Practice Updates for Members
Dear Infinity Family Care family,
Flu Clinics: It’s that time of year again! So far we are seeing a fair amount of COVID, lots of other cold viruses, but no flu yet, so this is the perfect time to get your flu vaccine! We are hosting flu clinics at the office 10/03/23 6-7:30 pm and 10/26/23 6-7:30 pm. Stop&Shop Pharmacy comes onsite to administer these so that your insurance will pay for them. The pharmacist has been super helpful in recent years and will also bring Tdap, Pneumonia, Shingles, COVID or RSV vaccines for those who need them, as long as we let her know ahead of time. When you go through the booking process it will ask you if you want any vaccines in addition to flu. Please use these links to schedule:
Flu shot for people ages 19 years and up: https://infinityfamilycare.as.
Flu shot for people ages 6 months – 18 years: https://infinityfamilycare.as.
If your child, age 2-18, has a severe needle phobia, please call the office to see if they are eligible for the nasal flu vaccine, we have a limited supply of this from the state.
COVID news:
Vaccines: The new COVID booster is available at most pharmacies now. It does appear to be a good match against the current circulating COVID strain. It is recommended that everyone aged 5 years and older should get 1 updated COVID-19 vaccine, at least two months after getting the last dose of any COVID-19 vaccine. If you recently had COVID-19, you still need to stay up to date with your vaccines, but you may consider delaying your vaccine by 3 months from last infection. Here is more information to determine if you are due for a booster: https://www.cdc.gov/
Illness: There is a lot of COVID in the community in the past 6 weeks, if you get a stuffy nose, sore throat, new cough, fever, body aches or other cold/flu-type symptoms, do a home test for COVID on first day of symptoms:
If you get a negative…
False negatives at the beginning of infection are very common, thanks to the virus mutating.
The higher we are in a wave, the more skeptical you should be of a negative result. There are two things you can do to help reduce skepticism (i.e., false negatives):
- Swab throat and saliva. These are positive days before the nose.
- Repeat testing. Two tests within 48 hours catch 92% of symptomatic cases and 39% of asymptomatic cases. Three tests 48 hours apart detected 94% of symptomatic and 57% of asymptomatic patients.
If you get a positive…
Positives are positives. You’re infectious. Here is a link to the current recommendations for quarantine and isolation, including a calculator that lets you put in your case specifics and get more individualized recommendations: https://www.
The faintness of a line provides clues, though:
- Very bold line= you’re very contagious.
- Barely see the line= you’re at the beginning or the end of your infection window.
Isolate for five days, at minimum.
- When is Day 0? The first day of symptoms (not the day you get a positive test).
- When do we leave isolation? Technically the CDC says Day 5. But 2 out of 3 people will still be infectious, so if you do, wear a mask. It’s best to stay in isolation until you have a negative antigen test or it’s been at least ten days.
- Where was I infected? Wherever you were ~48 hours before symptoms started.
If you’re over 65, get Paxlovid!
Long story short: test a few days in a row if you have symptoms, follow isolation guidelines if positive, and call me if you are not sure if you would benefit from Paxlovid.
Warm regards,
Dr. Wendy