Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Use Virtual Care for Tonsillitis Triage, Not Treatment

Virtual appointments may not be the ideal channel for leveraging the Centor Criteria for tonsillitis, which calls for a clinician to check a patient for fever as well as tender and swollen lymph nodes. A cross-sectional study of 189 patients published in Infectious Diseases, analyzed digital assessments in comparison to physical examinations when used to determine clinical recommendations for treatment of tonsillitis. The study included 3 urgent care clinics and 6 primary care practices in …

Flu Vaccine More Than 55% Effective in Recent Years

The effectiveness of the seasonal influenza vaccine for kids was more than 55% during the respiratory virus seasons from November 2015 to April 2020, according to a study in JAMA Network Open. The 15,728 US children ages 6 months to 17 years who were studied realized protection against emergency department (ED) visits or hospitalization with at least 1 dose of the vaccine. No difference in estimated effectiveness was observed based on varying levels of flu …

Racial Bias May Influence Identification of Potential Child Abuse

Most healthcare workers use vigilance when treating children with injuries that could signal a potential case of child abuse, but bias can influence perception. According to a study published in JAMA Network Open, Black children hospitalized for traumatic injuries are more likely to be suspected of having experienced possible child abuse than White children. When examining data for 634,309 pediatric patients, researchers demonstrated 75% greater odds of suspicion for child abuse for Black patients and …

Severe H5N1 Avian Influenza Case Shows Mutations After Infection

In mid-December, a case of H5N1 (avian influenza) in Louisiana was reported as the first instance of severe illness linked to the virus in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has now sequenced the H5N1 virus in specimens collected from the patient in Louisiana who became severely ill and compared them to other H5N1 sequences from dairy cows, birds, poultry, and previous human cases. After studying this genetic analysis, researchers …

Americans: US Healthcare System Is Worse Than Ever

Americans have given the US healthcare system a record-low quality rating, while 70% of respondents in a national survey also believe that the healthcare system at large has major problems or is in a state of crisis, according to a recent Gallup poll of more than 1,000 adults. Sentiment is now at its lowest point since the polling organization began monitoring opinions on the topic in 2001. The percentage of those who say the quality …

Lawsuit Against One Medical Claims Poor Care Led to Patient’s Death

One Medical, under the Amazon umbrella since February 2023, is now facing a lawsuit related to the death of a patient who was treated virtually by a One Medical provider. The 45-year-old patient complained of shortness of breath, coughing up blood, and feet turning blue, according to reporting in the Washington Post. He was prescribed an inhaler during the virtual appointment and later died waiting to be seen at a local hospital emergency department in …

PCPs Prescribe Antibiotics For Pneumonia Even With Negative Chest Radiography

Researchers found that more than 68% of patients in primary care settings with negative chest x-rays were prescribed antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Two-hundred fifty-nine adults in France with clinically suspected CAP received chest radiography (CR) as part of their evaluations, and 144 (55.6%) had a positive result, according to the study presented in the Annals of Family Medicine. Patients with positive CR had more severe and longer-lasting symptoms—including higher body temperature, faster heart rate, …

Orders for Flu Tests in ED More Than Quadrupled From 2013-2022

The percentage of emergency department (ED) visits that included influenza testing increased from 2.5% in 2013 to 10.9% in 2022, according to a new data brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ED visits for children ages 0–5 years had the highest percentage of tests ordered both in 2013 data (8.6%) and 2022 data (23.1%). Among ED visits by adults, the percentage with an influenza test increased from 1.9% to 9.1% for patients …

Pertussis Surges in Some Northern States

Michigan’s state health department reported more than 1,500 pertussis infections as of December 8, 2024—the highest number of cases in 10 years, according to Mlive. By comparison, the state saw a 596-case average from 2017 through 2019. And Michigan isn’t alone. The Massachusetts department of public health also reported a 5-fold increase in the number of confirmed cases of pertussis with 754 cases on the books through the end of November, compared to 115 in …

Nebraska Sues Change Healthcare For Damages After Cyberattack

It’s the healthcare disruption that seems to remain top of mind. Nebraska’s Attorney General has now filed a lawsuit against Change Healthcare, alleging the company violated state consumer protection and data security laws, making Change vulnerable to the massive ransomware attack in February that brought wide channels of the US healthcare system to halt. Poor security and other systemic failures allowed cybercriminals to steal personal and health data while also freezing Change systems that process …