At Alzein Pediatrics & Urgent Care, we’re seeing more and more sick children each day. Cold weather keeps people indoors, where the spread of germs is made so much easier. When winter illnesses hit your home, you want your child’s fever, pain and miserable symptoms resolved quickly, so everyone can get back to school, work and play as soon as possible.
The cold, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19, pneumonia, strep throat, and a multitude of other viruses can all present with very similar symptoms. These symptoms can include:
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffed nose
- Wheezing or difficulty breathing
- Fever
There is only one way medical professionals can diagnosis your child’s symptoms accurately, and that’s with leading edge testing. Getting your child diagnosed promptly and accurately can mean the difference between a couple of days of being under the weather or a hospitalization. While many respiratory illnesses share symptoms, each disease requires a different treatment response. Putting the wrong treatment protocol into place after a misdiagnosis can waste time, fuel antibiotic resistance and make your child sicker.
At Alzein Pediatrics & Urgent Care, we are proud to use most up-to-date, evidence-based testing procedure, the Biofire Spotfire. The Biofire Spitfire can test for 5 to 15 different respiratory and throat pathogens, and requires only inserting a sample into the desktop machine. Test results are completed and available for reading quickly.
With one quick swab of your child’s nasal passages and another swab of their throat and insertion of the samples into the Biofire Spotfire unit, we’ll begin testing for an extensive range of bacterial infections and viral infections including:
- COVID-19
- Rhinovirus (common cold)
- Influenza A
- Influenza B
- RSV
- Group A Strep
- Pneumonia
You’ll have results quickly, usually in about fifteen minutes. When we have an accurate diagnosis, we’ll prescribe appropriate treatment that will ease your child’s symptoms quickly, getting them back to school, daycare and family activities as soon as possible.
The advantages of this technology are immense. Being able to test for a variety of pathogens from just one sample means we don’t have to swab the sinus cavity and throat of your child multiple times, causing them discomfort when they are already feeling miserable. In the time it takes for us to complete your child’s physical examination, Biofire is running the test – no need for a lab visit and no delays.
The Biofire Spotfire system ensures that the care your child receives is tailored not just to your child’s symptoms, but the underlying cause of those conditions. A bacterial infection like strep throat will require antibiotics to cure the infection completely and avoid serious complications. A viral infection like COVID-19 or the flu may require antiviral medications and over the counter pain and fever relief. For the common cold, we’ll typically recommend TLC, a cool mist humidifier and perhaps an over the counter medication to ease symptoms.
When you visit Alzein Pediatrics & Urgent Care with your sick child, your child will be seen as quickly as possible, by the healthcare providers you know and trust. We’ll swab your child, test those samples, and read the results quickly and accurately. You’ll walk out with recommendations and medications that will help your child feel better soon, helping to avoid further spread of the illness in our community.
Need an appointment for your sick child? Click here to schedule a same-day appointment or call 708-424-7600.
