Clinical

Health systems expect to see sharp increases in patients presenting with symptoms of multiple respiratory infections in the coming days and weeks. Experts interviewed for a report on CNN   suggest that hospitals already straining to keep up with rates of respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2 could be hit with a wave of patients newly infected after gathering with family and friends over the winter holidays. Ben Leach, a spokesperson for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia …

The good news on the tripledemic front as Christmas and New Year celebrations approach, according to multiple mainstream media and health department sources, is that new cases of respiratory syncytial virus and influenza have probably peaked. The correlating less-rosy news, as reported by Becker’s Hospital Review, is that packing large groups of people into inside spaces over the next week is likely to reverse the trend in pretty short order. The same goes for the …

As if unusually high rates of hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus and flu, along with sporadic spikes in COVID-19, aren’t enough at least four hospitals in the United States are seeing a growing number of severe cases of Streptococcus A infection. As reported by NBC News, children’s hospitals in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and Washington have reported spikes in invasive Strep group A. Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston has recorded roughly 60 cases in October and …

When we last reported on the ongoing shortage of amoxicillin products, the crisis involved 29 products and fulfillment was expected anywhere between November and January. According to new information from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, however, the shortage has spread to include 44 products and fulfillment isn’t expected until mid-January or early February, depending on the product and manufacturer. Check with pharmacies before prescribing.

Just last week we reported that the national influenza profile in the United States was worse than it’s been in a decade—and the situation has only deteriorated since then, with even more states reporting either “high” or “very high” flu activity. At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says incidence of COVID-19 jumped 50% in a single week, from 300,000 cases confirmed at the end of November to 460,000 in the …

Some people who should be in the know say the pandemic is over, while other presumably knowledgeable sources say it’s merely diminished, with the threat of another surge being a constant concern. What’s indisputable is the fact that many habits patients developed during the lockdown phase are hard to shake. One is staying away from medical offices. New data reported by STAT show that visits to primary care practices are still down 10.3% compared with …

Every year, there are some parties decrying that flu season is going to be devastating; usually the dire predictions don’t come to fruition. This year that’s not the case, however, and the recent holiday weekend helped compound an already serious influenza season. As noted in an article published by Medpage Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says flu-related hospitalizations have nearly doubled since Thanksgiving, to the point that they’re higher than they’ve been …