Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Antibiotic Resistance For Gonorrhea Seen As Global Health Threat

New data from the World Health Organization (WHO) warns of a rise in drug-resistant gonorrhea worldwide. According to a news release from the agency’s Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Program, resistance to ceftriaxone and cefixime—2 first-line antibiotics for gonorrhea—has increased. From 2022 to 2024, ceftriaxone resistance rose from 0.8% to 5%, while cefixime resistance rose from 1.7% to 11%. Resistance to azithromycin, which is often used alongside ceftriaxone or cefixime, also increased from 0.5% to 4%, …

NY Warns of Antibiotic Resistance For Prophylactic Ciprofloxacin

New York’s department of health issued an advisory last week cautioning healthcare organizations to stop prescribing the antibiotic ciprofloxacin as prophylactic treatment for people who have come in contact with someone who has meningococcal disease. The department created the recommendation based on an increase in antimicrobial resistance with ciprofloxacin. In New York City, 6 of the 35 (17%) isolates from patients diagnosed with invasive meningococcal disease from July 23, 2023, to July 22, 2024, were …

Antibiotic Prescribing Patterns for Sinusitis in an Urgent Care and Convenience Care Setting: A Quality Improvement Project

Urgent Message: Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in the outpatient setting has been a longstanding public health challenge. An educational session implemented in a large Midwestern healthcare system group of urgent care and convenience care clinics resulted in a statistically significant reduction in antibiotic prescribing for acute sinusitis and a statistically significant increase in antibiotic guideline adherence. Dr. Amy K. Rasmussen, DNP, FNP-C ABSTRACT Background: Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in the outpatient setting is a longstanding problem and …

Stopping the Rise of Antibiotic Resistance: An Urgent Care Imperative

Urgent message: Antibiotic resistance is a worldwide problem with a local solution—one that starts in your urgent care center. Focusing on responsible prescribing, in combination with staff and patient education, will start to curb overprescribing. Every appropriate prescription you write and every inappropriate prescription you opt not to write is a step in the right direction. By 1980, scientists believed that roughly 3%-5% of Streptococcus pneumoniae were penicillin-resistant and by the turn of the century, …

UCA Partners Up in Fighting Antibiotic Resistance

The Urgent Care Association (UCA) is partnering with George Washington University’s Antibiotic Resistance Action Center on an initiative to put the brakes on runaway antibiotic resistance. The goal of the 3-year plan is to develop and implement evidence-based practices aimed at preserving the effectiveness of the antibiotics we have available today, namely by promoting responsible use of antibiotics. The fact that urgent care centers see some 160 million patients annually make it the perfect setting …

Treating Common Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in an Era of Increasing Antibiotic Resistance

Urgent message: Thorough evaluation and thoughtful prescribing can help ensure responsible, effective care and patient satisfaction. Joseph Toscano, MD Introduction Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are among the most common reasons patients seek assistance in urgent care practice. The common cold, otitis media, acute sinusitis, and acute pharyngitis are well known to patient and provider alike. Acute bronchitis is a lower respiratory tract infection, with features similar to URTIs. These infections are most often self-limited …

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