Have you gotten your Flu Shot yet? Put that on the top of your to-do list for your self and your family. Everyone should get a Flu Shot this year to help prevent "catching the Flu," but the CDC urges pregnant women and young children, especially to get their Flu Shot. There are no reported shortages of the flu vaccine, so if you are over 6 months old and have no allergy to the flu vaccine, you should go get your Flu Shot!

Food Poisoning: Tips to Prepare a Safe Holiday Meal

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), estimates that 76 million people get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 Americans die each year from food-borne illness. With the holidays around the corner, we will be busy preparing everyone's favorite homemade dishes, and may be at a greater risk of food poisoning.

By getting your flu shot, you can avoid catching the flu and giving it to your family. Flu shots are widely available at your doctor's offices, retail pharmacies, and local clinics. See our article about the importance of getting your flu shot this year.

We all want to keep our children safe and prevent any injury if at all possible. The last article in our series on National Childhood Injury Prevention Month is about poison prevention. Every day, 374 children in the United States ages 0 to 19 are treated in an emergency department, and two children die as a result of being poisoned. It’s not just chemicals in your home marked with clear warning labels that can be dangerous to children.

Did you miss the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) National Take-Back Day on September 25, 2010? On National Take-Back Day, you could bring back any expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to be collected and properly destroyed by local law enforcement. If you still want to clean out your medicine cabinets and get rid of your expired or unwanted medicines, we have some tips on how to safely dispose of them.

In our continuing series on National Childhood Injury Prevention, Mom's Medicine Chest reminds you about the dangers of falls and burn.

Cough and cold season is just around the corner, and may have already started for some of us. Now that the kids are back in school and the colder months are ahead of us, we tend to stay indoors, and have a higher chance of catching each others’ germs. One of the worst germs we face is the influenza (flu) virus. The best way to stay healthy this season is to prevent the flu by getting your flu shot.

On average, 12,175 children 0 to 19 years of age died each year in the United States from an unintentional injury. Through the month of September, Mom’s Medicine Chest will be posting information on how to help prevent some common childhood injuries.

Week 1-Choking/Suffocation
Week 2-Drowning
Week 3-Falls/Household burns
Week 4-Poison Prevention

As you are frantically trying to gather everything your child needs for back-to-school, don't forget about your child's health. Ensuring that your child receives all of their scheduled immunizations is still the best way to prevent some of the most serious diseases prevented by immunizations. Many schools will not let you register your child without current immunizations - make sure you have current records and that their immunizations are up-to-date.

Having trouble finding your child's over-the-counter medicine? This recall may be why. McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), voluntarily recalled all unexpired lots of certain over-the-counter (OTC) Children's and Infants' liquid products.

Pool Safety this Summer

Many of us are trying to get a break from the heat by diving into the local lakes and swimming pools. Unfortunately, we see an increase in child drowning incidents during this time of year. Each year, more than 830 children, ages 14 and under, die as a result of unintentional drowning in the U.S.

Tips for water safety this summer: