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Rapid AssessmentBy Jim Hall
'No, thanks' to new cancer guidelines Nov. 20, 2009 10:01 am
What’s surprised me while making these calls is the unanimity of opinion that I’ve heard and the passion. Doctors in the Fredericksburg area, at least the half dozen that I’ve spoken with, don’t like the new guidelines and don’t intend to follow them. I’ve heard words like “frightening,” “infuriating” and “infamous” to describe the proposal. Doctors here have first-hand evidence from their patients that a baseline mammogram at 35 and annual mammograms beginning at 40 can detect cancers early when they're more treatable. For more local reaction to the federal proposal, see the story in the paper this weekend.
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Nov. 18, 2009 12:23 pm
Dr. Mark Levine was in town last week to talk about the H1N1 virus and vaccination program. Levine is deputy commissioner for the Virginia Department of Health. He was one of the featured speakers Friday at the 88th Annual Virginia State PTA Convention at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center. Some points Levine made during his talk: · If this pandemic is like others before it, it will last between one and two years and appear in waves, with the number of cases rising then falling. “Pandemics are not events that come and go rapidly,” Levine said. · The incidence of the disease seems to be reaching one of those peaks now, but the level is still higher than one would expect from seasonal flu at this time of year. · H1N1 causes a mild disease in most people, he said. Most people suffer for about three-to-four days and do not require medical care. Still the disease has caused 9,000 hospitalizations and 600 deaths nationwide. “It could be much worse, but it’s not benign either,” Levine said. · The vaccine continues to be safe and effective, similar to the seasonal flu vaccine. One million doses have been delivered to Virginia, for its 7.7 million people. About 3.5 million people in the state fall in one of the groups that the CDC has designated as top priority to get the vaccine. · The disease is about 7 months old, and the fact that there is a vaccine available now is “astonishing,” Levine said. Usually it would take from eight months to a year to develop a vaccine. · The supply of vaccine should improve soon as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the license of a new producer, GlaxoSmithKline. The company says it expects to deliver 7.6 million doses of vaccine by the end of the year.
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Clinic added at St. Patrick's school Nov. 17, 2009 5:57 pm
A new H1N1 vaccination clinic has been added to this week’s schedule. Dr. John Petrasky, director of the Rappahannock Area Health District, said this afternoon that he will ship 350 doses of vaccine to St. Patrick Catholic School in Spotsylvania. The school will give the vaccine to its students on Thursday, beginning at 1 p.m. King George High School, St. William of York Catholic School and Caroline High also will host clinics this week. All four will have both types of vaccine, Petrasky said.
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Nov. 16, 2009 4:51 pm
Poore will recall events from his years as a general practitioner in Virginia, North Carolina and Arizona. He graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School in Charlottesville in 1957. He will be in the museum’s Mansard Gallery off William Street, beginning at 7 p.m. Poore’s Web site can be found here.
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New H1N1 clinic in King George Nov. 16, 2009 2:20 pm
The Rappahanock Area Health District received more H1N1 vaccine today so it has added a new H1N1 clinic in King George County. The clinic will be held Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 3 p.m. at King George High School. Dr. John Petrasky, district health director, said he will supply 800 doses of vaccine to the clinic, both the injectable and nasal mist versions. The King George clinic is in addition to two clinics already announced for Thursday, Nov. 19. St. William of York Catholic School will recieve 300 doses for a clinic that begins at 9 a.m. that day. Caroline High School will receive 1,100 doses for a clinic that begins at 5 p.m.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=57&p=1258399208
New flu-shot clinics announced Nov. 13, 2009 1:36 pm
Dr. John Petrasky, director of the Rappahannock Area Health District, said this afternoon that he hopes to ship at least 1,000 doses of the vaccine to Caroline. Its clinic will be held Thursday, Nov. 18, beginning at 5 p.m. in the Caroline High cafeteria. Caroline vaccinated 300 children at its only other clinic late last month. St. William of York will receive 300 doses for an in-school clinic beginning at 9 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 19. Petrasky said he is not sure which types of vaccine he’ll be able to offer the two school programs. He said that he’s scheduled the clinics on the assumption that more vaccine will arrive in the area early next week.
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Google creates flu-shot finder Nov. 13, 2009 11:08 am
Google, working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control The Virginia Department of Health and the American Lung Association are also cooperating with the effort and will link to it from their Web sites. The Health Department already maintains a searchable list of those who have applied to be vaccinators, but its site does not list those who have the vaccine. “The flu-shot finder will be an improvement over that,” said Melodie Martin, Health Department spokeswoman.When I put the Fredericksburg’s 22401 Zip code in the search engine this morning, it listed four places to get the H1N1 vaccine: four of the local Health Department offices. It also listed local Target and Walgreen pharmacies but said those location are “temporarily out of stock.” As for seasonal flu vaccine, it listed the MinuteClinic in the CVS on Tidewater Trail in Spotsylvania County. The organizers caution that the site does not list all the sites where vaccine is available. Also, it might list sites where vaccine is no longer available. Be sure to call ahead.The flu-shot finder can be found here.
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Nov. 12, 2009 10:24 am
Despite this volume, Stafford Hospital has had a minimal effect on the number of patients being treated at the ER at Mary Washington Hospital. Cathy Yablonski, Stafford Hospital administrator, said yesterday that Mary Washington’s ER volume has dropped about 13 patients per day now that Stafford is open. That’s about 4 percent of the 300 patients a day that Mary Washington typically sees in its ER. Evidently Stafford Hospital’s patients didn’t go to Mary Washington or didn’t seek ER care before Stafford Hospital opened. Most of them are new customers to MediCorp Health System. Will the same thing happen at MediCorp’s new Freestanding Emergency Department in Spotsylvania County? If so, expect the number of patients using that facility to grow steadily over the coming months, yet have little or no effect on the ED at Mary Washington. Stay tuned.
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Nov. 11, 2009 11:15 am
Nguyen is the epidemiologist at the Rappahannock Area Health District. She was the guest speaker at a meeting of parents at Riverbend High School in Spotsylvania County. Her topic was the H1N1 virus and the health district’s vaccination program. She also spent a few minutes on “respiratory etiquette.” Nguyen recommended that you cover a cough or sneeze with your clothing, not your hands. To make the point, she showed this 5-minute video entitled, “Why Don’t We Do It In Our Sleeves.” It’s a funny piece that illustrates the best and worst ways to sneeze. Remember when it was considered good manners to reach up with your hands when you were about to sneeze? Not anymore.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=57&p=1257956152
New H1N1 clinic for King George Nov. 10, 2009 3:33 pm
Dr. John Petrasky, health district director, said this afternoon that he will ship a minimum of 700 doses to King George, including a mix of the nasal mist and injectable forms of the vaccine. Petrasky said he scheduled the King George clinic on the assumption that he will receive a shipment of vaccine either tomorrow or Thursday. “I’m getting enough confidence in the shipping that when they tell me I’m getting it, I’m expecting it,” he said. The King George clinic is in addition to one tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m.at Lafayette Upper Elementary School in Fredericksburg and one Thursday at 5 p.m. at Spotsylvania High School.
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Nov. 9, 2009 3:05 pm
P Pratt has about 1,600 doses of the vaccine, both the injectable and nasal-mist versions, said Robert Alexander, CEO. Until now, Pratt has been giving the shot to its patients and to fire and EMS workers and workers in local physician offices, Alexander said. Now it will offer the shot to anyone defined as high-risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The cost is $15, an allowable administrative fee, Alexander said. The H1N1 vaccine is also available at the Minute Clinic at the CVS on Tidewater Trail in Spotsylvania. A worker said this afternoon that the store has a few doses left. And the Health Department is working on setting up public H1N1 clinics at each of its county offices, beginning next week. These would be for high-risk people who don’t qualify for one of the school-based clinics, said Dr. John Petrasky, health district director. Petrasky said this morning that he hopes to have more details about these clinics later this week. See tomorrow’s paper for a story about the Pratt distribution and other H1N1 clinics in the area.
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=57&p=1257797115
Nov. 9, 2009 12:03 pm
The high cost of smoking will be even higher next year, at least for the smokers who work here at the Free Lance-Star. This morning at our annual benefits meeting we were told by the folks upstairs that smokers are the only employees who will pay higher premiums next year for health insurance coverage. The rest of us will pay this year’s rates for our Anthem PPO and HMO coverage. The “smoking penalty” will be $40 per pay period next year, or more than $1,000 a year. That’s up $5 from the $35 per pay period that smokers pay in penalty this year. Smokers pay perhaps $5 per pack for cigarettes. They damage their bodies. And, at least here, they pay higher rates for health insurance. Tell me, please, what is it that recommends this habit?
Perma-link: http://www.fredericksburg.com/blogs/view?blogger_id=57&p=1257786199
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I’ve been calling around to doctors’ offices for the last two days to talk with them about the new mammography guidelines floated this week by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The task force recommended that most women 40 to 49 no longer receive routine mammograms to screen for breast cancer. The panel recommended that these screenings begin at age 50 for most women.
Dr. Henry Wayne Poore will be at the Fredericksburg Museum and Cultural Center tomorrow night to talk about his book, “Lessons Remembered: Memoirs of an Audacious Country Doctor.”
Caroline County will get its second flu-shot clinic next week. In addition, a clinic is planned for St. William of York Catholic School in Stafford County.
and Prevention, has constructed a national flu-shot finder that may be useful in finding both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines.
Stafford Hospital Center, left, is about 8 months old, and its emergency department has grown busier with each month. These days its staff treats maybe 125 to 130 patients per day. Recently the staff set an in-house record when it treated 171 patients.
Lan Nguyen, left, used humor last night to remind her audience of the best way to cover their coughs and sneezes.
The Health District has scheduled a new H1N1 clinic for Thursday at 4 p.m. at King George High School.
ratt Medical Center is offering the H1N1 vaccine to those who have not been able to get a shot at one of the school-based clinics. Pratt began giving the vaccine this morning by appointment at its 
Jim Hall is health reporter at The Free Lance-Star
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