Practice Management
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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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, …
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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 …
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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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Coming off its highest calendar-year incidence in a decade, mumps struck 495 people in the U.S. in the first 28 days of 2017 alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The cases are spread across the entire breadth of the country, from Washington to Pennsylvania, pointing to a need for vigilance and preparedness in urgent centers in every region. First, clinics must be ready to assess patients and confirm or dismiss a …
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There’s no shortage of patients reporting to urgent care centers with back pain being their chief complaint. A new study published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases confirms they’re not likely to get satisfactory relief from nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), though. Machado, et al looked at 35 randomized, placebo-controlled trials that compared the efficacy and safety of NSAIDs with placebo for spinal pain. They found that treatment effects met the threshold for clinical importance in …
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While the country is locked in its annual battle against influenza, a second “bug” is creeping up and taking its toll on schools and workplaces, as well. Like the flu, norovirus picks up steam in the winter months and is especially hard—sometimes deadly—on seniors and young children. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts February will be the peak month for infection, which is characterized by intense gastrological symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, …
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Hospitalizations for influenza are up 66% over the same period last year in Oregon, according to the Oregon Health Authority. They’re not just coming in through the emergency room, either; one clinician says his hospital’s urgent care and family practices departments, in addition to the ED, are all packed with flu patients. The spike in cases has put pressure on all practice settings, prompting the Health Authority to step up its efforts to promote flu …
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