South Jersey Magazine - Cherry Hill / Haddonfield / Voorhees

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SJM_PROFILE_RMA_1122 - v2 - FINAL_profile 12 / 22 / 22 9 : 59 AM Page 4 PROMOTION of the transfer resulting in a pregnancy looking past the genetics of the embryo practitioners that and , later , a live birth . to delve more deeply into the parents havejoined our team : themselves . Michael Simone , We’ve talked about statistics and pro - As for me , women’s health care has M.D . , a reproductive endocrinologist ; and cedures , but there’s also a significant been in my blood from the time I was a human factor associated with infertility child . My dad was an OB / GYN , and my Jessica M . Kestler , MSN , APN , WHNP - andthe methods to overcome it . Tell momwas a labor - and - delivery nurse , so I me about the providers at RMA New was around it from when I was quite BC , a nurse practi - tioner . That means Jersey , and why their expertise and young . I followed my father into OB / GYN passion for reproductive medicine is and had the opportunity to be involved we have a total of four providers here important . in reproductive medicine . I like being a RMA has a long history of being at the partof a couple’s or a patient’s lives ; helping tohelp us achieve the goal we set out to forefrontof this field , including conducting them build their family is a remarkable cutting - edge research that is helping to honor . I am also very engaged in the achieve when we opened this facility , movethe entire field forward . RMA physi - scienceof human reproduction , which is cians continue to participate in these entirelyfascinating . All of the practitioners which is to help locally based patients safely n groundbreaking studies , including some here have their own story and their own buildtheir families . here at Marlton . We’re looking into topics reason for getting into this field , but I such as how we treat endometrial insuffi - think we all share that interest in the For more information on ciency , or thin uterine linings , looking at scienceand that passion for helping other platelet - rich plasma as a potential treat - people . RMA Marlton ment . We also continue to look for ways Sincewe opened our doors in Marlton visit RMANetwork.com toexpand and enhance genetic screening three years ago , we have continually or call ( 856 ) 267 - 8100 andtesting . Genetics has been intertwined expanded our services and added to our 95 Old Marlton Pike , Evesham withhuman reproduction , and now we’re staff . Recently we announced two new SOUTH JERSEY MAGAZINE volume 19 issue 9 SouthJerseyMagazine.com | 47

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SJM_DEPT_Health_1222_Dept 12 / 22 / 22 1 : 27 PM Page 1 started a little bit earlier than the usual season in addition to these other respiratory viruses , including influenza and COVID . The impact seems and is more than we usually expect , ” Rellosa says . Dr . Martin Topiel , Virtua Health’s head of infectious disease , echoes this sentiment , adding that people of all ages are susceptible to RSV and its accompanying respiratory problems , despite the common misconception that only children can experience serious symptoms from the virus . “ There’s more infection out there and a lot of this is because of the inter - ruption of the cycle of viruses over the last three years with predominant masking , ” Topiel says , emphasizing the lingering repercussions of the pandemic . “ Now that we’ve gone into Under the a situation where people have been unmasked , there’s a greater risk for exposure and there’s less immunity to these infections . ” Winter Weather Topiel adds that emergency rooms have seen a steady flow of adult RSV tseems that whenever the weather COVID - 19AND cases while pediatric hospitals are changes , especially when it gets colder , ACCOMPANYING “ overflowing ” with infants suffering Isnifflesand sickness come in droves . COLD - WEATHER from the virus . Themain concerns used to be influenza As if catching one isn’t enough , VIRUSESARE andthe seemingly inevitable common medical experts say it’s not cold ; then COVID - 19 shook the world by CREEPINGINTO uncommon to be hit with multiple rearingits ugly head in early 2020 , and HOMESTHIS WINTER , viruses simultaneously . slammedSouth Jersey again when the BUT THERE ARE WAYS “ It happens relatively quite often , Omicronvariant plagued our region last TO STOP THE SPREAD where people are co - infected with winter . more than just one of these respira - This year , respiratory syncytial virus ( RSV ) OF ILLNESS WHILE tory viruses , ” Rellosa says , adding that entered the ring as yet another highly contagious CONTINUING TO the more viruses are involved , the and severe threat to our collective health . With so SPREAD HOLIDAY harder it is to treat a patient . many viruses and illnesses to keep track of , South CHEER . Jersey Magazine spoke with local health experts to Staying Healthy find out what concerns we should keep an extra byKatie Francis Fortunately , the work that health care close eye on this winter . workers and scientists are doing gives us a great advantage over this trio of TheBig Three viruses : Because they understand Kerry McKean Kelly , a spokesperson for the New Jersey Hospital Association , says that the them , they know how to combat them . combination of COVID - 19 , RSV and the flu is a “ triple threat ” looming over the state , each All three viruses are transmissible virus with its own risk factors and daunting strengths . through respiratory droplets and by “ The flu especially is at one of the highest levels we have seen in many years , ” she direct contact and are considered explains , referencing information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highly contagious . These shared char - ( CDC ) that shows New Jersey started December as one of 10 states to have “ very high ” acteristics turn indoor gatherings into influenza - like illness activity . giant Petri dishes in which the viruses Meanwhile , COVID infection rates are steadily increasing as the temperature drops . thrive and multiply . However , Topiel The seven - day average of new daily cases and deaths nearly doubled from 1,651 cases and says that there are ways to avoid 6.7 deaths at the end of November to 2,577 cases and 12 deaths just two weeks later , spreading illnesses while still enjoying according to confirmed collaborative health data . the company of friends and family . While the public is very familiar with the flu and has spent the better part of three years “ In those areas where there is grappling with and trying to understand the ever - mutating COVID - 19 virus , many know higher transmission , it’s recom - very little about RSV . According to Neil Rellosa , MD , a pediatric infectious disease doctor at mended to be masking indoors to Nemours Children’s Health , it’s another respiratory virus that is much more prevalent now protect yourself , as well as others who than in years past . might be immunosuppressed . That’s “ Normally in a RSV season , which is a virus that we in pediatrics are very familiar the way we can interrupt the chain of with , we see a good number of cases every year . But it usually seems to affect younger transmission . … And hand - washing , children , infants and small children . I think this year is particularly different because it SOUTH JERSEY MAGAZINE volume 19 issue 9 SouthJerseyMagazine.com 48 |

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