Physicians Quality Care tested 106 patients for the presence of coronavirus antibodies on Monday – the first day the test was offered at its Jackson and Milan locations.
At the same time, it is also asking those who have had the virus to volunteer in a research study that will help find treatments to fight the virus.
“Both initiatives are part of PQC’s efforts to help fight this pandemic as communities start lifting social restrictions and reopen our economy,” said Dr. Jimmy Hoppers, CEO of Physicians Quality Care, “Knowing that you have antibodies to the virus can give you peace of mind – you probably won’t get the virus again or unknowingly spread the virus to someone else.”
Dr. Melanie Hoppers, PQC’s Chief Medical Officer, is leading the research study at PQC in a partnership with Clinical Research Solutions. The clinic will collect blood and swab samples from people who have had the coronavirus and are now symptom free.
“This is a way to learn more about possible treatments from those patients who have already recovered from the virus,” she said.
For more information or to join the study, patients can call Aubrey Walgren at Clinical Research Solutions at 731-431-5027.
Those wanting an antibody test, meanwhile, should be asymptomatic – meaning they’ve had no symptoms of the coronavirus for the last 10 days. They can walk-in to PQC’s urgent care clinics in Milan or Jackson.
Like a regular office visit, they will meet with a provider and then have blood drawn for a test that will check for the presence of IgG antibodies to COVID-19.
IgG antibodies are your immune system’s response to fighting off the presence of a virus, Dr. Jimmy Hoppers said. It will take three to five days for results to come back from a CDC-accredited national testing laboratory.
“We don’t have enough data yet about COVID-19, but we do know that the presence of antibodies to other diseases caused by a virus – measles, mumps, flu, chicken pox – confers a lower risk of getting the disease,” Dr. Jimmy Hoppers said, “That’s why you get a measles vaccine as a child, so your body has the ability to develop IgG antibodies to the measles.”
For more information call 731-984-8400 or visit physiciansqualitycare.com.
PQC in Jackson is open 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
Telemedicine is available during those hours.
Because all COVID-19-concerned patients are directed to the Jackson location’s secure COVID-19 clinic, PQC in Milan has new hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
