Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

CDC Warning: Shigella is the Latest Pathogen to Show Signs of Resistance

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a Health Advisory to warn clinicians of emerging Shigella strains with elevated minimum inhibitory concentration values for ciprofloxacin. The advisory outlines new guidance for clinical diagnosis, management, and reporting, and offers new recommendations for laboratories and public health officials. Recent data from the CDC, and from various state and local health agencies, indicate these strains frequently have a quinolone-resistance gene that could lead to clinically significant …

CDC: New Data Show Flu Shots Save Children’s Lives

Children whose parents ensure they get flu shots stand a significantly lower risk for death from influenza than children who are not vaccinated, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, the CDC says between 2010 and 2014 flu vaccinations reduced the risk of flu-associated death by half among children with underlying high-risk medical conditions, and by nearly two-thirds among healthy children. The study, published in Pediatrics, is thought …

Risk of Opioid Use Becoming ‘Long Term’ Rises Within Days

A new study published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reveals that the risk for long-term opioid use—defined as use that lasts for at least 1 year—increases within just a few days of starting to take a prescribed opioid drug. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at data reflecting the care of more than a million patients who received at least one opioid prescription between June 1, 2006, and September 1, …

Update: U.S. Candida auris Cases Have More Than Doubled

In November, we told you the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was urging clinicians to “act now to better understand, contain, and stop the spread of” infection caused by drug-resistant Candida auris. Since then, the number of C auris cases in the U.S. has more than doubled (from 13 to 35, with 28 of them occurring in New York alone). C auris can cause serious bloodstream infections, transmits easily from person-to-person in healthcare settings, …

Update: Urgent Care Needs to Get the Mumps Message Across

You’ve read here that mumps has been spreading like wildfire in certain states, especially on college campuses and among school-aged children. Instead of winding down, however, outbreaks are actually picking up steam in multiple states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, underscoring the need for urgent care centers to help raise awareness about prevention in their communities. The CDC says cases of mumps has been confirmed in 37 states and the District …

Drug-Resistant ‘Superbugs’ Are on the Rise

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on clinicians and drug makers to help fight a worldwide surge in antibiotic-resistant organisms, some of which could be just as prevalent and as dangerous as Zika and Ebola. The rate of their emergence has picked up in recent years, thanks in part to inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics. As such, the WHO has echoed the pleadings of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for clinicians …

Ongoing Mumps Surge Speaks to Need for Broad-based Urgent Care

Coming off its highest calendar-year incidence in a decade, mumps struck 495 people in the U.S. in the first 28 days of 2017 alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The cases are spread across the entire breadth of the country, from Washington to Pennsylvania, pointing to a need for vigilance and preparedness in urgent centers in every region. First, clinics must be ready to assess patients and confirm or dismiss a …

February is Shaping Up to Be ‘Norovirus Month’

While the country is locked in its annual battle against influenza, a second “bug” is creeping up and taking its toll on schools and workplaces, as well. Like the flu, norovirus picks up steam in the winter months and is especially hard—sometimes deadly—on seniors and young children. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts February will be the peak month for infection, which is characterized by intense gastrological symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, …

Urgent Care Needed Most During Community Flu Outbreaks

With many states stuck in their peak flu seasons and death tolls rising—24 people have died from influenza in the state of Washington, alone—urgent care centers are being called upon to offer twofold support: First, to administer flu shots to patients who haven’t received them and provide supportive care for those who have influenza, and second, to care for patients fleeing emergency rooms that are overflowing with flu patients. Make sure area primary care office …

Time to Turn Up the Volume on Flu Shot Promotions

With months of the flu season still ahead and the rate of new cases continuing to rise across the country, now is the time to step up efforts to immunize as many patients as possible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that outpatient visits for flu-like symptoms are up 3.4% compared with this point in last year’s flu season. Further, more than 1,300 people were hospitalized between October and December (the month when …