Sorry that this update is a few days late,
I was on the East Coast for a week.
This week the office has seen:
Lots of sore throats...most of them have been testing negative for Strep
Hand Foot Mouth continues to make the rounds. The kids have spots, but seem otherwise reasonably well.
There are lots of kids with colds/coughs some are wheezy
We now have Flu vaccination for anyone who wants it.
I was able to procure some quadrivalent multidose vaccine. This is fine for people over the age of 3. The multiple use vial (what most Walgreen's have) is the standard form that we had used for many years until very recently. If you are pregnant, I would wait until the Preservative Free become available, Anyone else over 3 can have the regular stuff with no concern.
Our seasonal order for the Quadivalent preservative Free doses for folks over 3 is still delayed until the end of November.
If it comes in time, we will tentatively hold our first weekend Flu clinic on Saturday morning November 22nd. Put a big question mark on that date until we actually have our shipment.
We did get word from CPMC that there was some positive tests for Flu already, so it is potentially going to be any earlier season that we were expecting.
Have a safe and Happy Halloween!
http://www.nursejudynvp.blogspot.com/2014/10/halloween-safety-tips-2014.html
Judy
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Weekly update October 20th
We are seeing a lot of everything.
There are a lot of kids with moderate to high fevers. The kids who are old enough to verbalize also complain about headaches.
One of those kids just ended up with Strep throat, even though her throat wasn't the least bit sore.
There is lots of Strep circulating, so any fever that doesn't have much congestion with it needs to be checked if it is lasting more than a few days.
We are seeing some Roseola, which will end with the fever gone and a rash all over.
Strep may also have a rash, but the fever will be hanging on.
There are lots of kids with colds and coughs.
Some of the patients were seen in the ER this weekend with croup.
Pertussis is circulating. The vaccination is about 80% effective. The good news is that the kids who are vaccinated have been getting fairly mild cases
Hand Foot Mouth is still going around.
One of our patients informed me that there was a dead bird in her neighborhood identified as having West Nile Virus this week, so that is one more thing to keep in mind....and of course there is the
Enterovirus D-68
http://www.nursejudynvp.blogspot.com/2014/10/enterovirus-d68.html
Our Flu shot situation is improving a bit.
We have plenty of the Flu Mist and some of the vaccine for the kids under 3.
Hopefully we will actually get the big kid/ adult shots in very soon.
As soon as we have it we will schedule a Saturday morning clinic.
Stay well
~Nurse Judy
There are a lot of kids with moderate to high fevers. The kids who are old enough to verbalize also complain about headaches.
One of those kids just ended up with Strep throat, even though her throat wasn't the least bit sore.
There is lots of Strep circulating, so any fever that doesn't have much congestion with it needs to be checked if it is lasting more than a few days.
We are seeing some Roseola, which will end with the fever gone and a rash all over.
Strep may also have a rash, but the fever will be hanging on.
There are lots of kids with colds and coughs.
Some of the patients were seen in the ER this weekend with croup.
Pertussis is circulating. The vaccination is about 80% effective. The good news is that the kids who are vaccinated have been getting fairly mild cases
Hand Foot Mouth is still going around.
One of our patients informed me that there was a dead bird in her neighborhood identified as having West Nile Virus this week, so that is one more thing to keep in mind....and of course there is the
Enterovirus D-68
http://www.nursejudynvp.blogspot.com/2014/10/enterovirus-d68.html
Our Flu shot situation is improving a bit.
We have plenty of the Flu Mist and some of the vaccine for the kids under 3.
Hopefully we will actually get the big kid/ adult shots in very soon.
As soon as we have it we will schedule a Saturday morning clinic.
Stay well
~Nurse Judy
Monday, October 13, 2014
Weekly update October 13th
We are seeing a variety of illnesses.
Most of the calls related to a viral high fever making the rounds. This is lasting 4-5 days. The kids have mild congestion and a dry cough. The fever typically responds well to the meds
I am okay playing the wait and see game with them as long as they look fine. On day five of fever, they need to be checked on
*There have been more calls about some vomiting/diarrhea.
Keep them hydrated
*There are quite a few kids with fairly severe wheezing. These folks need to be seen
*There are lots of kids with ear infections and conjunctivitis
*There are lots of bug bites that are causing local reactions.
First step for these is Zyrtec and compressing (a black tea bag make s a great compress)
This is a good time of year to check out your medicine cabinet and make sure you have appropriate medications for the upcoming cold and Flu season.
If you have expired medications, this week's blog post can direct you to where you can get rid of them.
http://www.nursejudynvp.blogspot.com/2014/10/whats-in-your-medicine-chest-get-rid-of.html
We are expecting 200 flu mist doses this week and 80 doses of the baby flu shots, with more on the way.
They are semi promising ( I will believe it when I see it) the rest of our vaccine by November 1st.
I am not going to schedule the weekend clinic until we actually have the vaccine, but feel free to call the office for same day shot or mist appointments later in the week.
Stay well,
~Judy
Most of the calls related to a viral high fever making the rounds. This is lasting 4-5 days. The kids have mild congestion and a dry cough. The fever typically responds well to the meds
I am okay playing the wait and see game with them as long as they look fine. On day five of fever, they need to be checked on
*There have been more calls about some vomiting/diarrhea.
Keep them hydrated
*There are quite a few kids with fairly severe wheezing. These folks need to be seen
*There are lots of kids with ear infections and conjunctivitis
*There are lots of bug bites that are causing local reactions.
First step for these is Zyrtec and compressing (a black tea bag make s a great compress)
This is a good time of year to check out your medicine cabinet and make sure you have appropriate medications for the upcoming cold and Flu season.
If you have expired medications, this week's blog post can direct you to where you can get rid of them.
http://www.nursejudynvp.blogspot.com/2014/10/whats-in-your-medicine-chest-get-rid-of.html
We are expecting 200 flu mist doses this week and 80 doses of the baby flu shots, with more on the way.
They are semi promising ( I will believe it when I see it) the rest of our vaccine by November 1st.
I am not going to schedule the weekend clinic until we actually have the vaccine, but feel free to call the office for same day shot or mist appointments later in the week.
Stay well,
~Judy
Monday, October 6, 2014
Monday update October 6th
There is a lot of stuff going around.
We have quite a bit of colds/coughs/wheezing.
If your child has a history of wheezing, do make sure that you have medication on hand, if it has expired or you need a refill, give us a call.
If you own a nebulizer, when is the last time you changed the tubing???
I believe that we are likely seeing kids with the Enterovirus D-68 but unless they are seriously ill, they won't be tested for it so we don't actually know.
Enteroviruses can cause respiratory and gastrointestinal illness, rash and neurologic illnesses, While most infections cause mild or no symptoms, some can be severe. There are more than 100 types that can cause approximately 10-15 MILLION infections in the United stated each year, Enteroviruses typically occur in the summer and Fall. This one is not anything new, but there was a bit of a cluster that made the news recently and of course got all the parents worried.
We are treated it the same way we would any other viral syndrome.
Treat the symptoms with supportive care and get seen if your child is wheezing or having any labored breathing.
We have some strep throat around
We have a few kids with sudden onset fevers and headaches
There are a lot of kids with spots. I think some of these are kids with this Hand/Foot/Mouth virus that has been making the rounds. Most of them don't seem too ill.
Other kids have lots of insect bites. I think that many of them are either flea bites (rampant right now) or spider bites.
As you can imagine we have also seen lots of heat rashes.
Last week I was seeing a lot of tummy stuff, that has since quieted down, based on the phone call complaints so far today.
Our flu shot report remains grim.
We are supposed to get more baby flu doses promised to us prior to October 23.
We have very limited amounts of flu mist, but hopefully will be getting a constant trickle of that in as well.
Walgreens seems to have a solid supply (lucky them) so if your child is over 7 you can go over there for the vaccine if you are tired of waiting for us.
I wish I had better news.
Wash your hands
~Nurse Judy
We have quite a bit of colds/coughs/wheezing.
If your child has a history of wheezing, do make sure that you have medication on hand, if it has expired or you need a refill, give us a call.
If you own a nebulizer, when is the last time you changed the tubing???
I believe that we are likely seeing kids with the Enterovirus D-68 but unless they are seriously ill, they won't be tested for it so we don't actually know.
Enteroviruses can cause respiratory and gastrointestinal illness, rash and neurologic illnesses, While most infections cause mild or no symptoms, some can be severe. There are more than 100 types that can cause approximately 10-15 MILLION infections in the United stated each year, Enteroviruses typically occur in the summer and Fall. This one is not anything new, but there was a bit of a cluster that made the news recently and of course got all the parents worried.
We are treated it the same way we would any other viral syndrome.
Treat the symptoms with supportive care and get seen if your child is wheezing or having any labored breathing.
We have some strep throat around
We have a few kids with sudden onset fevers and headaches
There are a lot of kids with spots. I think some of these are kids with this Hand/Foot/Mouth virus that has been making the rounds. Most of them don't seem too ill.
Other kids have lots of insect bites. I think that many of them are either flea bites (rampant right now) or spider bites.
As you can imagine we have also seen lots of heat rashes.
Last week I was seeing a lot of tummy stuff, that has since quieted down, based on the phone call complaints so far today.
Our flu shot report remains grim.
We are supposed to get more baby flu doses promised to us prior to October 23.
We have very limited amounts of flu mist, but hopefully will be getting a constant trickle of that in as well.
Walgreens seems to have a solid supply (lucky them) so if your child is over 7 you can go over there for the vaccine if you are tired of waiting for us.
I wish I had better news.
Wash your hands
~Nurse Judy
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