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

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 …

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

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 …

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Update: More Zika Cases in More States

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 …

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CDC Tries to Put the Brakes on Runaway Opioid Use

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 …

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CDC Warned Us—Now the Late Season Flu Spike Is Here

CDC Warned Us—Now the Late Season Flu Spike Is Here

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s warnings that the 2015–2016 might end up being late, and not just light, are coming to fruition from coast to coast—with deadly consequences for some. New data highlight the need for urgent care providers to continue pushing flu shots and to be prepared for more patients with flu-like symptoms. Current flu activity has been called “widespread” in 37 states, with physician visits for flu-like symptoms continuing to rise; …

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Update: CDC Says New Zika Cases Could Have Been Sexually Transmitted

Update: CDC Says New Zika Cases Could Have Been Sexually Transmitted

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and certain state health departments are looking into 14 new cases of Zika virus to determine if they could have been transmitted through sexual contact. In each case, a man who had traveled to an area where Zika has been confirmed developed symptoms within two weeks of his female sexual partner becoming ill. While the main health concern is that several of the women are pregnant and Zika …

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CDC: Public Exchange Coverage Up, Off-exchange Coverage Down

CDC: Public Exchange Coverage Up, Off-exchange Coverage Down

As public exchange coverage climbed in the third quarter of 2015, use of off-exchange private coverage dropped, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This see-saw effect seems to indicate that U.S. health carriers had more trouble holding on to enrollees in group plans and off-exchange individual policies than they did holding on to enrollees in public exchange plans. Critics of the Affordable Care Act exchange system have noted that …

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CDC, ACP Warn Against Wayward Antibiotic Prescribing

CDC, ACP Warn Against Wayward Antibiotic Prescribing

Old habits and the pleadings of sick patients continue to move physicians to prescribe antibiotics for patients who don’t actually need them, according to a new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Physicians. Both are urging physicians to employ antibiotics sparingly during cold and flu season. Antibiotics are prescribed at more than 100 million adult ambulatory care visits every year—including visits to urgent care—but only about half …

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CDC: Keep Pushing Flu Shots—Cases Are Still Climbing

CDC: Keep Pushing Flu Shots—Cases Are Still Climbing

If your urgent care center has not seen a boom in patients reporting with flu-like symptoms, don’t assume it’s going to be a slow influenza season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the annual peak is merely delayed, not lower than expected. In fact, most of the United States is still seeing a gradual climb in reported cases with this year’s peak not expected until at least January. New Jersey and South Carolina …

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CDC’s Get Smart About Antibiotics Week 2015 Supports Urgent Care Patient Education

CDC’s Get Smart About Antibiotics Week 2015 Supports Urgent Care Patient Education

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Get Smart About Antibiotics Week 2015 offers an opportunity for urgent care center management to get the word out about both their own services and the importance of responsible antibiotic use. With more than a third of urgent care centers in the US writing between 73 and 144 prescriptions for antibiotics each month, clinicians are all too familiar with the patient who shows up looking for a Z-Pak …

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