Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

CDC Cautions Providers Over Multidrug-resistant Yeast Infections

Urgent care centers see their share of patients seeking relief from yeast infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning healthcare facilities around the country of a multidrug-resistant type of yeast that has caused deadly hospital infections across the globe. Most commonly, Candida auris has caused healthcare-associated invasive infections such as bloodstream infections, wound infections, and otitis. Officials started taking note of international reports of C auris infections when it became clear …

CDC: One Out of Five Visit a U.S. Emergency Room Every Year

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that one out of every five Americans visits a hospital emergency room at least once a year, with California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas accounting for more than a third of all ED visits nationally. The report also reconfirms that most of these patients are adults who are not admitted to the hospital. Of interest to urgent care operators, the national rate for …

Update: CDC Issues Another New Guidance for Zika Virus Testing

With the number of domestic cases of Zika infection still growing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new interim guidance for diagnosing the virus. The latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report notes that “on the basis of newly available data, CDC recommends that Zika virus rRT-PCR be performed on urine collected <14 days after onset of symptoms in patients with suspected Zika virus disease.” The new directive should help …

CDC: Keep It Clean in the Clinic!

Overlook the simple things, and all the technology and medication in the world won’t keep patients—or healthcare providers—healthy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just launched a campaign called Clean Hands Count, aimed at preventing healthcare-associated infections through basic hygiene practices in all healthcare settings, including urgent care. One common misconception the program aims to correct: that antibiotic hand sanitizers are the safest. Rather, use of antibiotic-based cleansers increases the risk of antibiotic resistance; …

CDC Finds Strong Link Between Zika and Guillain-Barre

An outbreak of Guillain-Barré syndrome in Vancouver, WA—in which four times the number of cases reported in a typical year have been reported—appears to be related to an outbreak of Zika virus in the area, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC notes that Brazil, in which the mosquito that carries Zika is found in great numbers, also saw an increase in cases of Guillain-Barre following a spike in Zika infections. …

CDC Shifts Focus—and Ebola Funds—in Fight Against Zika

As concerns surface that a warm summer may spread Zika virus to New York City and Los Angeles, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has opted to take $589 million earmarked for Ebola virus initiatives and apply it to fighting Zika instead. The CDC has also warned that the mosquito that carries Zika is on the move. While initial reports suggested that U.S. Zika cases were limited to individuals who had traveled to affected …

U.S. Tuberculosis Cases Up for the First Time in 23 Years

After a decades-long slog toward elimination of tuberculosis in the United States, 2015 saw a slight increase in the number of domestic TB cases. While around half of all reported cases occurred in Texas, California, Florida, and New York, 29 states and the District of Columbia reported increases over 2014. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that lower funding of TB prevention programs may be on reason, urgent care clinicians faced with …

CDC Quantifies Advice on Sex, Conception in the Time of Zika

Just a week after issuing its previous advisory, the Centers for Disease Control is already refining recommended precautions men and women need to take before engaging in sexual contact or attempting to conceive. Men with potential exposure (ie, travel or residence in an active outbreak area) should not engage in unprotected sex for at least 8 weeks after the exposure ends. Advice to use condoms or abstain from sex also applies to currently pregnant women …

Update: More Zika Cases in More States

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says there have been 258 cases of Zika virus in the U.S., with 35 states reporting at least one confirmed case—up from 29 states counted just two weeks prior. Florida has seen the most (59), followed by New York (42) and Texas (34). Connecticut and New Mexico reported their first confirmed cases during that time. While most cases are still presumed to be travel-related, it is thought …

CDC Tries to Put the Brakes on Runaway Opioid Use

Up to 20% of patients presenting with noncancer pain walk out of physician offices with a prescription for an opioid. Too many of them become addicts or abuse prescription painkillers, sometimes with deadly results. With its expectation that encounters will be a one-off, urgent care is an especially appealing target for those looking for a quick fix. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wants all prescribers to think long and hard before …