How sick is everyone?

Thought people would be interested in the latest graph from the CDC.  This is percentage of doctor visits for flu-like symptoms.  Less “scientific” than counting actual positive cultures, but because many sick people don’t necessarily need to be tested it may be a more accurate picture of how much illness is out there.  You’ll notice the current peak dwarfs last year’s flu season.  So if it seems like everyone around you is ill, it’s because they are!

So let’s take a straw poll!

H1N1 vaccine update (sort of…)

Just an update to let you know that there is still nothing to update?  We still have not heard when we will get our first shipment of vaccine OR how many doses that will be.

But to give you an idea of the situation, in the first week of ordering, NY physicians ordered 3.1 million doses of H1n1 vaccine.  The state health department (which is acting as the distributor between the CDC and us private offices) will be soon getting their first shipment… of a little over 100,000 doses.

In the end, this is nobody’s fault… the stuff just grows slow in culture.  They are still suggesting that there will be plenty of doses available, just in a steady trickle instead of a big lump.  Stay tuned and we will continue to post updates.

How to care for the flu…

Do you have the flu?  Welcome to the club…

I found this handout by the CDC very informative:

What to do if you get sick with the flu

Certainly if you have further questions or concerns do not hesitate to call,  but this handout may be a good starting point for you.  If you do call, please be patient as the phones have been very busy (as has been the waiting room)!  The CDC’s data shows that the current percentage of doctor visits for flu-like symptoms is greater than it was at the PEAK of the flu season last February!

We are on Facebook!

Become our fan!  You can find our Facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Genesis-Pediatrics/325514685174

 

 

Updates to the blog will be posted directly to our Facebook wall, which will then also show in your News Feed if you are our fan!

So you now have the blog, Twitter, and Facebook as ways of keeping up with the latest and greatest at our office!  Are we geeks or what?

We are tweeting!

Yes indeed, Genesis Pediatrics is on Twitter!

Follow our tweets!  Our handle is “genpeds” Posts to the blog will now also be tweeted.  (If I managed to set it up right…)

Flu (seasonal and H1N1) vaccine update

We have essentially used up our current inventory of seasonal flu vaccine.  If you have an appointment already scheduled for one of our flu clinics, please keep that appointment as we have vaccine allotted for that.  But our remaining clinics and appointments are going to use up our remaining supply, so if you do not yet have an appointment please do not call at this time.  We potentially are getting one more shipment; if we do we will open up new appoinments, and I will post that info here, so stay tuned to the blog!

We still have no specific info on if and when we will get our first shipment of H1N1 vaccine, once again stay tuned to this site and I will post more info as soon as we have it.

Cool video illustration of viruses

Thought this was relevant given how many kids are sick right now!  If you’ve ever wondered what’s REALLY happening when you catch a cold or the flu, watch this.   A medical graphic designer developed a short
video depicting how a virus spreads and how it invades
your body.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114075029

 

Flu shot update (again)

We now have a supply of Flumist (which is the intranasal spray form of the flu shot) that has arrived.  This is appropriate for children 2 years old and up who have no other high risk health problems (asthma, diabetes, neurologic disorders like cerebral palsy).  If you are interested please call the office for availability.

Flu shots update

Our supply of flu vaccine continues to change daily, so thank you for your patience.  As of today we have doses of  flu vaccine available for children less than 3 years old and a limited number of doses for older high risk patients (asthma, diabetes).  We do not have doses currently available for otherwise healthy older children.  We expect another shipment of Flumist (which is for children WITHOUT asthma who are 2 years old or older)  end of this week or beginning of next.  These supply issues are community-wide at this time (read here).

You may also seek out a flu vaccine at another local clinic, which the health department has listed on their website here.  However call ahead, because availability for children and coverage by insurance may vary.

We will continue to post notices here as the situation changes.

Flu vaccine update

Just a quick note to everyone about the current status of flu vaccination.

Seasonal Flu:  seasonal flu vaccine is largely on backorder after only a portion of our shipment has arrived, and we have not been able to get confirmation of when the remainder will be arriving.  So if you are calling our office for an appointment for seasonal flu vaccination and you are asked to call back later, please be patient, as the circumstances are not in our control.  If you already have an appointment for a flu shot please keep that appointment.

H1N1:  Despite what seems like daily news coverage about this vaccine, we are still waiting to hear more details from the state before we can determine whether we will be giving it, how much of it we will receive, and when it will arrive.  We will post more details as we get them.