Rally planned for St. Joseph baby

Magoon's Famous Delicatessen at 632 S. Eighth St. will hold a rally from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. June 14-15 for Raylin Marie Stephens-Pointer, a 2-month-old who was born with several congenital birth defects requiring multiple surgeries. She is the daughter of Sharmarla Stephens and Ryan Pointer of St. Joseph and has been in the intensive care nursery at Children's Mercy Hospital since her birth.

The event will include a silent auction and a raffle, as well as entertainment from the following performers: Chris Jameson, 4 to 5:30 p.m.; Sugar Daddys, 6 to 7:30 p.m.; The Bridge, 8 to 9:30 p.m.; Page 2, 10 to 11:30 p.m.; and Jerry Forney, midnight to 1 a.m.

A $10 cover charge will be collected at the door, and all proceeds will go toward expenses Raylin's family faces due to her hospital stay.

Adolescent immunization clinic announced

St. Francis Family Health Care in Maryville, Mo., will be conducting an adolescent immunization clinic from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. June 14 at its facility located on the St. Francis campus, 2016 S. Main St. Meningitis (Menactra), tetanus (Adacel) and HPV (Gardasil) vaccines will be available at that time.

"In the past few years, there have been some changes to the immunization recommendations," says Martha Mustion, family nurse practitioner with the St. Francis Immunization Clinic. "We would like to make children and their parents aware of these changes."

One significant issue is the importance of receiving the meningitis vaccine at an earlier age.

Also, a new formulation of the tetanus vaccine now provides protection against pertussis (whooping cough) as well as tetanus. Pertussis is highly contagious and is often spread from adolescents and adults back to small children.

Gardasil provides adolescent females protection against the four main types of HPV (human papillomavirus). These include two types that cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer and two types that cause about 90 percent of genital warts. HPV vaccine is routinely recommended for girls ages 11 to 12 and older, but it may be given as young as 9 years of age.

Another change in vaccination recommendations is that the annual influenza (flu) vaccines are now recommended through the age of 18.

A parent or guardian must accompany adolescent patients seeking immunization. Parents also are asked to bring a copy of their children's immunization records if they haven't had immunizations at St. Francis Family Health Care. For more information or to make an appointment, call (660) 562-2525.

Pamela Lotz earns recognition

Pamela Lotz of Heartland Regional Medical Center has been appointed as an official trainer for the Oncology Nursing Society cancer chemotherapy and biotherapy course, a comprehensive review for nurses who administer chemotherapy.

To become an ONS cancer chemotherapy and biotherapy trainer, registered nurses must be currently certified in oncology, hold a bachelor's degree or higher in a health-related field and have a minimum of two years experience in administering chemotherapy, as well as complete a trainer course. These highly qualified trainers assist ONS in setting standards of excellence in cancer care.

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at ewisdom@npgco.com.