Ashley Blachford, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Food Allergy Prevalence Shows Steady Increase, Care Gaps Remain

Food allergy affects more than 33 million people in the United States, including an estimated 10.8% of adults and 7.6% of children, according to a new national indicator report from Food Allergy Research & Education nonprofit organization. Nearly half of adults with food allergy developed at least 1 allergy during adulthood, which means clinicians might need to consider new-onset food allergy in differential diagnoses for adult patients. Shellfish and wheat are the most commonly reported …

Decades Of Respiratory Disease Prevention Is Paying Off

Long-term U.S. mortality data indicate an overall decrease in deaths from influenza and pneumonia. A new analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data published in Medicine studied adults aged 25 years and older and found the age-adjusted mortality rate fell from 35.93 per 100,000 residents in 1999 to 16.46 per 100,000 residents in 2023, an average annual decline of 3.18%. Total deaths also decreased from 63,006 to 44,625 in the time frame. …

COVID Positivity Rates Increase Just As Seasonal Vaccines Receive Approval

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved 4 updated 2026–2027 COVID-19 vaccines for the upcoming respiratory virus season. All of the new formulations have been updated for XFG variant, according to FDA, and all follow the somewhat tighter age and risk restrictions that were introduced in 2025. Prior to the 2024–2025 season, vaccination was broadly recommended for everyone aged 6 months and older. Now, a healthy 50-year-old with no underlying risk factor, for example, …

NP, PA Roles Can Be Tough To Fill, Especially For Urgent Care

Advanced practice providers (APPs) have become increasingly important in healthcare’s overall workforce strategy, especially in urgent care. A small national survey of 327 healthcare facility leaders by CHG Healthcare found that 92% of respondents considered APPs very or extremely important to their workforce strategy, and 96% expected to maintain or increase APP utilization in 2026. The overall findings suggest that APPs are being used not simply to fill vacancies but as part of longer-term strategies …

Pregnant Women Don’t Need To Stop Inhaled Corticosteroids: Study

Clinicians can be reassured that evidence supports recommendations (eg, Global Initiative for Asthma) that pregnant women with asthma can continue use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) during pregnancy, as published in JAMA Network Open. In the study of 6,105 pregnant women in South Korea, 2,108 women (34.5%) continued ICS during the first trimester and were compared to 3,997 women (65.5%) who discontinued ICS during the first trimester. Researchers found ICS continuation was not associated with significantly …

New Migraine Guide Highlights Prevention Opportunities

The updated American Academy of Neurology (AAN)/American Headache Society (AHS) guidelines for pharmacologic prevention of migraine in adults were published this week in Neurology and endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians. The guidelines suggest a migraine visit should also be considered as an opportunity for clinicians to identify patients who need preventive therapy beyond just treatment for the acute event. According to the update, preventive treatment should be offered to adults with 4 …

79-Year-Old Female With Acute Back Pain

A 79-year-old female presents to urgent care complaining of sharp, severe lower back pain for the past 2 months. The pain began when she was bending over to pick something up from the floor and has not improved. The pain occasionally radiates to her flank area but not down her legs, and she denies any bowel or bladder pattern changes. She tried acetaminophen, cold and warm compresses, and rest without any relief. The pain worsens …

Urgent Care Diagnosis and Management of Toddler’s Fracture

Urgent Message: Identifying fall height and mechanism, while also relying on caregiver narratives, can help urgent care clinicians rule out severe pathologies and diagnose a toddler’s fracture in ambulatory pediatric patients after a fall. Connor Osmond, BA; Thomas Seebacher, DO Keywords: fractures, bone; tibial fractures; gait disorders, neurologic; radiography; accidental falls Editor’s Note: While the images presented here are authentic, the patient case scenario is hypothetical. Questions for the Clinician at the Bedside Abstract A …

8-Year-Old Male with Facial Rash

An 8-year-old male is brought to urgent care by his mother reporting a widespread, itchy facial rash. The patient says that the rash is severely painful and pruritic, and that he feels tingling and pain in his lips. The facial rash presented 3 days prior, and the mother states that her son repeatedly scratches the legions. The patient and is family are from Honduras; they deny any recent travel. The patient is otherwise well and denies …

64-Year-Old With Acute Posterior Ankle Pain

A 64-year-old woman with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, and obesity presents to urgent care with acute right posterior ankle pain after stumbling on a curb earlier that day. She says she felt a sudden sharp pain in the back of her ankle and experienced immediate difficulty walking and climbing stairs. She reports 10 days of mild posterior ankle discomfort before this event, which she treated with ice, an elastic …

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