Practice Management
The case of a woman in Colorado who played Good Samaritan to an animal she was concerned about, only to later be diagnosed with rabies, serves as a reminder that any interaction with wildlife can carry risks for disease that could require immediate treatment. For clinicians, that means remaining vigilant and asking the right questions when patients present with symptoms that may seem to appear without explanation. The Colorado woman was concerned about the welfare …
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Ohio has joined Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Indiana in declaring an outbreak of hepatitis A. Michigan has the most confirmed cases with 843. Ohio has “only” 79, but that’s twice as many as the state saw all last year. Community health departments are requesting thousands of doses of hep A vaccine in the hope of stemming the tide. Given the proximity of the states, the presumption on the part of health officials is that …
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More U.S. high school students self-report having had a concussion than is reflected in data from hospitals and school systems, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 15% of participants in the CDC’s latest Youth Risk Behavior Study (YRBS) say they have experienced at least one concussion related to sports or physical activity over a 1-year period. That prevalence, equating to 2.5 million children, is higher than what’s …
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Far too many prescriptions are being written for patients with acute respiratory infections, including influenza, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As many as 41% of antibiotic prescriptions for ARIs were deemed “inappropriate” by the CDC. In addition, despite published guidelines, vigorous public awareness campaigns, and missives to prescribers, nearly 30% of patients who tested positive for viral flu infection were prescribed antibiotics. The data, published in JAMA …
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Recent suicides by high-profile celebrities are a reminder that most of us never know what struggles someone is dealing with. While it may be especially surprising when the person is someone the public perceives to “have it all,” a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that suicide is far too common, and becoming more so. There was a 25% increase in suicide between 1999 and 2016 in the United States, …
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Salmonella outbreaks in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio could have all been caused by precut melons purchased at Costco, Kroger, Walmart and Whole Foods. Taking a step back along the supply chain, the CDC conjectures they could have all come from a Caito Food facility in Indiana. Caito has issued a recall notice for Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio. The Food and …
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As the weather turns warmer and schools start letting out, urgent care centers can expect to see more patients presenting with certain illness and injuries—some of which can be deadly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just issued a report noting there were 493 outbreaks of waterborne diseases—many of them related to recreational waters—between 2000 and 2014, including 27,219 illnesses and eight fatalities. Up to a third of the outbreaks could be traced back …
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Concerns over the lifetime consequences of head injuries have led to countless protocols and regulations for athletes and victims of accidents or falls. Advances are being made on the clinical front, too—some of which may light the way for urgent care to play a bigger role. First, a study just published in JAMA Network Open suggests that patients who presented to emergency rooms with what was ultimately found to be mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) …
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We’ve shared research showing that certain over-the-counter pain medications can be as effective as opioid medications for acute pain before. Now a study conducted by the School of Dental Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School offers new data indicating the same is true for dental pain. Researchers found that ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, either alone or in combination with acetaminophen, are actually more effective than opioids for many patients when it comes …
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Cases of hepatitis A—some of them fatal—continue to spread across the country, confounding local and federal health officials. Fourteen states (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) are the latest to report higher-than-average hep A activity. At least 1,200 cases have been reported nationwide since March 2017, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak; 40 of those patients died as …
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