Practice Management
A group of 58 global clinicians has proposed a new way of identifying obesity that does not rely on body mass index (BMI) alone. They believe waist circumference and direct fat measurement should also be figured in, as well as other signs and symptoms of health, according to an online article in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. Current BMI-based measures of obesity can underestimate or overestimate body fat and health status. The clinician group recommends that …
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Kids diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19 infection recover fully within 6 months after infection, according to research presented in JAMA Pediatrics. Data came from more than 1,200 pediatric patients treated at 32 North American pediatric hospitals from March 2020 to January 2022. MIS-C is concerning because kids with the diagnosis are at risk for cardiovascular complications, meanwhile, the authors found that myocardial involvement occurred in 60.5% of patients studied. …
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Cases of norovirus are surging in some parts of the United States, with 91 outbreaks as of early December 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Norovirus is often transmitted through fresh food or water, and long-term care facilities, childcare centers, and cruise ships tend to be the most common settings of outbreaks. The most common symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain. Each year, there are about 2,500 reported …
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Virtual appointments may not be the ideal channel for leveraging the Centor Criteria for tonsillitis, which calls for a clinician to check a patient for fever as well as tender and swollen lymph nodes. A cross-sectional study of 189 patients published in Infectious Diseases, analyzed digital assessments in comparison to physical examinations when used to determine clinical recommendations for treatment of tonsillitis. The study included 3 urgent care clinics and 6 primary care practices in …
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The effectiveness of the seasonal influenza vaccine for kids was more than 55% during the respiratory virus seasons from November 2015 to April 2020, according to a study in JAMA Network Open. The 15,728 US children ages 6 months to 17 years who were studied realized protection against emergency department (ED) visits or hospitalization with at least 1 dose of the vaccine. No difference in estimated effectiveness was observed based on varying levels of flu …
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In mid-December, a case of H5N1 (avian influenza) in Louisiana was reported as the first instance of severe illness linked to the virus in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now sequenced the H5N1 virus in specimens collected from the patient in Louisiana who became severely ill and compared them to other H5N1 sequences from dairy cows, birds, poultry, and previous human cases. After studying this genetic analysis, researchers …
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Researchers found that more than 68% of patients in primary care settings with negative chest x-rays were prescribed antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Two-hundred fifty-nine adults in France with clinically suspected CAP received chest radiography (CR) as part of their evaluations, and 144 (55.6%) had a positive result, according to the study presented in the Annals of Family Medicine. Patients with positive CR had more severe and longer-lasting symptoms—including higher body temperature, faster heart rate, …
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The percentage of emergency department (ED) visits that included influenza testing increased from 2.5% in 2013 to 10.9% in 2022, according to a new data brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ED visits for children ages 0–5 years had the highest percentage of tests ordered both in 2013 data (8.6%) and 2022 data (23.1%). Among ED visits by adults, the percentage with an influenza test increased from 1.9% to 9.1% for patients …
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Michigan’s state health department reported more than 1,500 pertussis infections as of December 8, 2024—the highest number of cases in 10 years, according to Mlive. By comparison, the state saw a 596-case average from 2017 through 2019. And Michigan isn’t alone. The Massachusetts department of public health also reported a 5-fold increase in the number of confirmed cases of pertussis with 754 cases on the books through the end of November, compared to 115 in …
Read MoreIn spite of current thinking, it turns out that vitamin D and calcium actually don’t reduce the risk of falls or fractures in healthy older adults, according to a new draft recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). About 14 million adults aged 65 years or older (27.6%) reported falling at least once in the previous year, making falls the leading cause of unintentional injury among older adults. However, the task force recommends …
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