Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Preparing for Pandemic Influenza in the Urgent Care Setting

Urgent message: Between the current – and still growing – volume of H1N1 flu cases and fast-approaching influenza season, the urgent care physician will be challenged to distinguish among a variety of common cold and influenza-like conditions. Gary Klein, MD, MPH, MBA, CHS-V, FAADM Introduction The mainstream media have certainly accomplished the mission of alerting the public to the dangers of H1N1 flu – perhaps to the point that many are tempted to dismiss their …

H1N1: The Sequel

Unless you have spent the entire summer on Gilligan’s Island, I assume everyone remains attuned to the daily reports on H1N1 streaming from every which way but loose. While the prevailing opinion is that the flu season will be Superbad, it remains difficult to predict how things will play out. We will be dedicating the October issue of JUCM to pandemic flu planning, though given the likelihood of an early spike of flu, there are …

Of Swine Flu, ‘Chicken Little,’ and the Great Depression

History teaches us so many lessons, most of which we quickly forget until the next history-making crisis. Nothing in history is a more predictable crisis producer than “fear.” Fear sows panic, panic sows irrational behavior, and irrational behavior sows wars, economic disasters, bigotry, and protectionism. When the dust settles, we analyze our missteps and, often, recognize most of the fallout could have been avoided had we learned from history. The Great Depression was a real …