Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Drug-Resistance Growing in STDs

Rising rates of antibiotic resistance in general have been discussed extensively. What has not been addressed as specifically is the growing number of cases of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases. Data that show condom use is declining makes this trend even more alarming, the World Health Organization warns. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that causes the STD, in particular, has become prone to developing resistance to the drugs used to treat it, according to …

Last Season’s Flu Vaccine Gets a C+ Overall, But Failed in Protecting Older Patients

The 2016–2017 flu season is far enough behind us that health system numbers crunchers can assess how well the vaccine performed—and it’s definitely a mixed bag. While it was a good match for the predominant strain (Type A H3N2) and was around 42% effective in preventing illness severe enough to send patients to the doctor’s office, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admits that it was essentially ineffective in protecting people age 65 and …

Concussion Recommendations Continue to Evolve

New guidelines for caring for young athletes with concussions favor movement over rest more than previous recommendations. The advisory, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests that getting the patient to start moving—slowly, with gradual increases—may shorten recovery time. The authors are very clear that this does not mean returning to the field of play right away, however. Rather, where patients have been instructed to rest until symptoms completely disappear previously, there now …

Beware Deceptively ‘Simple’ Diagnoses

A pair of recent news stores add up to a cautionary tale for clinicians inclined to assume ailments commonly identified in the urgent care setting pose no serious threats. One case resulted in the partial amputation of a child’s leg, while the other cost a child her life. In Akron, OH a 6-year-old girl’s strep throat was followed by a flu diagnosis. When her left leg began to swell and she begged her parents not …

CDC Steps Up C auris Warnings as Cases—and Deaths—Climb

Just a month ago, we told you the number of current cases of Candida auris had more than doubled (from 13 to 35) in the United States. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed that at least 61 people have been diagnosed with C auris in recent years, and called the current situation a “catastrophic threat” to public health. The mortality rate for C auris infection is about 60%. The greatest concern …

U.S. Needs to Step Up Efforts to Track MRSA Cooperatively

Various bodies in the United States are devoting significant resources to tracking methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. However, they’re doing so in “silos” with little coordination from one to the next, which is getting in the way of developing strategies to control the spread of MRSA, according to a report published in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control. At least one of the organizations cited in the report for tracking and reporting MRSA infections, Tricare, which …

Consider Options Beyond Opioids for Young Athletes

With the opioid addiction crisis hanging over their heads, physicians are constantly weighing the risk vs benefit of prescribing narcotics for patients in extreme pain. This can be especially tough when treating younger patients who’ve sustained an injury, such as those increasingly common in youth sports. Many physicians who specialize in sports medicine have started using a multimodal approach that employs counseling, physical therapy, and even nerve blocks. Some states have launched efforts (and even …

Update: U.S. Candida auris Cases Have More Than Doubled

In November, we told you the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was urging clinicians to “act now to better understand, contain, and stop the spread of” infection caused by drug-resistant Candida auris. Since then, the number of C auris cases in the U.S. has more than doubled (from 13 to 35, with 28 of them occurring in New York alone). C auris can cause serious bloodstream infections, transmits easily from person-to-person in healthcare settings, …

Even ‘Simple’ Cases Can Turn Life-Threatening

Conventional wisdom says that urgent care is the place to go unless a patient has life- or limb-threatening problems. Even typically benign illness like strep throat can turn into something far worse if it’s not diagnosed and treated correctly, however. In one extreme case detailed on The Today Show website, a Michigan man ended up losing fingers and parts of his feet after a missed diagnosis of strep ultimately led to septic shock that nearly …

Update: Urgent Care Needs to Get the Mumps Message Across

You’ve read here that mumps has been spreading like wildfire in certain states, especially on college campuses and among school-aged children. Instead of winding down, however, outbreaks are actually picking up steam in multiple states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, underscoring the need for urgent care centers to help raise awareness about prevention in their communities. The CDC says cases of mumps has been confirmed in 37 states and the District …

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