In these difficult times of keeping our patients and our staff safe, we cannot emphasize enough that we should all follow the guidance given by the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the greater DC, Maryland and Virginia Public Health Officials.
Even though we are limiting one way or another our face to face appointments, please be aware that our office and staff are open and available to address your needs. First, we are utilizing our telemedicine capability to evaluate you as in Follow up and New Patient appointment; then, we schedule you for a procedure, and testing as needed in a limited face to face appointment, where our staff is expected to be in full protected gear. Keep checking our website for updates, as we phase back in our abilities to administer shots.
The CDC outlines certain risk factors for severe illness due to COVID-19, such as “65 years of age or older, moderate to severe asthma, and an immunocompromised [or immune deficient] health.” (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-at-higher-risk.html).
If you have an immune deficiency, please continue your treatment under the guidance of your doctor and please know you WILL need to self-isolate, not just quarantine.
If you have moderate or severe asthma, please continue your treatment, check your supply of medications, and schedule a telemedicine appointment with your doctor to ensure that you are doing all that you can to care for yourself during this period of health challenges.
If you do not know whether you are immune-deficient or have never been tested for immune-deficiency, we can guide you through a simple test to assess your immune system. This is important to understand if you are considered high risk and need to self-isolate.
As Allergists/Immunologists, we your doctors at the Institute for Asthma and Allergy, always worked hard to identify patients who are at risk for immune deficient diseases. Over the past years, we have begun more sophisticated immune testing on a number of our patients. We found immune deficiencies in approximately 17% of those who demonstrated other concerning features of immune dysfunction.
As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to impact our community, we now more than ever are trying to identify patients who have immune deficiencies that put them at high risk. Thus, we are continuing to offer and encourage this immune test to our patients. Our goal is to provide pertinent information based on science to our patients that will help guide health decisions in general and in the coming months in specific.
Please call us at 301-962-5800. We will provide you guidance on how to do the test which involves a simple blood draw. This is NOT a test for the COVID-19 virus or immunity to COVID-19, but is a test to assess your immune system for an underlying immune deficiency that would put you at high risk.
The Institute for Asthma and Allergy is committed to supporting our community during this very difficult time. Above all, we want all of you to be safe and informed as much as possible.
Together, we can reduce the negative consequences the coronavirus is causing in our community and to take care of your health for the long term.