Clinical

With COVID-19 ebbing and flowing throughout the world, including the United States, healthcare organizations continue striving to stay ahead of the next variant and potential for another surge. To that end, the Food and Drug Administration has amended its emergency use authorization to authorize a second booster dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for individuals age 50 and older at least 4 months after receiving their first booster dose, as well as …

It became apparent early in the COVID-19 pandemic that people with substance use disorders were going to have an especially tough go of it. Anxiety and social isolation spiked along with infection rates, both simultaneously with reduced access to treatment resources. It was predictable, then, that data showed the already-existing opioid epidemic escalating. So, it’s alarming to learn that even in 2019 only 28% of U.S. adults and adolescents who could have benefited from treatment …

There was a certain amount of concern in some circles that abandoning mask mandates and taking other steps toward normalcy in response to dwindling COVID-19 infection rates could backfire. While it would be premature to assume the U.S. is headed for lockdowns like China is experiencing at present, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do underscore the need for continued vigilance here. For example, as time goes on, it becomes more …

With seemingly all eyes focused on COVID-19 for the past 2 years, patients (and even urgent care providers) could be forgiven for “forgetting” that there are countless other infectious diseases existing in the world. They’re out there, though—and release of the 2022 immunization schedule update from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should be a reminder for urgent care providers to ask patients if they’re up to …

Signs are emerging that our collective celebratory spirit over the decline in COVID-19 cases and related hospitalizations and deaths could be short-lived. Parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe—the same regions to serve as a precursor to the United States’ own descent into pandemic pandemonium 2 years ago—are all seeing an increase in cases at present. Parts of China and South Korea have already returned to lockdown status, in fact. Socially, presumed driving forces include abandonment …

We’ve known for a while that patients who’ve been infected with COVID-19 can experience breathing difficulties and other complaints long after they’ve recovered from the illness itself (though how long those could last remains to be seen). What is just coming to light, however, are possible extended effects on a patient’s mental state and cognitive functioning. And it goes way beyond “COVID fog.” According to an article published by Lancet Public Health, patients who experienced …

Just last week, we shared the news that freedom from masking and other measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 infection is expected to usher in an increase in the rate of sexually transmitted infection. Now Baptist Health South Florida reports that spring breakers visiting the area are already driving up visits associated with concerns for STIs. In a post on its website, BHSF encourages patients to seek assessment and treatment as soon as they’re …

Being freed from pressure to social distance and, more and more now, from being required to wear a mask in public spaces is reopening a lot of doors for people who’ve been isolated for too long. It’s natural to assume that, at least for some portion of the population, we could see an uptick in rates of sexually transmitted infection. Whether coincidentally or by design, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest update on …

Just last week we shared the odd phenomenon that while many patients infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have escaped serious illness, daily deaths have increased since it became the dominant type of SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in patients 75 years of age and older. Now preliminary data released by BioRxiv indicates that it might not be Omicron so much as its recently discovered subvariant BA.2 that’s to blame. The researchers found that hamsters infected …