A new report released from the American Academy of Pediatrics this month addresses the topic of preventing the spread of infectious disease in organized sports. This is a hot topic for pediatricians in Raleigh who do lots of sports physicals, including those of us here at Carolina Kids Pediatrics.
The highlights of this report: Skin infections spread by direct contact with other athletes account for 10-15% of time lost from sports. At Carolina Kids Pediatrics, we see kids from around Raleigh for sports physicals on a regular basis who have acquired skin infections through direct contact with other athletes or contaminated sports equipment. A general rule we can review during sports physicals is never to share equipment, towels or clothing, and make sure that wrestling mats and protective sports equipment are cleaned regularly – a dilute bleach solution works quite well to kill many bacteria, viruses and fungi which cause skin infection. Some additional advice about common sports-related infections:
Every organized sports team, whether school-based or not, requires that children be cleared by their Raleigh pediatrician through a sports physical. When your child gets their sports physical at Carolina Kids Pediatrics, please talk to us not only about injury and concussion prevention, but also the prevention of infectious disease from sports participation.
For more information on these guidelines on preventing infections in sports, check out this article before you come in for this year’s sports physical:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/well/family/when-athletes-share-infections.html
Christian Nechyba, MD
Carolina Kids Pediatrics
Your Pediatrician in Raleigh, North Carolina
2605 Blue Ridge Road, Suite 100
Raleigh, NC 27607, US
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5:00 pm - 6:30 pm: after hours, same day by appointment
8:30 am - 5:00 pm
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm: after hours, same day by appointment
8:30 am - 5:00 pm
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm: after hours, same day by appointment
8:30 am - 5:00 pm
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm: after hours, same day by appointment
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
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9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Limited availability. Call when we open to schedule.