By Susan Shinn
sshinn@salisburypost.com
It may be the most wonderful time of the year ó just not at your local physicians’ offices.
Just in time for the holidays, doctors’ offices are packed.
“I think people come together for Thanksgiving and spread everything they’ve got,” said Rebecca Morton, a family nurse practitioner with Troyer Family Practice in China Grove.
There’s a pretty nasty GI bug going around, Morton said Tuesday, although her office has not yet begun to see any cases of flu.
“That’s usually a late January or February thing,” Morton said. “It hits with a vengeance after the new year.”
Morton favors soap and water over hand sanitizers, convenient as they may be.
Laurie Ritchie concurs.
“The more you can wash your hands, the better off you’ll be,” Ritchie, office manager for Rowan Family Physicians, said Wednesday.
The office had a pretty full parking lot late Tuesday afternoon.
Being in groups and sharing food ó how many times have you grabbed a handful of holiday M&Ms from the office candy jar lately? ó is causing illness, Ritchie said.
“We’re not seeing the flu yet, but we’re seeing a vomiting and diarrhea bug with fever,” she said. “Some of our staff is even coming down with it.”
Morton herself didn’t sound so good.
“I have a little cold,” she admitted. “It’ll go away.”
Ritchie noted, “We’ll see a big influx of people after Christmas when everybody has been closed up.”
Zandra Spencer, Rowan Regional Medical Center spokesperson, said this week that the hospital does have a “pretty high” patient census.
The hospital has seen patients admitted with colds and respiratory ailments.
“We know we’ve got a lot of people in-house,” Spencer said Wednesday.