Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays—and Spreading Infectious Disease

The good news on the tripledemic front as Christmas and New Year celebrations approach, according to multiple mainstream media and health department sources, is that new cases of respiratory syncytial virus and influenza have probably peaked. The correlating less-rosy news, as reported by Becker’s Hospital Review, is that packing large groups of people into inside spaces over the next week is likely to reverse the trend in pretty short order. The same goes for the …

Routine Vaccinations Skipped During the Pandemic May Be Coming Back to Haunt Us Now

Well-care visits to healthcare providers essentially ceased during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That included routine vaccination for children. It wasn’t much of a threat for a while, as kids had little face-to-face interaction with anyone outside their family, thereby lowering risk of any infectious disease. Now, however, healthcare officials are concerned that a measles outbreak in the Midwest United States could be the harbinger of a national or even global emergency. As reported …

Yet Another Viral Threat Is on the Rise in the U.S.—and It’s Already Proven Deadly

As if unusually high rates of hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus and flu, along with sporadic spikes in COVID-19, aren’t enough at least four hospitals in the United States are seeing a growing number of severe cases of Streptococcus A infection. As reported by NBC News, children’s hospitals in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and Washington have reported spikes in invasive Strep group A. Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston has recorded roughly 60 cases in October and …

The Holidays Are Tough Times for Addicts. Be Vigilant for Drug Seekers

This time of year is notoriously difficult for addicts. Whether due to diagnosed seasonal affective disorder, exposure to substances at holiday parties, or simply seeking relief from the winter blues, even individuals committed to sobriety can stumble. Some will head for urgent care centers in the hope that a provider they haven’t seen before could be duped with tales of acute pain from an after-hours dental issue or a fall. As such, this might be …

Update: The Amoxicillin Shortage Not Only Continues—It’s Getting Worse

When we last reported on the ongoing shortage of amoxicillin products, the crisis involved 29 products and fulfillment was expected anywhere between November and January. According to new information from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, however, the shortage has spread to include 44 products and fulfillment isn’t expected until mid-January or early February, depending on the product and manufacturer. Check with pharmacies before prescribing.

Update: With COVID and Flu Catching Up to RSV, Is It Time to Bring the Masks Out Again?

Just last week we reported that the national influenza profile in the United States was worse than it’s been in a decade—and the situation has only deteriorated since then, with even more states reporting either “high” or “very high” flu activity. At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says incidence of COVID-19 jumped 50% in a single week, from 300,000 cases confirmed at the end of November to 460,000 in the …

With High-Risk Pandemic Habits Hanging On, Urgent Care May Need to Fill a Primary Care Role

Some people who should be in the know say the pandemic is over, while other presumably knowledgeable sources say it’s merely diminished, with the threat of another surge being a constant concern. What’s indisputable is the fact that many habits patients developed during the lockdown phase are hard to shake. One is staying away from medical offices. New data reported by STAT show that visits to primary care practices are still down 10.3% compared with …

Flu Season Is Living Up to the Hype. Is Your Team Ready for a Long Slog?

Every year, there are some parties decrying that flu season is going to be devastating; usually the dire predictions don’t come to fruition. This year that’s not the case, however, and the recent holiday weekend helped compound an already serious influenza season. As noted in an article published by Medpage Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says flu-related hospitalizations have nearly doubled since Thanksgiving, to the point that they’re higher than they’ve been …

Could Opioid Use Disorder Be the Rare Condition Where Telemedicine Works for Urgent Care?

Many urgent care operators have tried to introduce telemedicine services as a way to help patients get care when there’s simply no other way. While it did just that for a lot of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, few have found a way to make it work on an ongoing basis. That doesn’t mean there couldn’t be instances in which virtual care is a valid and useful option, however. One of those might include treatment …

As If RSV, COVID, and Flu Aren’t Enough, Another Viral Threat Is Emerging

We’ve told you about the very real threat of a tripledemic as the current influenza season progresses, new variants of COVID-19 continue to evolve, and record cases of respiratory syncytial virus occur in various states. Ohio is now wrestling with an additional—and surprising—viral entity. As of this writing, at least 46 cases of measles have been confirmed in children in the Columbus area, according to the city’s health department. There have been no fatalities, but …