• ROUTINE MEDICAL CARE:  Patients who are cleared by the screening process will be directed to the front office for check-in processing. A specified waiting area will be reserved for newborns and infants. However, patients that DO NOT clear the screening process WILL NOT be permitted in the main entrance. Options for care include, changing the appointment to a sick or telehealth visit or rescheduling the appointment. All patients over the age of two will be required to wear a face mask.
• SICK CARE: Provider/Nurse teams are designated daily for our SICK CLINIC. Call 910-892-1333 for an appointment time. Sick patients are processed through a different building entrance and isolated to a specific area of the building. All patients over the age of two will be required to wear a face mask.
• TELEPHONIC & VIRTUAL CALLS: Patients needing provider advice and/or medication management but do not pass screening can maintain their child’s healthcare needs by scheduling a telehealth visit when appropriate. Telehealth (video call) appointments can be coordinated with the patient’s primary care provider by calling 910-892-1333. 
• MENTAL HEALTH CARE: Our mental health department is fully staffed. Counselors are providing face to face sessions or connecting to patients via telehealth (video call). For scheduling, questions or additional information, please call our Mental Health Department directly at 910-892-1333, ext 2277 and speak with Maria or Victoria. 
• ALLERGY DEPARTMENT:  We will continue to support our patients receiving IN-OFFICE allergy injections on your regularly scheduled visits. For scheduling, questions or additional information, please call our Allergy Department directly at 910-892-1333, ext 2241 and speak with Sandra or Jennifer.  

Your patience, support, and continued trust in what we do here at ABC PEDIATRICS are sincerely appreciated. 

Let's clarify:

• Although originally meant to simply indicate that results would be available the same day as the test, RAPID TESTING can have different meanings in today’s discussions. In the past, RAPID TESTING generally referred to “antigen testing”. However, with today’s new technology, RAPID TESTING can also be used to describe MOLECULAR Testing.

• With “Antigen Testing”, a nasal sample is used to determine if specific COVID 19 PROTEINS found on the virus’ surface are present in your nasal secretions. If this test is POSITIVE, it is likely that you currently carry the virus. However, if this test is NEGATIVE, most experts recommend that this test is “FOLLOWED UP or CONFIRMED BY A MOLECULAR TEST”.

• “MOLECULAR TESTING” is a more definitive test which looks for specific parts of the viral genome from a swab of your nasal secretions. MOLECULAR TESTNG is readily available in two forms: NAAT and RT-PCR. NAAT stands for Nucleic Acid Amplification Technique and is the methodology employed in the Abbott testing platform. This test utilizes a nasal swab and takes approximately 15 minutes to get a result. RT-PCR stands for Real Time - Polymerase Chain Reaction and is the methodology employed in the Cepheid testing platform. This test utilizes a naso-pharyngeal swab and takes approximately 45 minutes to get a result. NAAT testing recommends a RT-PCR test to CONFIRM any negative result whereas RT-PCR is the “Gold Standard” test for COVID and does NOT require any confirmatory testing. In the early days of COVID testing, it would take several days to get results back from MOLECULAR TESTING. However, advances in technology have resulted in “RAPID MOLECULAR TESTING” that can provide results in as little as 15 minutes for NAAT testing and 45 minutes for RT-PCR testing. ABC Pediatrics EXCLUSIVELY utilizes RT-PCR testing (The “GOLD STANDARD”) to evaluate, diagnose, and counsel our patients regarding COVID infections, and this testing does NOT require that it be followed up or confirmed by an additional test.(There is a link to the FACT SHEET for the RT-PCR testing that is performed at ABC Pediatrics which gives more in-depth information on this test.)

• “SEROLOGY TESTING”, also referred to as ANTIBODY TESTING, is a test that utilizes a fingerstick blood sample to look for your body’s response to the COVID virus or the COVID vaccine. If you have been exposed to or diagnosed as having COVID, or received one of the COVID vaccines, your body should respond by making ANTIBODIES to the virus. Antibodies come in two types: IgM or immediate and IgG which is delayed. IgM antibodies usually develop 7 - 21 days after exposure to the COVID virus (or vaccine) and only last a few weeks. IgG antibodies tend to develop after 14 - 28 days and stay around in your body for a lengthy period (months to years) to help protect your body and fight off any future exposures to the COVID virus. At this time, we do NOT know how long these IgG antibodies will be around OR how long they will offer protection in the future. More studies will be performed in the months ahead to give us a clearer picture of these antibodies.ABC Pediatrics is able to perform the test for COVID antibodies in our office lab with results available in 15 - 25 minutes.

Consult Primary Care Physician Now if you see any/some of the following:

• Patients less than 3 months of age- report 100.5 or higher temperature immediately
• Patients 3 months and older, - report fever 100.5 or higher if persists beyond 3 days
• Redness or bloodshot eyes (without pus or drainage)
• Mouth changes- swollen, bumpy red tongue (“Strawberry tongue”)  Redness of mouth, lips and/or throat
• Red, dry cracked or bleeding lips
• Widespread Rash
• Red palms of hands and/or soles of feet
• Peeling skin (hands and/or feet)
• Swollen hands and/or feet
• Neck swelling- swollen lymph nodes/glands (usually one sign of neck) 
• Severe Abdominal pain, Diarrhea or Vomiting
• Joint pain
• Fast heartrate, chest pain or pressure
• Fast breathing, short of breath, trouble speaking, grunting or wheezing
• Slow or Shallow breathing or retractions (tugging of skin seen, between each rib with each breath)
• Pale, gray or blue skin, lips
• Headache with fever, or neck stiffness (can’t touch chin to chest)
• Irritability, confusion, lethargy
• Limp like a rag doll, little or no eye contact and/or little or no movement
• Not responding normally, doesn’t recognize caregiver, doesn’t follow commands
• Feels faint or weak
• Not drinking or drinks very little, trouble swallowing
• Not urinating normally, change in frequency, amount or darker colored (less than 5-6 wet diapers per day) Has not urinated in over 8 hours
• Seizure like activity
• Worsening-Looking or acting sicker: ANY NEW, worrisome, changing or worsening symptoms, improved, now acting sick again, or resolved fever returned