Ashley Blachford, Author at Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Immune Amnesia From Measles Can Last For 5 Years

For a patient with a measles infection, the health effects can last well beyond the acute illness. The measles virus destroys memory B and T cells that help the immune system recognize previously encountered pathogens, producing “immune amnesia,” according to an analysis in CIDRAP. As a result, patients can lose protection acquired through prior infections or vaccination and become susceptible again to bacterial and viral illnesses. Studies suggest measles survivors may lose 11%–73% of their …

Watch For Unique ‘Tick Bomb’ Bite Pattern

Clinicians might keep an eye out for an unusual dermatologic presentation that is known as a “tick bomb.” This unique tick bite pattern occurs when a person encounters a cluster of newly hatched larval ticks, potentially resulting in hundreds or thousands of tiny insects attaching to the skin at once and presenting as a collection of small red bites concentrated in an area on the skin, according to an analysis in MedPage Today that includes …

How Often Do Urgent Cares Close Unexpectedly?

The average urgent care center goes unexpectedly “dark” 2.3 days a year—which means it closed on a day it otherwise should have been open (eg, staff illness, building repair, power outage, etc.). And the range of unexpected closure days is wide. Centers run by operators that have only a single location experience unexpected closures 4.6 days a year. Centers with 76 or more locations have 1.7 days of unexpected closures per center per year. The …

Fasting Before Lab Testing Should Be More Nuanced: Study

Fasting longer than 12 hours before a lab test generally does not provide an advantage over fasting for 8–12 hours, according to new research. A large study of routine outpatient laboratory testing suggests that most tests are minimally affected by the length of time that the patient spends fasting beforehand, potentially changing perspectives on uniform fasting requirements. As published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed 9.8 million test results from 101,148 adults using laboratory data …

68-Year-Old Female With Swollen, Painful Hand

A 68-year-old woman presents to urgent care with her husband after tripping on a rug at home the previous day and falling onto her left hand. She has experienced persistent pain and swelling in the hand since the fall. Ibuprofen provided modest pain relief. Physical examination reveals normal vital signs with focal edema and tenderness over the dorsal surface of the 4th and 5th metacarpals. Decreased range of motion and knuckle contour at the 5th …

52-Year-Old Female With Extremely Itchy Dark-Ringed Bumps on Skin of Back

A 52-year-old woman visits the urgent care clinic for itchy bumps that have been present on her back for the past 3 months. The lesions are very itchy, and it is difficult for the patient to stop scratching. She has not tried any treatments for her symptoms since onset. On dermatological examination, pink scaly papules with dark exterior rims are seen on her back, some of which appear excoriated. Laboratory results for complete blood count, …

Abstracts in Urgent Care – October 2026

Guideline for Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Women Take Home Point: This guideline recommends that urinalysis with symptoms should be used to diagnose recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI) and emphasizes culture-guided antibiotic therapy, supportive care, and preventative measures to reduce antimicrobial resistance and overtreatment. Citation: Ackerman A, Bradley M, D’Anci K, et al. Updates to recurrent uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women: AUA/CUA/SUFU guideline (2025). J Urol. 2026;215(1):3–12. Relevance: Understanding of female rUTI has evolved …

Cancer Incidence Inches Up, But Survival Is Improving

The latest annual report on cancer from a collaboration of cancer organizations shows a mixed picture. While incidence is edging upward overall, cancer mortality continues to decline. During 2018–2019 and 2021–2022 study periods, cancer incidence was higher among men than women (504.6 vs 443.0 cases per 100,000). For males, the top 5 types of cancer by incidence are: 1. prostate cancer; 2. lung and bronchus cancer; 3. colorectal cancer; 4. urinary bladder cancer; and 5. …

Urgent Care Practice Varies More by Provider on Duty Than by Center, Payer, or Patient

Urgent Message: Urgent care operators may find practice variation in testing, imaging, referral, and coding among clinicians working in the same clinic. According to this data analysis, the reason for variation ultimately comes down to the decision making of the individual clinician rather than infrastructure, payer, or patient population. Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Keywords: urgent care practice variation; provider variation; clinical practice patterns; diagnostic testing; referral patterns; evaluation and management coding; clinician performance Walk …

Addressing Congenital Syphilis With Point-of-Care Testing in Urgent Care

Urgent Message: Urgent care centers can help prevent congenital syphilis by screening pregnant patients lacking prenatal records, confirming reactive point-of-care results, and administering penicillin when follow-up is uncertain. Amir Reza Tehrani, BS; Glenn E. Harnett, MD; Jeffrey D. Klausner, MD, MPH Keywords: syphilis screening; congenital syphilis; point-of-care testing; sexually transmitted infections; pregnant patients; urgent care; rapid diagnostics Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this review is to use clinical, operational, and economic evidence to support integrating …

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