Clinical

Outbreaks of disease caused by the Cryptosporidium parasite (a key symptom of which is diarrhea) shot up an average of 13% annually between 2009 and 2017, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s now the top cause of disease outbreaks via water in the U.S. There were 444 outbreaks over the study period, resulting in hundreds of hospitalizations and one fatality. Around 35% of the outbreaks were linked …

The recently concluded meeting of the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) resulted in a few major developments on the vaccine front: Serogroup B Meningococcal (MenB) Vaccine ACIP has recommended MenB vaccine boosters in the past for patients between 16 and 23 years of age. However, recent outbreaks prompted discussion of whether that was adequate; ultimately, the committee decided it is not and now says children 10-years-old and up should receive …

Just as sure as your dog will be cowering in the corner once fireworks start booming, urgent care centers can expect to see a range of injuries related to “celebrations” gone awry in the coming days. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the most common injuries occur to hands and fingers, followed by the head and face, the legs, and the eyes. Last year, Independence Day sent roughly 9,100 people to emergency rooms. The …

In a flu season that has been classified as the worst in decades, influenza vaccinations prevented anywhere from 40,000 to 90,000 hospitalizations according to data just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The effectiveness data are less straightforward; the 2018–2019 vaccine was 29% effective overall. That figure is deceptively low, however, in that the CDC says this year’s vaccine offered “no significant protection” against H3N2 influenza, but lowered the risk of H1N1 …

It’s an inescapable, irrefutable fact that too many clinicians are writing too many prescriptions for unwarranted antibiotics in the United States. We all know the consequences, too; around 23,000 Americans die every year from drug-resistant infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Urgent care certainly is not immune to the misguided practice, but as an industry we’re taking strong steps to reverse the trend. The most recent development: The Urgent Care Association, …

The key to safer, appropriate use of antibiotics may lie in something as simple as better education for both physicians and patients, according to a new study published in Academic Emergency Medicine. Funded by a contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers at UC Davis saw inappropriate prescriptions for antibiotics fall by one third in nine emergency departments and urgent care centers in California and Colorado after introducing one of two educational …

The World Health Organization just released data indicating that more than a million new sexually transmitted infections occur in individuals 15 to 49 years of age every day worldwide. The domestic situation is no better, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are “steep and sustained increases in sexually transmitted diseases” in the U.S. The relative anonymity of urgent care, where patients are less likely to have an ongoing medical relationship with …

The winter of 2018–2019 was full of headlines tracking the worst flu season in decades. Then, the resurgence of measles—thought to be “eliminated” in the United States in 2000—took the spotlight. More quietly, and even more insidiously than measles, hepatitis A cases have been mounting across the country. In Ohio alone, 2,997 cases were confirmed over the past year. Since 2016, there have been 20,133 in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control …

Prevailing wisdom is that the current outbreak of measles in the United States began when travelers returned from visiting a country where immunization is not the norm to a community where compliance rates are low. It hasn’t taken long for over a thousand people to be diagnosed, and it’s likely the spread isn’t over. The series of events essentially exposed a loophole in the idea that herd immunity is “enough.” Now that Americans are starting …

Pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV infection (PrEP) has yet to gain traction in urgent care centers—even among operators who recognize the public health benefit. Some have moral qualms about PrEP, believing that offering an added layer of protection encourages high-risk behavior among those already at the greatest risk (namely, men who have sex with men [MSM], heterosexually active men and women, and people who inject drugs). Others are concerned about reimbursements and the complexities of the …