Pediatric Physicians, PC

Have a safe and happy holiday! We’ll have special holiday hours this week. As always, our doctors are available after hours by phone for emergencies.

All office hours are by appointment only.

In addition, our Kids Time after hours clinics are open for walk-ins with no appointments necessary:

It hasn’t started yet.. but it will soon. Influenza typically lasts 5 days, with fevers, body aches, cough, abdominal upset, and misery. Young babies and older people are the most likely to have complications. Ask anyone who’s really had the flu– it is no fun.

Protect yourself against influenza by washing your hands, avoiding sick people, getting a good night’s sleep, and getting vaccinated. Immunizations against influenza are recommended for everyone from age 6 months and up, and can help protect your child, your family, and your community. If you haven’t been by yet this year, call soon to set up an appointment for influenza vaccines at our office for you and your children.

The vaccine Gardasil is now recommended for routine use in boys and girls starting at age 11 to prevent infection with the human papilloma virus, or HPV. The vaccine has been in use for several years, mostly in girls, to prevent cervical cancer. Recent studies have confirmed that it’s very safe, and have shown that this same vaccine can also effectively prevent head and neck as well as rectal cancers in males. These cancers aren’t rare—in the United States each year, about 18,000 HPV-associated cancers are diagnosed in women, and 7,000 in men. The recent recommendation to include boys in the vaccination strategy can help prevent most of these cancers, and help prevent transmission of the disease in the community. We’ll plan on reviewing your child’s HPV vaccine status at the next routine well visit.

We know children don’t always get sick when it’s convenient. That why we’ve helped open our Kids Time after-hours pediatric care centers. They’re staffed by genuine, board-certified pediatricians, and can help take care of the same acute illnesses we see in our offices—sore throats, fevers, coughs, and many other common complaints. The Kids Time sites take the same insurance as our offices do, usually at the same co-pay (please call ahead to confirm the exact rates for your plan. A few plans insist you pay an urgent care co-pay, but most do not.)

Kids Time Alpharetta and East Cobb offices are open from 6-9 during the week, and from 1-7pm on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, visit www.kidstimepeds.com.

Flu season will be here soon, and it’s now recommended that every eligible person get vaccinated. We’ve scheduled two evening clinics for children and parents to get flu vaccines, on Tuesday September 20 (Windward office) and Wednesday September 21 (Roswell.) Flu vaccines will be given by appointment only. No physician will be available to evaluate any illnesses or other concerns– these appointments are only for quick flu immunizations. Please call either of our offices during regular hours if you’d like to set up an appointment at one of these clinics.

We’ll be administering both traditional shots (for everyone past their six month birthday) and the nasal flu mist vaccine (for people aged 2 to 49 who have no significant heart, lung, or immune problems.) For more information about influenza and vaccinations, visit our recent post, or the CDC’s influenza information page.