Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

CDC Offers Detailed Recommendations on Syphilis Lab Testing

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released what the agency says are the first comprehensive recommendations on laboratory testing for syphilis. The extensive guidance covers laboratory-based tests, point-of-care tests (POC), processing of samples, and reporting of test results. In general, for symptomatic patients, nontreponemal tests are recommended for laboratory screening. Treponemal tests are used to validate nontreponemal results and to diagnose early syphilis infections not detectable by nontreponemal tests. Additionally, CDC notes that treponemal …

Urgent Care Management of Needlestick Injuries: Part 1

Urgent message: Needlestick injuries are common and require a prompt response based on an understanding of the latest USPHS guidelines and informed consent and counseling of the patient. MAYA HECK, MS-2 and JOHN SHUFELDT, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP Your center is fortunate to contract with a variety of different business to provide employee health services. A local homeless shelter is one of the clients to whom your center provides new hire physicals, drug screens and …