March 23 Community Courier

Employee Anniversary

Congratulations to Alicia on her 5 year Anniversary with Pediatric Associates! For anyone who has ever called the nurse call line, or received lab or test results from one of our fantastic lab and phone nurses, you have more than likely encountered Alicia, and her incredible knowledge. She has such a kind heart, and a great sense of humor. We are lucky to have her on our team and benefit from her experience. Happy Work Anniversary Alicia!

Masks Optional

Effective Monday March 20th, Pediatric Associates will update our masking policy to be “Mask Optional.” We will no longer require masks for each person entering our offices. However, if you or your child have symptoms or a diagnosis of a respiratory illness such as COVID of Flu, we ask that you please wear a mask to protect others in our office. Patients and families are still welcome to wear a mask if they choose to do so.
Thank you for your cooperation with our masking policy over the past 3 years. We have followed the masking recommendations of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in an effort to best protect our patients, families, and staff. Now that Children’s has eased their mask requirements, and with improving levels of illness in our community, we also feel that it is safe to make this change.

Need Paperwork for Camps or Sports this Summer?

Any paperwork you need can be filled out at your child's annual well visit. Please call to schedule now, don't wait until the last minute! Remember there are usually no co-pays or deductibles at the well visit. Also, sports physical forms are valid for 1 full year from the well visit date.

Seeing Double

If your child is tested for flu we will test for 2 types of flu, commonly known as flu A and flu B. These are 2 separate tests and two separate charges. If you look at your bill and wonder if you are seeing double you may be but it is so that we are sure to test for both strains of flu so we can provide the best advice and care for your child.

For Our Patients That Are 21 and Older

Effective January of this year we will no longer be caring for patients that are 21 or older. There are numerous providers in our area that provide adult medical care. These providers have relationships with adult specialists and hospital systems should you need this level of care. Please schedule an appointment with a new provider and request to have your records transferred to them. Again, thank you for the trust in us for all these years. We wish you all the best in the next chapter in your life!

Travel Health Services

Are you planning to travel internationally for this summer or fall? PANK has a very helpful Travel Health Program. If you are planning any upcoming travel outside the United States, please call our office for information regarding what may be needed for your child in preparation for travel. This includes reviewing required vaccines, recommended medications (covering a variety of topics such as traveler's diarrhea and altitude sickness), COVID entry requirements for each country, and much more info to keep your child healthy and safe while abroad. Please contact our office as soon as your trip is planned so we can make sure all requirements and recommendations can be completed well in advance of your trip. To access the Travel Health Services at PANK you can either call the office or contact us at travel@pediatricassociatesnky.com or watch our Travel Medicine video .

Website Resources

The "Is Your Child Sick" section on our website has advice for common illnesses and medication dosing. Please check it out if your child is ill.

Spring Allergies

Along with the warmer weather, many of our patients begin to see seasonal allergies return in late March and early April. Sneezing, clear runny nose, and watery/itchy/swollen eyes are prominent symptoms due to tree pollen allergies in spring. For some patients, this is a minor nuisance that can be addressed by bathing at night after outside play and occasional over the counter antihistamines. For children with more significant symptoms, it may be best to stay indoors on high pollen days and take daily preventive medication. If your child is typically on preventive allergy medication in spring, a good rule of thumb is to begin those medications in mid-March. We are also happy to see our patients in the office to discuss how to treat or prevent allergy symptoms and when it might be beneficial to see an allergist. For more information about allergies, visit our website .

Recurrent Strep

We continue to see outbreaks of Group A Strep, the bacteria that causes strep throat and scarlet fever, in our community. Like in other communities across the country, the frequency of strep is higher this year than in the previous few years. Many of our patients have had strep more than once this season. This is usually because they have been re-exposed, not because antibiotics didn't work. Serious infections are rare but can happen, possibly due to co-infections with other viruses or the body's immune reaction to the bacteria. The good news...most strep infections are easily cured with antibiotics.

More info about strep infections .