May, 2020

When You Should Not Assume That It’s Allergies

Friday, May 15th, 2020

Although it is almost summer, springtime allergies are still a problem for many people. Every year, more and more people are affected by seasonal allergies. These allergies can begin anytime during your lifetime, and symptoms are usually very mild in the first couple of seasons. Allergy symptoms include chronic cough, sneezing, runny nose, itchy or watery eyes, and nasal congestion. 

These symptoms can also be a sign of other health conditions. It is important to make an appointment with your primary care doctor or an allergist if you think you may have allergies so that you can be tested and treated for seasonal allergies. But in the meantime, there are a few things to watch for that should send you to urgent care right away instead of waiting for an appointment.

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COVID-19 Antibody Testing

Friday, May 1st, 2020

Suncoast Urgent Care now offers testing for IgG antibody to the SARS-CoV-2 virus !

Insured Patients : sign up for a telemedicine visit with one of our physicians. Complete a brief series of questions related to your medical history and the presence of any symptoms of illness (you do not have to have any symptoms). Next you will be directed to come to the office to have a blood test drawn and expect your results within 2-3 days !

Self Pay Patients : The test without insurance costs $109 . You will go through the same steps ! Sign up for an appointment using our telemedicine platform. Fees are collected up front for the entire process. After completing the telemedicine visit you will be directed to come to one of our clinics for your blood test.

Suncoast Urgent Care is sending our blood tests out to a high complexity lab to perform an "immunoassay" to test for antibody. This is a highly accurate test, not a test performed on site like a rapid strep test. The tests being performed by some clinics on-site have been shown to be unreliable as has been reported on the news. When a reliable onsite test does become available we will offer both options.

Keep in mind, antibody tests are not used to detect the presence of the virus. This test detects whether you have formed antibodies to the virus which implies you have been exposed and developed an immune response to the virus (it does not however guarantee you are immune to the virus). IgG antibody takes about 10 days to develop after infection. This is not a test to perform on someone who is currently having symptoms for less than 10 days.

Click here to book your telemedicine visit !

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