Clinical

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 …

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 …

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 …

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), …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.