Dr. Gulla Shares Findings on COVID-19 Testing

Dr. Mandy Gulla / Contributed Photo

Dr. Mandy Gulla, Medical Director at Living Medical Arts PLLC in Friday Harbor, recently participated in an expert panel discussion at the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians’ annual conference.

The panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Teresa Richter, was dedicated to updates on Covid-19 testing options, status of vaccine development, and impacts on health of patients and communities. Besides Gulla, panelists included Department of Health expert Chas DeBolt, Dr. Sunita Iyer, Dr. David Musnick, and Dr. Decker Weiss.

Gulla wants to share with the community the DOH expert and WANP take-homes:

• There are variations in how people are responding to testing. The greatest number of positive.
• Polymerase Chain Reaction swab tests appear on the fifth day after exposure. However, some people may not have symptoms for as many as 14 days after exposure, which is why a 14- day quarantine is required if you think you’ve had exposure.
• Pieces of the virus are being “shed” for up to 90 days and patients may still test positive during this time. However, after 10 days of symptoms, the virus culture cannot be grown in a petri-dish, which is why a 10-day quarantine is required once testing positive.
• It is important to do repeated testing and to not feel overly confident once you’ve tested negative. Some schools around the country are testing weekly and even daily.

“I was honored to participate in the WANP Expert Covid-19 panel. It is so critical to keep up to date on
clinically relevant information from practicing providers,” said Gulla.

As islanders do their part in keeping the island communities safe, awareness of this information and practicing safe measures and repeat testing will continue helping to eliminate exposure to others and prevent the spread of the virus.

 “We have offered Covid-19 testing since the beginning of the pandemic, and continue to do so as a service to our community,” she said. 

Living Medical Arts is a multi-disciplinary clinic delivering naturopathic medicine, physical medicine and
integrative care, serving the San Juan Islands and other communities for over 10 years.

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