Thursday update

Lots of fevers,
lots of mild diarrhea
lots of rashes

We are closed on Monday for the Memorial day weekend.
If you have a concern that warrants a visit before the weekend, do not wait until 4:30 tomorrow afternoon to call....

If you have a child who is ill over the weekend or on Monday, give the after hours clinic a call at 387-9293

Stay well
~Nurse Judy

May 24th update

We are still seeing lots of kids with fevers.
Several patients also seem to have a tummy bug, some vomiting with mild diarrhea accompanied by low grade fevers
At the end of last week we were seeing lots of strep throat as well as strep butt..
Strep butt????? yes indeed.
Children under 2 rarely get strep throat but they can get a strep infection that presents as a super red pimply diaper rash. It is treated with antibiotics.

We have had several patients with pink eye today.
conjunctivitis can be viral, bacterial or allergic.
If eyes are very gooey and your child is fussy, we would like to see them rather than just giving drops. More than half of the time they also have an ear infection ( to the surprise of the parents)
Stay well
Nurse Judy
you can now access the blog from our website
www.noevalleypediatrics.com ( still a work in progress)

fevers

I saw lots of high fevers today. Many of the kids are on the third day of this nasty little virus. Most of them have clear runny noses as well. The fevers have gone up and down and mostly have responded well to fever reducers.
If your child has a high fever, go ahead and treat them with tylenol or motrin. ( make sure the stuff you have on hand is not on the recall list. There are plenty of alternate brands available)
Keep track of the correct dosages as your child grows.
Keep your child hydrated and also consider popping them into a tepid bath or sponging them down with a cool cloth.
I would like to see the temperature responding within an hour.
A fever that remains over 103 despite your best efforts to lower it needs to be evaluated.
It is worth checking in with us if the fever is still hanging on past the third day.
Often when a fever is spiking kids can get very shivery and chilled.

We have also been seeing quite a few coughs and ear infections.

The SF Public Health department has also issued an advisory that there has been a case of Rubella and a case of Measles reported.
There are also MANY cases of pertusis ( Whooping cough) making the rounds.
Most babies get the Pertusis protection from the DTaP vaccinations that they get starting at 2 months.
The Measles and Rubella protection are given at the 15 month visit in the MMR vaccine.

Parents should make sure that they are up with their vaccine protection as well. Check with your doctors to make sure you have had the MMR and the TDaP

stay well
Nurse Judy

fevers and sore throats

For mid May we are seeing a lot of illness.
We are seeing lots of kids with sore throats. Many of them are indeed turning out to be positive for Strep.
Strep throat often comes with sore throat, fevers, aches, nausea, dizziness and some times a sandpaperish rash. Some moms say that they can "smell" an odor on their children's breath when they have strep.

It is contagious, but statistics say that siblings and family members have a 50-50 chance of catching it. That seems to agree with my experience here.
It is very unusual for children under two to have strep throat.
We do want to treat it. Usually with Amoxicillin. You are no longer considered contagious after 24 hours of the antibiotics

We have also seen quite a few children with a nasty virus that comes with a high fever.

We are still seeing plenty of colds and coughs
We will update again soon if anything exciting rears its head.

stay well
~Nurse Judy

tylenol recall/ Monday report

As you may have heard, several Mcneil products including Childrens and Infant Tylenol, Motrin and Zytrec have been recalled.
They say that the products are not a health risk, but there are some quality control issues that they need to deal with. If your child has taken one of the products and seems to be just fine, Relax. We have NOT seen any adverse reactions.
However if you have the affected lots you should return the products and get reimbursed
For more information go to www.mcneilproductrecall.com
In the meanwhile, it is our understanding that the generic products are safe and available. As another option Acetaminophen suppositories are also available from the parmacist without a prescription.

Here is the Monday report on "what's going around"....

*Left over tummy virus, vomiting, diarrhea with a bit of a fever
*coughs and colds, with the cough lingering for several weeks
*several kids with aches and fevers lasting about 3 days
*some strep throat

here's to a healthy week
~Nurse Judy

April 30th

Thank you for your comments.
The website www.noevalleypediatrics.com is up and running, although it is still a work in progress
I am so glad that people find the blog useful. At some point the blog will be easily accessed through the website as well.
Regarding appointments online...that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
It is such a delicate balance here, making sure that people can get routine physical exams done in a timely manner, while leaving enough open spots for acute care needs. We also end up needing to fit in last minute newborns and emergencies. On very busy days, we need to really use our triage skills to make sure that the few existing appointments go to those who really need them.

We are still seeing a tummy bug making the rounds. It has been lasting only a day or two. It has started with low grade fever and some vomiting and then moves into some diarrhea.
We have seen a handful of truly miserable children with high fevers and low energy.
So far this is the second day that I am seeing this, so I don't know how long it will be hanging around.
We have lots of mild colds and coughs that are lingering for WEEKS.
For some odd reason I have also had several sore penis complaints this week as well!!
Enjoy the weekend!
~nurse Judy

web site

I am working on a website for Noe Valley pediatrics.
It is up and running in it's most basic format
www.Noevalleypediatrics.com

I would love some feedback from you.
What are you most looking for in a website?
comments and suggestions welcome!!
Thanks
~Nurse Judy