Bulletin Board
Stay in the know! This page provides visitors with updates from around the office.
Please contact events@doctorkate.net to receive a copy of the latest
Group Medical Visit Flyer
The SCOTUS decision to strike down longstanding protections afforded by Roe v. Wade criminalizes medical care and limits access to health care. The American Academy of Family Physicians weighs in. Atkinson Family Practice provides Reproductive Health Services including IUDs, Nexplanon, free condoms, and other methods of contraceptive care, as well as all routine screening exams and testing for our patients. Here are some importation FAQs involving the recent Roe v. Wade decision. These FAQs pertain specifically to Massachusetts and include patient resources.
We now offer the new Bivalent COVID-19 Booster to ages 5 and up! Please contact either office to book an appointment by calling 413-549-8400 or emailing reception@doctorkate.net.
You have probably been hearing about “monkeypox” in the media. Please schedule a visit to talk to your health care team if you have questions or feel you are at high risk. We are your Medical Home and want to be the first place you turn for advice about your health concerns.
There is some stigma around the name “monkey pox”, and the World Health Organization plans to rename this virus. For now, we are using “MPV” or “MPX” which is consistent with terminology used by Mass General Brigham and other academic health centers.
Screenshots from CDC, courtesy Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP)
More on the Polio vaccine:
PRIMARY SERIES: Adults living in MA who opted to not get vaccinated against polio or emerging adults whose parents opted out of childhood vaccinations are eligible for IPV.
BOOSTER: Individuals who are already vaccinated but are at risk of exposure should receive a booster. For travel, there are many locations globally that are and have been high-risk, and patients can consult travel medicine services and the embassies if they have questions about indications for boosters when traveling.
Adults who completed their childhood immunization series are considered immune unless they have a high risk exposure. There is no need to do titers on adults who are curious unless they have no records of past immunizations. Anyone who recently traveled to a high-risk area in NY state or elsewhere should get a booster if exposure occurred.
Polio Vaccine Effectiveness and Duration of Protection
Vaccine Effectiveness
Two doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) are 90% effective or more against paralytic polio; three doses are 99% to 100% effective.
A person is considered to be fully vaccinated if they received:
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Four doses of any combination of IPV and trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV), or
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A primary series of at least three doses of IPV or tOPV
AND
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The last dose in either series should be given after 4 years of age and at least 6 months after the previous dose.
Duration of Protection
It is not known how long people who received IPV will be protected against polio, but they are most likely protected for many years after a complete series of IPV. However, adults who completed their polio vaccination series as children and are at higher risk for polio exposure can receive one lifetime IPV booster.
Click the images below to learn more about assisted living in MA. This is not AFP sponsored, it is a resource we wanted to share with our patients!
