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Another New Doctor
Dr. John Campbell has just joined our team and is
offering consultations twice per week. He
brings a great deal of experience to the team -
more information on the staff page.
Busy Time...
Wow - what a busy couple of months we've
had. In addition to dealing with a very
nasty viral infection that's been doing the
rounds, we've been working hard behind the scenes
to improve the service and are pleased to be able
to announce that we now have a nurse available
every day with Roslyn joining the team.
Here to Stay
Thank you to all who have supported Hei Hei Health
centre over the last year. We now have
enough patients to ensure that we are a viable,
going concern. We are keen to expand though
and to offer more services so we are still
enrolling new patients.
Paracetamol and Fever
A recent letter to the New Zealand Medical
Journal has raised concern that Paracetamol
should not be used for fever in influenza.
The advice given is contradictory, stating that
it is fine to use the drug for pain or headache
which are most often associated with the fever
but not for the fever itself. According to
the letter, some animal studies have shown
evidence of harm coming from paracetamol.
The authors feel that this, coupled with the
lack of evidence of benefit other than for
symptoms measn that paracetamol should not be
used for fever alone.
There is good reason to wonder whether treating
the fever is a good idea as it does have a
biological basis in helping to fight disease,
but to date no human studies have shown evidence
of harm from doing so. A quality review of
paracetamol and other antipyretics in 2006
concluded that there was no evidence of harm or
of illness extension due to the use of
paracetamol but it is worth noting that the
absence of evidence is not the same as evidence
of absence of harm.
If harm does occur, it is probably rare, though
as stated, there have been no human
studies.
We respectfully suggest that animal evidence is
not wisely extrapolated to humans, especially
where it is not in concordance with general
observation. Animal studies do not take
into account the differences in treatment given
to human patients who do not progress as well as
expected during their illness and so poorer
outcomes are to be expected.
It remains our advice that if you feel unwell
as a result of fever, paracetamol is a sensible
and reasonable treatment to use. If this
advice changes, we will of course post it here
first.
We should like to remind parents that it is
unwise to give ASPIRIN to children under 18 and
dangerous to use it for children under 12.
There is a rare and often fatal neurological
disorder called Reye's Syndrome which can be
triggered by givin aspirin to young children
(ibuprofen and paracetamol are safe)
Who's on When?
This calendar should make it easier for you to
find when your favourite staff member is
available. Do remember that though we try to
keep it as accurate as possible, it is a guide
only. Please call the surgery if you would
like to make an appointment.
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