June is often referred as the wedding month. But do you know that in healthcare industry, this same month is also observed as the National Congenital Cytomegalovirus Awareness Month? That’s true! The Department of Health and Human Services in United States declared June as the National Congenital CMV Awareness Month. This particular event aims to let people become aware about congenital cytomegalovirus infection at the same time educate not only the women who are in childbearing age but also the entire community on how to prevent such health condition.

So what is congenital cytomegalovirus infection? Well, this is the most common congenital (meaning present at birth) viral infection in humans; particularly on pregnant women. The infection is heritable and based on surveys, there are about 30,000 to 40,000 infants born each year in the United States or an average of one percent of all live births who are diagnosed to be positive on this particular viral infection.

So how does it happen?  Transmission of CMV is not associated with food, water, or animals but from the body fluid excretions like saliva, blood, urine, breast milk, cervical secretions, and semen. Thus, once a person made a close or intimate contact to another person who is positive for a CMV infection, that individual will be infected also by the said virus. An excellent example for this is a childbearing woman diagnosed to have cytomegalovirus during pregnancy. The fetus in the utero will surely be affected once born because this particular virus (belonging to herpes family) that exists in the mother’s blood crosses over the placenta then infects the fetus’ blood.

Individuals with healthy immune system but had a first infection of CMV will rarely experience symptoms. The virus will silently live in the body and once it becomes active or reactivated, it can lead to a CMV disease. And during that time, infected individuals will start to experience sore throat, fever, swollen glands and fatigue. Ignoring these symptoms can lead to serious illnesses like pneumonia, hepatitis, encephalitis, seizures, behavioral changes and eyesight-threatening infections for those who have AIDS, had an organ transplant, or have a compromised immune system. This is the reason why expectant moms are highly advised to undergo regular checkup during pregnancy so as to prevent their newborn babies from acquiring congenital abnormalities.

Infants who have acquired CMV infection (before or after pregnancy), once examined using a number of specialized hospital medical equipments, are said to be at risk for various physical and neurological problems such as having much bigger liver and spleen, hearing loss, vision impairment, speech defects, problems with school maturity, etc.

Up to now, there is no specific treatment being discovered yet for cytomegalovirus. However, this specific type of viral infection can be prevented and this is what exactly the National CMV Awareness month is all about – educating every individual on how to avoid CMV infection. Among the popular and effective preventative measures they would recommend for childbearing women or expectant moms in order to reduce the risk for the said infection is through good hygiene and proper hand washing is the most basic. Cytomegalovirus likewise exists in daycare centers thus; expectant moms are advised to avoid having close contact with children to prevent possible transmission of virus. Avoid sharing eating utensils is also another preventative measure to safeguard themselves from such disease. Meanwhile, for those who are already infected by CMV, medical professionals who often carry a littmann cardiology stethoscope on their neck might prescribe a shot of antiviral medication to somehow lessen the symptoms. But these antiviral medications are applied with great caution, especially to kids as they can cause serious side effects. 

Regular examination of our body organs is the surest way to maintain them in tiptop condition. A human body is composed of several organs and the ears are just one of them. The method of checking the condition of the person’s ear is what we call otoscopy or otoscopic examination. Such procedure is only performed by a licensed medical doctor, either an ENT specialist or an otologist.

Ever wonder how an ear specialist is able to examine what is happening inside the human ear? Well, that is through the help of an innovative medical instrument called otoscope. Despite the narrow access in ear canal, otologists still make it possible to observe the inner portion of the ears by merely utilizing the three components of the said instrument namely the handle, where the power for the light source is attach; the head, which contains the light bulb and magnifying lens, and the cone, which is being inserted inside the ear canal. The light bulb (once illuminated) and the magnifying lens (once increased), allows otologist to determine the abnormalities within the auditory canal and tympanic membrane. 

And do you know that otoscopes, just like other medical instruments, come in different classifications too? Yes, this medical instrument for ear examination is usually classified according to their power source, size, battery technology, brand, and head type. So if you are an ear specialist or practicing otology, it is imperative to research first which type of otoscope fits to your skill level and budget as well.


Note: Image is found using Google Image search engine.

My friend Anna, who is an obstetrician, will be celebrating her 35th birthday this coming May 2. I am planning to give her something that is personalized at the same time will be very useful while she’s on duty, just like stethoscopes. I know stethoscopes are one of the medical instruments that the obstetricians will always need while examining the condition of pregnant women. And this medical instrument can be personalized too by simply asking an online shop that offers customization service to include the name of the recipient.

But because of my busy schedule here in the office, I have no more time to stroll around the medical equipment shops in our city just to find my desired birthday present for my friend. So one day, during my 15 minutes break, I decided to surf online and look for reliable providers of stethoscopes. In an instant, Google presented me a number of online sites offering durable stethoscopes, of different types.

Before I search for the said medical instrument online, I thought stethoscopes are designed for all types of doctors. But I was wrong. That was the only time I learned that obstetricians use a specific kind of stethoscope during the medical check-up of expectant mothers.  And this particular medical instrument is called fetal stethoscopes or fetoscopes.

Let me share to you some of the information I have gathered about fetoscope. When it comes to function, this particular stethoscope for obstetricians is just like the other types of stethoscope used by common physicians. Obstetricians make use of fetal stethoscopes for auscultation during prenatal care appointments of their clients. If there’s one thing that would make this device different from traditional stethoscope or cardiology stethoscope, that is its design. So how does a fetoscope look like? Well, imagine a standard stethoscope with a small trumpet-shaped device provided instead of a diaphragm or bell. The small trumphet-shaped component of the fetoscope is popularly known as the Pinard horn, which enables medical specialists to listen the sounds inside the abdomen of expectant mother like the fetal heartbeat.

A person with a blood pressure reading of about 140/90 millimeters of Mercury (mmHg) is considered hypertensive. A durable medical instrument called sphygmomanometer is being used in order to gauge the person’s blood pressure level. Sphygmomanometer comes in different types. Some of them are designed with mercury manometer or aneroid gauge while others come with oscillometeric detector to obtain the systolic and diastolic value. The systolic value (the top number) identifies the pressure of blood that exerts on vessel while the heart is beating while the diastolic value (the bottom number) is the pressure in the vessels between heartbeats.

Aside from mercury or aneroid manometer (for manually operated blood pressure device) and oscillometric detector (for digital BP device), both types of sphygmomanometer are also provided with inflatable cuff (dip molded latex tube bladder covered by a durable nylon). This essential component of medical instruments for monitoring BP level is smoothly and snugly wrapped around the upper arm, perpendicular to the heart. The cuff will be inflated manually or automatically to constrict the arteries then it will be slightly deflated to release the air from the cuff so as to get the BP readings.

There are also other essential parts that can be found in sphygmomanometers with manually operated inflation cuff. These include the inflation bulb and air release valve. The inflation bulb is constructed from dip molded latex and it is used as pump so as to inflate the cuff. The air release valve, made of corrosion-proof materials, serves as control in order to keep the air in the cuff or let the air out.

Every component found in the sphygmomanometer plays an important function in order to get the most accurate BP reading. Thus, it is necessary to make sure that your blood pressure device is always in perfect condition. And this can be achieved through proper care and maintenance.