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Healthcare providers who took an online CME program specific to seasonal influenza in children, and that took into account flu shot hesitancy in parents, were more likely to vaccinate infants against the flu, according to a study out of Western University in Canada. Authors of the paper, which was presented at IDWeek recently, concluded that the results show a distinct cause-and-effect relationship between providing timely clinical education and clinical action by participants. “Timely” may be …

Fewer young children are getting vaccination against many diseases than in years past, opening the door for preventable disease outbreaks, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The threat is especially acute in uninsured and Medicaid-insured children. The CDC report, Vaccination Coverage Among Children Aged 19–35 Months—United States, 2018, notes that children under 2 years of age, in particular, are less likely to receive all the recommended vaccinations than in …

It’s painfully clear, from the frenzied media reports to your case load, that we’re heading into the heart of influenza season. A new report from Columbia University’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, published in PLOS Pathogens, claims there’s a seasonality to many other infectious disease states as well, however. Many of those identified in the report are likely to present to urgent care centers. The paper identifies 69 diseases that have a fairly distinct “season,” …

For the first time in two decades, the Food and Drug Administration has approved use of a new drug to treat acute uncomplicated influenza in patients 12 years of age and older who have been symptomatic for ≤48 hours. While that’s great news in the wake of last year’s rough flu season, urgent care providers must be aware of the need for timely diagnosis—and pass that message along to patients. With less than 2 days …

Especially now that flu season is upon us, nervous parents may be visiting urgent care centers with children who are suffering from a cold out of concern that it could be influenza. Relieved as they may be to learn that it’s “just” a cold, urge Mom and Dad to let their offspring ride out the symptoms instead of giving them decongestants. Children under 6 years of age should not take decongestants at all, and parents …