Clinical

There seems to be confusion among the public as to how COVID-19 affects infected individuals. While headlines noting that the U.S. recently passed the half-million mark in related deaths are hard to ignore, too many people are under the impression that the virus leads to one of two wildly diverse outcomes: it’s either deadly or “no big deal.” That couldn’t be further from the truth, however, as new data published in JAMA Network Open indicate …

Federal health agencies insisted in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic that a 14-day quarantine was prudent for anyone who had contact with an individual who tested positive for the virus. Local health agencies and school systems followed suit. Since then, the general belief has been that a shorter period is adequate, easing the pressure associated with disengaging from even distanced activities or hybrid learning. An article just published by JAMA Network supports the …

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosted a National Forum on COVID-19 Vaccination this week (coinciding with news that the U.S. had passed the 500,000 mortality mark), speakers identified increasing the supply of vaccines; ensuring there are more vaccinators to administer the vaccine; and creating more places for people to get vaccinated as key steps toward widespread protection against the virus. While expressing the idea that retail pharmacies and federally qualified health centers …

Many Americans are fed up with social isolation, worrying about loved ones and themselves, wearing masks, and delays in rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. Some are getting desperate and scouring the internet for outside-the-box, readily available ways to supposedly shore up their immune systems and ward off the virus, or even to self-treat infection itself. Unfortunately, their efforts are in vain if an article just published by JAMA Network Open is any indication. Researchers conducted …

As the East Coast braces for its third snowstorm in less than 2 weeks, much of Texas is still struggling with very un-Texas-like cold temperatures and widespread power outages. Six people were killed and dozens were injured in a 133-car pileup on a slick highway near Fort Worth. An urgent care center in Fairfield, CT was featured on local media talking about a sharp rise in injuries due to people falling on icy walkways. These …

Patients (and probably more than a few healthcare professionals) are all about the COVID-19 vaccine these days. However, the need for ongoing vigilance against other communicable diseases goes on. To that end, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed its recommended immunization schedule for adults for 2021. You can read the entire report here, but following are illness-specific changes that may be most relevant for the …

Millions of Americans have already availed themselves to one of the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines. Multiples more are eager to get their turn. There are many, however, who say they won’t get the shot because the vaccines were “rushed through” the approval process. While that’s not true—studies were prioritized due to the urgent nature of the pandemic—too many people are afraid that they’re putting themselves at unreasonable risk for a bad reaction, with anaphylaxis being …

Urgent care patients and staff members who wear a loose-fitting mask are putting themselves and those around them at unnecessarily higher risk for COVID-19 infection, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, the CDC now specifically states that a tight-fitting mask provides more protection than a loose mask, and that doubling up on masks is advisable—especially now that new, more contagious strains are making the rounds. If …

It’s been assumed for close to a year that the isolation and stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic would take a toll on our collective sense of wellbeing and peace of mind. Those consequences are now being borne out in data on presentations to the emergency room for mental health conditions, suicide attempts, drug overdoses, intimate partner violence, and child abuse or neglect. All  increased as a percentage of overall ED visits over a 7-month …