Practice Management
Long-term U.S. mortality data indicate an overall decrease in deaths from influenza and pneumonia. A new analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data published in Medicine studied adults aged 25 years and older and found the age-adjusted mortality rate fell from 35.93 per 100,000 residents in 1999 to 16.46 per 100,000 residents in 2023, an average annual decline of 3.18%. Total deaths also decreased from 63,006 to 44,625 in the time frame. …
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According to a U.S. retrospective analysis published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, real-world outcomes suggests that baloxavir may offer more reduction in downstream healthcare utilization among influenza outpatients compared to oseltamivir. The study evaluated electronic health records from 69 healthcare organizations, identifying more than 75,000 treated patients aged 5 years and older who received either oseltamivir (73,899) or baloxavir (1,592) from 2016 to 2023. Across 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-up periods, baloxavir users …
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A multi-state study analyzed prescribing patterns of influenza antiviral medications in emergency departments (ED) and urgent care (UC) centers and found that many high-risk adults (those with cardiovascular disease, renal disease, weakened immune systems, or individuals older than 70 years) with positive influenza virus test results do not receive antiviral treatment, which the authors believe could help reduce the risk of complications. As published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, researchers found that slightly more than half …
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