Practice Management
The Food and Drug Administration is under pressure from attorneys general to update guidance on pulse oximeters to take into account the risk for inaccurate readings when the devices are used for patients with darker skin tones. Pulse oximeters can overestimate blood oxygen levels for patients with darker skin, and research demonstrating the relationship between skin tone and oximeter readings dates back as far as 2005. Proposed updates include options such as warning labels and …
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was found to be the most common comorbidity for adults with asthma, according to a study published in BMJ Open Respiratory Research. Acute rhinosinusitis, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, dysfunctional breathing, diabetes, pneumonia, sleep apnea, and gastroesophageal reflux disease, respectively, were also common comorbidities. Based in Finland, the study included 1,648 adults with asthma and 3,310 individuals without the condition, following them for 15 years. Researchers …
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Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved the medication sotatercept, which traps activins that cause constriction of arteries in the lungs, leading to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Sotatercept targets a growth factor that is overproduced in PAH, reducing the risk of blood vessel thickening. The population with PAH is relatively small—diagnosed in 500 to 1,000 Americans annually and disproportionately affecting women between the ages of 30 and 60, according to the American Lung Association. …
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A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that simultaneously test for multiple causes of a rash may show false positives for measles in children who recently had a dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. About approximately 5% of kids experience a rash 7–10 days after the MMR shot. A study of 1,548 syndromic PCR panels from the Tennessee Department of Health found 14 children …
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The potential for greater spread of harmful pathogens is yet another negative aspect of climate change that should be examined closely, according to infectious diseases experts in a recent JAMA article. Atmospheric changes are driving alterations in pathogens and parasites as temperatures rise and weather extremes persist, including severe heat, droughts, and wildfires. Authors found recent rises in vector-borne, zoonotic, fungal, and waterborne diseases they believe are the result of climate change. Conditions such as …
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A retrospective study conducted across 28 urgent care clinics in Utah found an estimated rate of pneumonia overdiagnosis in urgent care clinics of 30%. The authors arrived at the estimate by examining a group of 7,214 patients’ pneumonia diagnoses recorded from January 2019 through December 2020 in the urgent care centers and comparing them with subsequent diagnoses in an emergency department (ED) or hospital. Of the urgent care patients who were later seen in an …
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What’s worse: getting a vaccine or watching your child in distress when he or she gets a vaccine? For many parents, their own heartbreak when experiencing their child’s needle pain makes vaccines and blood draws that much more difficult for both. In time, as a news item from KFF Health News notes, the distress of needle pain can follow children as they grow, posing a barrier to preventive care into adulthood. As many as a …
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As the prevalence of COVID-19 cases increased in the fall of 2023, so too did the cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that MIS-C incidence—while still quite rare—was highest in late 2020 through early 2021. However, cases rose alongside COVID-19 activity in the general population late last year. Among the 117 MIS-C patients with illness onset in 2023, 68 (58%) had no underlying medical …
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A recent review suggests that the routine application of rapid respiratory viral tests in emergency departments (EDs) offers limited benefits for antimicrobial stewardship. Presented in JAMA Internal Medicine, the review examined 11 randomized clinical trials involving patients with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) seeking care in EDs. It revealed that while rapid viral testing led to increased usage of influenza antivirals among positive cases (absolute risk difference 1%), it did not significantly impact overall antibiotic use, …
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When patients use at-home tests to check for COVID-19, their results are similar to results from clinicians using the same tests, according to a study in Microbiology Spectrum. Researchers compared the sensitivity and specificity of Abbott’s BinaxNOW patient-administered rapid antigen test (RAT) against RATs administered by a healthcare provider and against reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Of the 953 patients, 34.1% had at least 1 COVID-19 symptom. Hospital staff administered a RAT and an RT-PCR …
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