Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Respiratory Viruses May Hang Around With Persistent Symptoms

Some respiratory viral infections can be followed by weeks of persistent respiratory, cardiovascular, and functional symptoms, according to an analysis published in Respirology. The review, which included 13 studies involving 631,863 participants, found that influenza had the strongest evidence for long-term effects. In one cohort, 23% of adults reported persistent symptoms 12 weeks after influenza, while a separate claims study found 10% of patients remained symptomatic at 6 months. Postacute complications varied by virus, and …

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, …

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 …

Back Pain May Improve With Lumbar Belt Use

Lumbar belts appear to be helpful for alleviating low back pain, possibly offering a reasonable alternative to pain medication. In an analysis published in JAMA Network Open of 168 adults with nonspecific low back pain lasting 1–6 months, researchers evaluated whether adding a nonrigid lumbar belt to usual care improved pain and function. Patients assigned to the belt were instructed to wear it 4–8 hours daily for 12 weeks. At 12 weeks, disability scores improved …

Patients Can Now Track Their Ketone Trajectory

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a continuous glucose and ketone monitoring system, which it says is the first wearable device that monitors both levels simultaneously with a single sensor. The system measures glucose and ketones in interstitial fluid every minute for up to 10 days and transmits the information to the patient’s smartphone. Patients arriving in urgent care will be able to present not just current ketone readings but the direction and …

Urgent Care Antibiotic Stewardship Produces Positive Results

Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in urgent care settings appear to produce practice improvement, according to a new systematic review published in Cureus. Researchers evaluated literature reporting on ASPs specifically in urgent care settings and found that 11 of 12 completed studies demonstrated reduced antimicrobial prescribing or improved appropriateness in prescribing patterns among clinicians. Education and guideline-based strategies produced some of the largest improvements. For example, an intervention that used clinical pathway pocket-card algorithms to guide …

Clinicians Don’t Always Agree On Physical Exam Findings

A prospective multicenter study that compared physical examination findings in children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) found that 2 clinicians examining the same patient may not always agree on whether certain physical findings are or are not present during an exam. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, included 252 patients aged 3 months–17 years with CAP evaluated at 7 pediatric emergency departments. Two clinicians independently examined each patient within 60 minutes. After the exam findings …

Blood Drawing Robot Rarely Misses. Patients Seem To Like It.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized a new robotic device that can autonomously draw blood from a patient’s arm without hands-on operator intervention. Designed for adult outpatient blood collection, the robot essentially performs the entire venipuncture. First it uses near-infrared imaging and Doppler ultrasound to identify an appropriate vein, then applies the tourniquet, disinfects the skin, inserts the needle, changes collection tubes, disposes the needle, and applies a bandage. A trial involving 1,633 …

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