You better watch out ...

This is a serious safety problem, but I can't help but think that it reminds me of a "Simpsons" episode! ABC Science Online recently ran the following story that took place in Region 14 ...

The festive season can be a dangerous time for kids keen to explore and taste new things, like Christmas trees A child who inhaled part of a Christmas tree that got stuck in his lung has made medical history, Canadian doctors say.

The doctors, who described the first case of 'Christmas tree aspiration', warned of what could happen at a time of year when children explore and taste new things. They reported the case in the current issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The two-and-a-half-old boy had repeated bouts of pneumonia starting from when he was 10 months old, a few months after his first Christmas. He hadn't choked and there was nothing in the family's medical history that pointed to lung disease.

When doctors at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, x-rayed and performed CT scans of the boy's chest, they found a lump at the outer edge of his right lung. When they operated, they found part of a branch from an evergreen tree wedged there, 3 centimetres long and 0.5 centimetres round. This had blocked off part of the lung, causing the repeated bouts of pneumonia. Once the blockage was removed, the child made a full recovery."

That reminds me of a funny story about how we got the tradition of the Angel on the top of the Christmas tree *COUGHCYNDIJO*