Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Renewed Interest in Ketamine Could Drive Patients Your Way—Be Prepared

A new wave of specialty clinics is stoking renewed interest from mainstream media and patients in the purported benefits, as well as the risks, of ketamine to treat select mental health issues. Medpage Today published an article online detailing how some providers—one of whom holds a medical license in 45 states—have established booming online “practices” devoted exclusively to facilitating access to ketamine. While ketamine has been used successfully in treating depression and anxiety, the Food …

Tripledemic Update: Watch Out for More COVID—Thanks to a New Variant—as Flu and RSV Recede

The fall and winter months have seen nearly constantly fluctuations in rates of COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus, and influenza. Reports from around the country show this is unlikely to change anytime soon. WKRC TV aired a story noting that while flu and RSV have been declining in the Cincinnati area, COVID has had a resurgence that is pushing an ever-growing number of patients to not only area hospitals, but also urgent care centers. Data from …

Warnings of a Seasonal Bump in Respiratory Infections Are Coming to Fruition—with More to Follow

As JUCM News readers know, public health officials and infectious disease specialists warned that holiday gatherings would likely prove to be fertile breeding grounds for COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus, and influenza. Just a couple of days into the new year, Alabama is the first state to announce that hospitalizations for COVID-19 started climbing shortly after Thanksgiving, to the point that they had essentially doubled (from 264 to 530) by New Year’s Day. Given that the …

New Data Present a Different View of How Helpful ARB’s Are—or Aren’t—with COVID

Last spring, published research suggested angiotensin receptor blockers could lower the risk for ventilation and vasopressors in men with COVID-19. Just this week, however, an article released by the Journal of the American Medical Association noted that ARBs do not improve outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The trial included 787 patients at 17 hospitals in Australia and India and covered the period from May 2020 to November 2021. The vast majority of patients (n=778), …

Be Prepared—Holiday Gatherings Are Likely to Beget a Deluge of Viral Infections (and More)

Health systems expect to see sharp increases in patients presenting with symptoms of multiple respiratory infections in the coming days and weeks. Experts interviewed for a report on CNN suggest that hospitals already straining to keep up with rates of respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2 could be hit with a wave of patients newly infected after gathering with family and friends over the winter holidays. Ben Leach, a spokesperson for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia …

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.