Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Let’s Not Overlook the Risk for Household Transmission of COVID-19

Most public health efforts to contain spread of COVID-19 have been just that—public. It’s not without good reason, given how easily the virus can pass from one person to another and the great number of people most of us are exposed to every day. However, new data just published by JAMA Network Open should serve as a reminder that what we’re exposed to when we’re out of the house becomes what we expose our family …

What to Tell Patients Who Decline COVID-19 Vaccine Because ‘It Causes Blood Clots’ (After ‘No, It Doesn’t’)

Among the myriad reasons people are declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is concern that getting vaccinated would increase their risk for blood clots. Like many rationalizations of the vaccine-hesitant, it’s based on misinterpretation of a nugget of truth. Relaying the findings of an article just published in the British Medical Journal might be useful in helping you set the record straight. The fact is that vaccination with either the AstraZeneca/Oxford or the Pfizer BioNTech …

Be Aware: With Delta Variant, the Current COVID-19 Vaccines Are Only 66% Effective

The currently available vaccines against COVID-19 have been performing admirably against the virus in general—but there’s a precipitous drop-off in effectiveness when it comes to the Delta variant, according to new data published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Overall effectiveness among the three vaccines had been 91% previously, while it’s only 66% since the Delta variant became the dominant strain in the United States. On the flip side, it’s important to underscore to patients …

Hospitals Are Shutting Offsite EDs to Concentrate Staff. Can Urgent Care Pick Up the Slack?

Hospital systems in Texas are so overwhelmed with patients presenting with symptoms of COVID-19 that many operators have opted to close offsite emergency rooms in order to more fully staff EDs at their main sites—possibly leaving communities in the lurch when they need walk-in care not related to the virus. According to a report from the Associated Press, Memorial Hermann Health System, St. Luke’s Health, Texas Health Hospital, and Hunt Regional Healthcare all temporarily closed …

Think You ‘Know’ COVID-19 Symptoms? If Your Patient Is Older, Think Again

As the Delta variant continues to undo much of the progress the U.S. has made in coming back from the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are still uncovering things we never understood about the virus to begin with. The latest revelation, according to research released by the Journal of Gerontology, is that adults 75 years of age and older may present with a constellation of symptoms that look very different from those younger patients display. Perhaps most …

‘Anti-Maskers’ May Be Getting Aggressive with You or Your Staff. Are You Prepared?

With the Delta variant continuing to increase the number of COVID-19 diagnoses and hospitalizations across the U.S., many states and cities are returning to the mask mandates that proved so controversial—and rage-inducing—earlier in the pandemic. While the problem hasn’t made headlines here yet, a report released by the British Medical Association reveals that physicians in Northern Ireland have been seeing increasing incidence of aggression from patients who refuse to wear masks during appointments. Regardless of …

With One Vaccine Fully Approved, It’s Time to Hit Up ‘Hesitant’ Patients Again

One of the oft-heard objections to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine has been that “they’re not really approved” by virtue of their being OK’d for use under the Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization. Now that the Pfizer vaccine has complete approval from the FDA (with Moderna expected to follow shortly), it’s time to find out which vaccine-hesitant patients were really waiting for this moment and which were just offering up a convenient excuse but …

Still Have Staff Refusing to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine? Your Elected Officials May Be Ready to Help

Healthcare workers who have refused to get the COVID-19 have been a concern not only for patients and colleagues, but also in terms of public perception of the advisability of vaccination. To put it bluntly, they’re setting a bad example. Some municipal and state governments apparently agree, as they’ve taken steps to require certain HCWs to get the vaccine unless they qualify for specific exemptions, depending on the state. As noted in Patient Care, the …

Is It ‘Too Little, Too Late’ for COVID-19 Booster Recommendations to Stop the Delta Surge?

News concerning the advisability and availability of booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines has been evolving almost as quickly as data regarding new cases of the virus itself lately. Most striking was an announcement from Rochelle Walensky, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that her agency now recommends a third dose of some vaccines for certain patients—though that will likely expand in due time. The decision is in line with a …

Be Advised: Patients with the Delta Variant May Have Symptoms Different from Other Variants

It continues to be a difficult proposition to get a handle on a “standard” constellation of symptoms among patients with COVID-19. It’s been made even more difficult by the ongoing rise of the Delta variant. A leading public health official in Louisiana, where the pandemic is taking as great a toll as anywhere in the world at the moment, told New Orleans radio station WWL that symptoms associated with Delta are distinct from those associated …