Practice Management
The term youthful indiscretion is sometimes used to give a pass on poor choices many of us make as we grow into responsible adults. Some of those choices are easier to move on from than others, however. Take tattoos, for example. Whether it’s the name of that first “forever” love that the new girlfriend doesn’t like looking at or something more consequential—like gang- or drug-related symbols and images—decisions that seemed sound at the time can …
Read More
Parents are familiar with the sound—a barking cough emanating from their young child that they’re probably inclined to dismiss as “just croup.” Maybe they’ll call to see how soon the pediatrician can fit them in or even wait a day or two to see if it subsides. Now, though, there’s evidence that a croup-like cough could actually be a sign of COVID-19 infection in children under 5 years of age, according to an article just …
Read More
Just when you thought you had clarity on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s mandate to vaccinate workers at businesses that employ 100 or more people against COVID-19, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the measure is invalid except for medical facilities that accept payments from Medicare or Medicaid. The decision came down 3 days after the mandate took effect. The mandate had required employees at affected businesses to either get vaccinated or submit …
Read More
While still relatively rare, there have been 6,400 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) related to COVID-19 in the United States—including 55 deaths—since the pandemic began, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With records for pediatric and adult infection continuing to be broken on a daily basis in some states and municipalities, it stands to reason that risk for MIS-C could also be increasing. The possibly good news …
Read More
We don’t have to tell you that these are hard times to be working in an urgent care center. Staffing levels have been tight for years, and the increasing volume of patients flocking to every available outlet for testing or treatment while staff members may be going out for extended sick time due to their own infection is bringing the situation to a head. John Davidhizar, MD told KBTX TV news in Bryan, TX as …
Read More
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been shown to produce less severe illness than previous varieties of the virus—for the most part. Much of the data assembled, to date, reflect lower risk for hospitalization and death in vaccinated patients. The unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated don’t necessarily run the same low risk. Perhaps more importantly, the World Health Organization just shared circumstances in which patients may be at high risk for severe disease even with …
Read More
It’s been well established that vaccination is the best option for reducing risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2, but also in avoiding severe disease and poor outcomes in breakthrough cases. New data published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report shed some light on exactly which patients are still at increased risk for hospitalization or death from the virus even though they’re fully vaccinated (defined for purposes of the research as receiving a full complement of one …
Read More
A few months ago, we shared the findings of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicating that a 5-day course of remdesivir improved outcomes for hospitalized patients with “moderate-to-severe” COVID-19. Further study by another group of researchers now shows that a 3-day course reduced risk for hospitalization or death in patients with COVID-19 and certain comorbidities but who had not yet been hospitalized with the virus. The latest study, published …
Read More
The longer the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the more consequences emerge—including among pediatric patients. Most recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study indicating that infection with SARS-CoV-2 is associated not only with worsened symptoms of already-diagnosed diabetes, but also with increased risk for newly diagnosed diabetes in patients under 18 years of age. In comparing cases of pediatric patients with COVID-19 (n=80,893) with those who did not (n=404,465), the researchers found a …
Read More
The sharp rise in COVID-19 cases attributed to the Omicron variant so close after the winter holidays is a nonscientific (but probably accurate) indicator that people spent a lot of time in tight quarters, unmasked, with others whose immunization or exposure status was unknown to them. The more ominous prospect, given that many individuals got rapid tests (or insisted that visitors do so) before gathering, is that rapid antigen tests may not be much help …
Read More