Clinical

As JUCM readers know, public health officials have expressed concern that the much dreaded—but previously unrealized—simultaneous spike in influenza and SARS-CoV-2 could overwhelm the U.S. healthcare system, kill unknown masses of patients, and pummel the nation’s economy. Unfortunately, fresh insights gleaned from the start of the U.S. flu season are doing nothing assuage those fears. In fact, Vanderbilt infectious disease professor and highly regarded public health expert William Schaffner, MD told NPR just last week, …

As the business of selling marijuana has grown from your neighborhood dealer to medical dispensaries and stores licensed to sell weed for recreational uses, emergency rooms have started seeing an increase in patients presenting with cannabis hyperemesis  syndrome (CHS). Symptoms include dehydration, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. An article just published by JAMA Network reveals a connection between the commercialization of the marijuana industry and a 13-fold increase in CHS-related visits to the emergency room …

JUCM and JUCM News readers are well aware that the United States has seen a steady increase in the occurrence of sexually transmitted disease for years now. Unfortunately, it appears that the trend will continue for the foreseeable future, leading at least one physician to express concern that we’re in the midst of “pandemic venereal disease.” This is backed up by fresh data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing increases in gonorrhea, …

Public health advocates have been warning since year 1 of the pandemic that a simultaneous wave of influenza and COVID-19 could have devastating consequences to the U.S. population, healthcare system, and economy. To date, we’ve collectively managed to dodge that bullet. As we approach flu season this year, though, some experts are wondering out loud whether our luck might have run out. That concern is bolstered by the fact that Australia “had a very bad …

Typically, on the subject of antibiotic overprescribing, we think of a harried provider being worn down by a patient or parent of a young patient presenting with a sore throat, bad cold, or earache who insists they need an antibiotic even when it’s not indicated. However, a new article published online by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reveals that approximately 13% of ambulatory care visits for acute gastroenteritis result in an antibiotic …

You probably recall reading in JUCM News that a case of paralytic polio occurred in Rockland County, NY recently. It was such an anomaly that the case also garnered widespread attention among national media. As noted in an article just published by JAMA Network it’s likely, based on analysis of the unvaccinated patient’s genomic sequencing, that the virus had “been circulating under the radar for up to a year,” however. Not long after that highly …

For months now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been reminding clinicians of the telltale signs of monkeypox: flu-like symptoms, large pustules on the skin…. However, The New York Times reports public health officials have found that while those symptoms do occur commonly in patients ultimately diagnosed with the virus, some patients have smaller lesions that resemble mosquito bites or ingrown hairs. Others never develop a rash at all. And some experience confusion, …

Thinking in the abstract about which complaints occur most frequently in your practice, it’s unlikely that tinnitus would come to mind as readily as, say, migraine or pain. New research published by JAMA Network suggests maybe it should, though. After a systemic review of published research around the world, the authors report an overall global prevalence of 14.4%, with the likelihood of experiencing tinnitus increasing with age. They propose that their findings may be surprising …

JUCM News told you recently about a confirmed case of polio in Rockland County, New York. Given that it’s a suburban/rural area roughly an hour from New York City, it’s causing some alarm that just days ago the virus was identified in wastewater samples in the Big Apple. According to a story published by The New York Times, only around 86% of children 5 years of age and younger are fully vaccinated against polio; less …

Cases of monkeypox continue to grow worldwide, with 32,000 cases reported (11,000 of which have occurred in the United States), according to the World Health Organization. One aspect of the WHO’s response has nothing to do with facilitating vaccination or treatment, though. With a nod to what it calls “current best practices” for naming diseases, the WHO is looking for new names for monkeypox variants that steer clear of associating them with geographic regions. This …