices were not only good for the university, but were also supportive of the bottom line.
“When you reduce bio hazardous waste from the waste stream, it reduces expenses related to carting away” the more dangerous refuse, Gomes said. Such actions are part of the school’s fiscal responsibility.
Numerous measures
Stony Brook University Hospital has taken a wide range of steps to reduce its carbon footprint, to minimize toxins, and to reuse and recycle materials to encourage sustainability.
One of the first initiatives was to install motion and LED lighting. While the cost of a bulb might be higher initially, the lights last much longer.
“You have to think longer term, not shorter term in terms of savings,” said Gomes. “I was so proud of that project” which included retrofitting every light in the hospital, parking garage and on the roadway on the campus.
Hospital efforts include using cleaning materials that are better for the environment. In 2022, 76% of the housekeeping chemicals were green, well up from 18% in 2021.
Additionally, electricity use at the hospital declined by 13 percent from 2020 to 2022.
In the operating room, anesthesiologists use considerably less desflurane, which is damaging to the atmosphere, with an extended lifetime in the atmosphere that has 20 times the environmental impact of other gases. The use of desflurane declined by 80 percent from 2017 to 2022.
The hospital also recycled 1,635 tons of paper. Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water. That means, among other benefits, the hospital saved about 28,000 trees and 11.5 million gallons of water. That is 10,000 more trees than are in all of Central Park.
Coordinating emergency care
Stony Brook has also worked on a climate resilience plan to ensure that it can remain operational in case of a major climate event, such as a hurricane, an extended heat wave, or a nor’easter, among others.
“We need to make sure the hospital can continue to remain operational,” said Boyle, which includes anticipating the needs of communities that are at a disproportionate risk of climate harm.
The hospital also has extensive plans in case Stony Brook needs to provide shelter for staff who can’t return home and return to work.
Hospital staff recently joined a discussion with community members, the Suffolk County Department of Health, emergency services such as the Red Cross, and volunteer organizations to discuss how to ensure efficient and effective communication pathways and resource allocation.
Boyle explained that she learned the specifics of Red Cross shelters and cooling centers in Municipal Buildings.
Changes in personal habits
Such professional efforts are consistent with the lessons Gomes learned from her grandmother, who herself grew up during the Great Depression. Gomes recalled how her grandmother encouraged her to turn off lights when she left a room and to shut off the faucet in the kitchen sink in between cleaning dishes.
Boyle explained that her mother-in-law Beryl Ellwood Smith, who grew up in England during World War II and had lived with Boyle’s family for the last two years, didn’t believe in throwing things out. She believed everything had a second or third use, repairing and mending items to keep them longer.
“In my family, we’ve really taken this to heart, recycling and eliminating waste,” Boyle said.
The hospital encourages staff to take similar approaches to saving and recycling in their own lives.
Staff recently received a note about ways to think about sustainable holiday decorations.
People who work in the hospital can offer their friends and family experiences rather than adding to the collection of material goods often packaged in styrofoam or plastic for holiday gifts.
The hospital is encouraging its staff to “make the connection between the workplace and the home and the importance of protecting the Earth in general,” Gomes said.
Mather Hospital, 75 North Country Road, Port Jefferson has created a new Cardiac Rehabilitation Program designed to help those who have suffered a major cardiac event such as a heart attack regain their overall physical, mental, and social functioning.
Studies show that individuals who have recent cardiac events and who participate in cardiac rehabilitation realize many benefits including increased life expectancy; reduced hospitalization; improved function, exercise capacity, mood and overall quality of life; a strong correlation between number of cardiac rehabilitation sessions and long-term results; and improvement of modifiable risk factors such as physical activity, dietary choices, stress levels and more.
The program, which is housed in the Frey Family Foundation Medical Arts Building on the Mather campus, is tailored to meet individual needs, combining education and exercise in a supportive environment.
Conditions treated include recent myocardial infarction (heart attack); Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (Stent); Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG); Chronic Stable Angina; Heart failure (Systolic); Cardiac transplantation; and Valvular heart surgery.
After an initial evaluation Mather Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation service guides patients through a 12-week program that includes exercise training with continuous ECG or heart monitoring, educational classes on heart health, and nutrition counseling.
Their team includes experienced cardiologists, registered nurses, physical therapists, registered dietitians, and licensed social workers. Together, they provide a thorough health assessment and set up a personalized treatment plan to maximize a patient’s recovery and return to well-being. Learn more at matherhospital.org/cardiacrehab, or call 631-775-2426.
It started on Friday, Oct. 13, and concluded with a near photo finish the next day.
Viviana Cueva Gomez, who was getting close to her due date, went to St. Charles Hospital with her husband Bryan at around 7 p.m., when she started to feel discomfort.
The medical staff admitted her to the hospital, where she and Bryan anticipated the delivery of their first child.
Around 3 a.m. on the 14th, Anita Gomez, who is married to Viviana’s brother and was also pregnant, began to experience contractions, which sent her to Port Jefferson-based St. Charles Hospital as well.
At one point during the night, Viviana suspected that her sister-in-law was at the hospital.
Viviana asked the hospital staff if they could confirm that Anita was on the same floor.
The hospital, however, couldn’t give her that information because of confidentiality rules.
At some point during the next day, Viviana’s husband Bryan bumped into his brother-in-law Byron.
“I didn’t know my sister was there,” said Byron. “When I saw Bryan, we were joking” about how their sons were coming on the same day.
Indeed, as that Saturday wore on, Dr. Sarah Karalitzky performed C sections on both women.
Despite coming to the hospital second, Anita won the birth race, delivering her son Thiago at 4:26 p.m., while Viviana gave birth to Mattias soon thereafter, at 5:45 pm.
Separated by just over an hour with their birth times, the cousins were also just over half a pound different in weight: Thiago weighed in at 8 pounds, one ounce, while Mattias was 7 pounds, 10 ounces.
Big announcements
The extended family work in the same business, towing and fixing cars at S&B Auto Repair in Middle Island.
Viviana recalls the moment her brother shared the big news with their father Secundo at work.
Byron “started to tell my dad,” she said. “Everyone asks him what happened, is someone here [having] a baby?”
The family looked at Anita, who also works at S&B.
“Yes,” Byron said, “but someone else is, too.”
Their father looked at his daughter.
“Viviana, you?” he asked.
When she nodded, he jumped up and clapped for the impending arrival of two grandchildren.
“We didn’t believe we would deliver the same day, but things happen,” Viviana said.
Viviana, 31, and Byron, 29, have two other siblings, neither of whom is married and has children.
In addition to this momentous day, the extended Gomez family, who are originally from Ecuador, is having a memorable year, with a cousin giving birth this past June while another cousin is expecting a child in January.
“My family is growing a lot this year,” said Viviana, who lives in Medford.
Expectations for the cousins
Byron and Viviana anticipate that the two cousins, who were born one room apart at St. Charles Hospital and who each left the hospital the following Tuesday, Oct. 17, will be close.
“They’re going to be like brothers,” predicted Byron, who lives in Coram.
The two families haven’t yet decided whether they would consider having joint birthday parties for the Libras, whose Zodiac sign is, perhaps fittingly, represented by two equal parts of a scale.
A friend suggested the two cousins “don’t have to share the same day” for future birthday celebrations, said Viviana. Their friend wants to “go to two different parties” to celebrate each of their births.
A beaming brother
Thiago’s brother Dereck, who just turned five, is already fond of his younger sibling.
“He says he’s going to share TV and toys with him,” said his father Byron. “All the time, he’s kissing him. He really loves him.”
Indeed, Dereck used to play with a friend, but he only wants to be with his younger brother. When Dereck speaks to Thiago, he tells him he loves him and asks his father to translate his newborn brother’s movements and sounds.
“I say that he loves you, too,” said Byron.
Karalitzky, who delivered both babies, said staff members were caught up in the excitement.
An OB-GYN, Karalitzky feels “lucky to be in a field where the vast majority of the time, she’s able to be a part of good news and a happy day” in people’s lives. For the extended family, the shared birthday ensures that people “will always remember your birthday.”
Karalitzky, who has been at St. Charles Hospital for 10 years, should know: she was born on her mother’s birthday.
Her mom “always made it a special day,” Karalitzky said. “Every year, she’d say, ‘This is the best birthday present ever.’”
News Flash: Generated by ChatGPT, edited by our staff
• FDA approves RSV vaccines for the first time. These vaccines target the respiratory syncytial virus, a seasonal lung-related illness, with recommendations for adults over 60 and pregnant women in specific gestational weeks.
• Infants under eight months born to mothers without the RSV vaccination can receive monoclonal antibody treatment, providing immunological protection against severe RSV symptoms.
• There are challenges in accessing RSV shots, including delayed processing by insurance companies and pharmacy shortages. Health officials urge residents to advocate for themselves, emphasizing the importance of timely vaccinations given the approaching RSV season.
For the first time, vaccines against the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV — a lung-related illness that crops up during the fall and winter — have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA recommends that adults ages 60 and older receive a dose of the vaccine, either Pfizer’s Abrysvo or GSK’s Arexvy, within the next few weeks.
Women in their 32nd to 36th week of pregnancy at some point during September through January are also urged to receive Abrysvo.
For babies born to mothers who didn’t receive a dose of the RSV vaccine, the FDA has approved a monoclonal antibody treatment for infants eight months old and younger that will offer immunological protection against a common and prevalent respiratory condition that can lead to severe symptoms and hospitalizations.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend a dose of RSV antibody for children between eight and 19 months entering their second RSV season if they have chronic lung disease, are severely immunocompromised, have a severe form of cystic fibrosis or are American Indian or Alaska Natives.
While local doctors welcomed the opportunity to inoculate residents, they said finding these treatments has been difficult.
“People are having a hard time getting” the vaccine, said Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.
Some pharmacies have told patients to come back, which decreases the likelihood that they will return for vaccinations in time, Nachman said.
Additionally, insurance companies have not immediately processed requests for vaccinations, which also slows the process, she said.
Nachman recommended that residents “continue to go back and advocate for yourself” because that is “the only way you’ll get what you need.”
RSV season starts around November, which means residents qualified to receive the vaccine or parents with infants need to reach out to their health care providers now to receive some protection against the virus.
Childhood illness
According to recent data, RSV caused 2,800 hospitalizations per 100,000 children in the first year of life, Nachman said. The range can go as low as 1,500 per 100,000.
However, that only captures the number of hospitalized people and doesn’t include all the times anxious parents bring their sick children to doctor’s offices or walk-in clinics.
“Hospitalizations are the worst of the group, [but] it’s a much bigger pyramid” of people who develop RSV illnesses, Nachman said.
In addition to recommending monoclonal treatment for children under eight months old, the CDC urges parents to get this treatment for vulnerable children who are under two years old.
Like other vaccinations, the RSV vaccine won’t prevent people from getting sick. It will, however, likely reduce the symptoms and duration of the illness.
“In trials, RSV vaccines significantly reduced lower respiratory tract lung infections serious enough to require medical care,” Dr. Gregson Pigott, Suffolk County Health Commissioner, explained in an email.
At its worst, the symptoms of RSV — such as fever, cough and serious respiratory illness — are problematic enough that it’s worth putting out extra effort to receive some immune protection.
“If you’re a little kid or an elderly patient, this is a disease you don’t want to get,” Nachman said.
Pigott said that data analysis shows that RSV vaccines are 85% effective against severe symptoms of the virus.
While people can receive the COVID-19 and flu vaccines simultaneously, doctors recommend getting the RSV vaccine two weeks later.
According to preliminary data, eligible residents may benefit from the RSV vaccine for two seasons, which means they would likely need to receive the shot every other year, according to Pigott.
With two vaccines approved for adults, Pigott recommended that people receive whichever shot is available.
“Both reduce a person’s chances of getting very serious lung infections,” Pigott explained, adding that several measures can help people protect themselves from the flu, RSV and COVID.
Getting a vaccine, washing hands, avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth, avoiding close contact with people who are sick with respiratory symptoms and wearing a mask in places where respiratory viruses are circulating can all help.
Those who are symptomatic should stay home when they are sick and wear masks when they are around other people.
Suffolk County Department of Health Services officials indicated they are aware of the challenges of getting shots and monoclonal antibodies and “ask people to be patient.”
Paint Port Pink, Mather Hospital’s annual month-long breast cancer community awareness outreach, kicks off Sunday, October 1 with the lighting of pink lights by community partners in Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station, and surrounding communities. Paint Port Pink’s goal is to raise awareness about breast cancer, encourage annual mammograms, and bring the community together to fight this disease.
Lamp posts along Main Street in Port Jefferson will glow with pink lights, along with the Theatre Three marquee and many store windows. Many related events will be held throughout the month.
“Pints for Pink,” hosted by Po’Boy Brewery, 200 Wilson Street in Port Jefferson, returns on Thursday, Oct. 5 to celebrate the survivors and educate the community. Attendees can sample craft beers and ciders while receiving health information. The $25 fee includes registration for the 2024 Northwell Health Walk at Port Jefferson. Proceeds support the 2024 Walk for the benefit of the Fortunato Breast Health Center at Mather Hospital. Register at matherhospital.org/pints-for-pink.
Decorate your business window for a chance to win tickets to a 2024 concert at Jones Beach. Send photos of your window by Sunday, October 15 to [email protected].
The EmpowerHER: Navigating Women’s Wellness symposium on Thursday, Oct. 19 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Port Jefferson Village Center, 101 East Broadway, Port Jefferson features a panel of Mather physicians discussing different aspects of women’s health and well being. Co-sponsored by Decision Women in Commerce and Professions, the $20 admission fee includes the symposium, a buffet dinner, a glass of wine and registration for the 2024 Northwell Health Walk at Port Jefferson. Register at matherhospital.org/EmpowerHer.
Friday, October 20 is Wear Pink Day/National Mammography Day and everyone — including your pets — are encouraged to get their pink on. Post photos on social media with #paintportpink and send them to [email protected] to be posted on the hospital’s Facebook page.
The ever popular “Pink Your Pumpkin” contest returns and encourages everyone to get creative with their pumpkins for a cause. Photos should be emailed to [email protected] by Tuesday, Oct. 24 and posted on social media with #paintportpink. The winner will receive a $100 gift card.
A full calendar of events and a list of Paint Port Pink community partners offering promotions to benefit The Fortunato Breast Health Center is available at www.paintportpink.org. Call 631-476-2723.
Paint Port Pink is sponsored by Decision Women in Commerce and Professions, Riverhead Toyota, Lippencott Financial Group, New York Cancer & Blood Specialists, Precision Lawn Irrigation, Po’ Boy Brewery and Tuscany Gourmet Market.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the U.S., except for skin cancers, representing about 30 percent (or one in three) of all new female cancers each year. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for women in the U.S. after lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Every two minutes someone is newly diagnosed with invasive breast cancer according to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Only one in three women over 40 have an annual mammogram.
“It is important to maintain breast health and the easiest way to do that is to obtain your annual screening mammogram,” said Lan Chan, MD, radiologist at Mather Hospital’s Fortunato Breast Health Center. “You should not ignore your breasts just because there is no family history of breast cancer. In fact, three out of four women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of breast cancer.”
According to Dr. Chan, five things everyone should know about breast health are:
1. Major health organizations including the American Cancer Society, American College of Radiology and Society of Breast Imaging recommend starting screening mammography at age 40.
The ACS reports that the chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer in her life is about one in eight. That is why increased awareness, education and early detection are important parts of breast health care. A mammogram can reveal a tumor as much as two years before you or your healthcare professional can feel it. That’s why it’s important to schedule your mammogram.
2. Obesity has been linked to breast cancer. Maintaining a healthy weight can decrease the risk of breast cancer.
Having more fat tissue can increase your chance of getting breast cancer by raising estrogen levels, according to the ACS. Also, women who are overweight tend to have higher levels of insulin, which have been linked to some cancers, including breast cancer.
3. Breastfeeding has health benefits for mothers. It has been shown that breastfeeding decreases the risk of breast cancer. Many studies suggest that breastfeeding for a year or more slightly reduces a woman’s overall risk of breast cancer, with longer duration associated with greater reduction, according to the ACS.
4. Women at high risk for breast cancer can obtain supplementary screening MRI as another form of imaging to detect breast cancer.
5. Men should not ignore lumps on their chest. Men can also develop breast cancer.
The ACS notes that while breast cancer occurs mainly in women, men can get it, too. Men have breast tissue and can develop breast cancer. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer and can spread to other areas. The American Cancer Society estimates for men in the United States for 2023 about 2,800 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed and about 530 men will die from breast cancer
The Fortunato Breast Health Center at Mather Hospital, 75 North Country Road, Port Jefferson uses state-of-the-art breast imaging technology in a warm and assuring environment with a commitment to giving you personalized breast healthcare.
Their staff of professionals provides 3D mammograms and offers individualized follow-up care, education for patients, families, and the community, as well as breast cancer support groups.
Their Breast Center radiologists are specialists who only read breast imaging studies and look back as far as possible at your history of breast images for any subtle changes or abnormalities to provide the most accurate reading.
The Breast Health Center has also partnered with the Suffolk Cancer Services Program (CSP) to provide free breast cancer screenings to individuals who qualify. The CSP provides breast cancer screenings to women age 40 and older without health insurance in Suffolk. If any follow-up testing is needed, the CSP will provide those tests too. If cancer is found, CSP will help enroll people who are eligible in the NYS Medicaid Cancer Treatment Program for full Medicaid coverage during treatment.
To find out if you are eligible for free screenings or to schedule your annual mammogram, call 631-476-2771.
Port Jefferson’s Mather Hospital recently dedicated the Isolation Room on its 3North Intermediate Care Unit in honor of neurosurgeon Sumeer Sathi, MD to memorialize a generous donation from the Bergman Family Foundation.
The donation was the result of Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Henry Schein, Inc. and his wife Dr. Marion Bergman wanting to acknowledge and express their gratitude for the care they received from Dr. Sathi and Mather Hospital.
Dr. Sathi is a clinical assistant professor of neurosurgery at Weill-Cornell Medical College in New York and has served as chief of neurosurgery at Mather Hospital and St. Charles Hospital since 2002.
“We truly appreciate the excellent care we received at Mather Hospital by Dr. Sumeer Sathi and the Neurosurgical team, where we both elected to have our spinal surgery performed,” said Stanley and Dr. Marion Bergman. “In recognition of the exceptional team of professionals at Mather, we are pleased to make this contribution to the hospital in honor of Dr. Sathi.”
“It is so gratifying when an individual steps forth to show their gratitude to Mather Hospital through a thoughtful donation, which in turn allows us to grow and advance our ability to provide exceptional care,” said James Danowski, Chairman of the JTM Foundation, which generates philanthropic support for Mather Hospital.
Currently the Foundation is raising $20 million for the various transformational program initiatives at Mather Hospital including a new 26,000-sq- ft Emergency Department expected to open in 2025.
Starting later this month or early next month, all children born in New York state will receive testing for congenital cytomegalovirus, an infection that can cause hearing loss and learning deficits.
The state will track children who test positive for this virus, which is related to the virus for chickenpox, herpes and mononucleosis, over the years after their birth to provide early intervention amid the development of any symptoms and to provide a baseline for understanding how the virus may affect the growth and development of other children born with the virus.
Mothers who contract CMV, which is the most common congenital virus and the leading nongenetic cause of deafness in children, for the first time while they are pregnant can transmit the virus to their developing child.
Local doctors suggested that this testing, which other states would likely examine closely, provided a welcome opportunity to gather information about their children, even if the test raised questions or concerns about what the diagnosis means.
“Knowledge is power,” said Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. “The more you can tell a parent about what’s going on, the more they can make informed decisions.”
To be sure, Nachman anticipated that more parents initially might opt out of having their child’s screen result reported in their newborn record, until pediatricians and obstetricians have had a chance to talk with them.
There will be a “lot more opting out in the beginning” until parents understand what the test means and how it might help in understanding a virus that could affect their children’s health and development, Nachman said.
One in 200 babies
New York State recently received a contract from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to add screening for this virus for a period of a year.
Parents of babies who test positive will receive referrals to infectious disease specialists across the state for follow-up and evaluation.
The state predicts about one out of every 200 newborns may test positive for the virus, according to the New York State Department of Health website.
Over half of the adults in the U.S. have had CMV, while most people don’t know they’ve had it because they show no symptoms.
Those who develop symptoms have sore throats, fever, fatigue and swollen glands, which are the kind of nonspecific conditions that characterize the body’s response to infections from other viruses.
Opt-out options
While all babies will receive a congenital CMV test, parents can choose to opt out of having their children’s screen result reported in their newborn screen record.
The state urges parents who would like to opt out to do so quickly, as newborn screen reports are complete five to seven days after birth.
Parents have several ways to opt out. They can scan the QR code found on their brochure, which will bring them to the Newborn Screening Program website and opt out portal. They can also remove and fill out the opt-out form in the parent brochure and give it to the hospital to submit with the newborn screen specimen.
Alternatively, parents can email a picture of the completed opt-out form to [email protected] or they can call the program at 518-473-7552 and press option five. Finally, parents can mail the opt-out form to the NYS Newborn Screening Program in Albany.
First steps
Nachman is co-leading one of the 11 units across the state in pediatric infectious disease with Dr. Andrew Handel.
The teams will meet once a month to discuss issues around CMV.
“One of the goals of the project, which is why it’s funded by NICHD is can we identify who is at risk” to develop problems such as hearing loss.
Among the numerous unanswered questions the group hopes to address is whether early treatment would be a way to prevent problems from developing, even among children who test positive but are asymptomatic. Giving medication to all children who test positive comes with its own problems, as the medication for CMV has side effects, said Nachman.
It’s not like “taking a dose of Tylenol, given several times a day for weeks at a time,” said Nachman.
While women who have had CMV prior to pregnancy are unlikely to transmit the virus, Nachman discourages people from intentionally contracting the virus before becoming pregnant.
“We don’t encourage people to go out and get CMV so they’ll be cleared by the time they’re pregnant,” in part because people can develop symptoms, conditions and secondary infections after having the virus.
By monitoring the health of children after their diagnosis, the state hopes to understand more about the virus and its effects.
“We need to follow enough children long enough” to be able to address those medical questions and concerns, Nachman said.
The study might be able to find markers that could predict who might be at risk for hearing loss in the early years of a child’s life, she said.
During hearing screens that could occur every six months, children born with CMV can receive early intervention.
“The sooner we see something, the sooner we can act on it,” Nachman said.
As for developmental issues, children who show even a glimmer of a developmental delay can also receive early intervention.
At this point, Stony Brook has been participating in clinical trials for a vaccine, which, if approved, could be administered to adolescents.
The trials for the vaccine, which could last for 10 years, are still in the early stages of development.
Studies have shown that having confidence in the kitchen leads to fewer fast food meals and more meals as a family to strengthen a healthy lifestyle. A study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior also highlights that young adults with strong cooking skills are more inclined to eat healthy as an adult. This summer, kids are getting to experience food moving from farm-to-table and work on building healthy habits through unique cooking and nutrition classes at Stony Brook Medicine.
Stony Brook Medicine is committed to helping kids gain kitchen experience and learn healthier cooking habits at an early age. On August 15, fourteen kids between the ages of 7 through 10 established healthier cooking habits through learning healthy recipes. On day one of the Healthy Cooking and Baking Classes, kids made hummus and veggie wraps, tabbouleh and fruit smoothies. The 3-day series teaches kids how to prepare their own meals and pick produce from the 2,242-square-foot rooftop garden known as Stony Brook Heights Rooftop Farm. The hospital’s rooftop farm supplies approximately 1,500 pounds of produce per year for patient meal trays and local charities. The program is organized by the Department of Family, Population & Preventive Medicine’s Nutrition Division.
Kids also learned about how food and ingredients are grown; harvested and chose ingredients to prepare healthier food options; tried a variety of fruit and vegetables with the health benefits behind them; and learned proper use of kitchen equipment to prepare meals using ingredients they picked by hand. In addition, each gained a hands-on approach to sustainable methods in farming, such as composting, choosing local foods and water conservation.
Prev
