Practice Management
The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on clinicians and drug makers to help fight a worldwide surge in antibiotic-resistant organisms, some of which could be just as prevalent and as dangerous as Zika and Ebola. The rate of their emergence has picked up in recent years, thanks in part to inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics. As such, the WHO has echoed the pleadings of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for clinicians …
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Urgent care clinicians have been told to test, or refer for testing, pregnant patients who could have been exposed to Zika virus (or had sexual relations with a partner would could have been exposed). Now the Food and Drug Administration says some such patients could have tested positive for Zika even though they don’t actually have not been infected. LabCorp’s ZIKV Detect test, specifically, should not be relied on to make “significant patient management decisions,” …
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The evolution of electronic health records (or, more specifically, the data they house) pairs well—and not so coincidentally—with the growth of urgent care over the past decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sees electronic data collection as having greater application and significance than simply allowing patient histories to be readily accessible, though. The CDC is working out the optimal way to foster sharing of healthcare data across literal borders to identify—and, hopefully, …
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Just days after the World Health Organization declared Zika virus is no longer a “global emergency,” a new case that appears to have been transmitted locally was reported in Texas—marking the first time such a domestic case has occurred outside of Florida. More than 250 people in Texas have been infected previously, but all those cases could be traced back to travel in a region where the virus is prevalent, or having sexual relations with …
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has again updated guidance related to protecting the public from Zika virus, saying there’s evidence that a man infected with Zika can sexually transmit the virus to a female partner even if he has no symptoms. It cites the case of a woman who had unprotected sex with a man who’d recently returned from a trip to the Dominican Republic, where mosquito-born Zika has been confirmed. The …
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Texas Medicaid now covers certain mosquito repellent products as a Medicaid benefit for the prevention of the Zika virus under certain conditions, effective August 9. Girls and women 10-45 years of age and pregnant women of any age covered by Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), CHIP-Perinate, and Healthy Texas Women are all eligible. As with over-the-counter medications, a prescription is required for coverage. Interestingly, Texas has reported cases of Zika that originated elsewhere, but …
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We told you earlier that residents of Miami have been infected with Zika virus transmitted by local mosquitos, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to dispatch an emergency response team and revise its guidance on testing and prevention. Regardless of how likely or unlikely further domestic exposure may be, media attention and summer travel plans are likely to drive more patients with concerns about Zika to urgent centers. As such, operators are advised …
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has extended its travel warning for pregnant women to one area within Miami, as 14 people there have contracted Zika virus after being bitten by virus-carrying mosquitos locally. The first four cases were reported July 29, but that number more than tripled in just three days. Florida is the first state to report local transmission of Zika via mosquito. The CDC maintains there is no evidence of widespread …
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An outbreak of Guillain-Barré syndrome in Vancouver, WA—in which four times the number of cases reported in a typical year have been reported—appears to be related to an outbreak of Zika virus in the area, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC notes that Brazil, in which the mosquito that carries Zika is found in great numbers, also saw an increase in cases of Guillain-Barre following a spike in Zika infections. …
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As concerns surface that a warm summer may spread Zika virus to New York City and Los Angeles, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has opted to take $589 million earmarked for Ebola virus initiatives and apply it to fighting Zika instead. The CDC has also warned that the mosquito that carries Zika is on the move. While initial reports suggested that U.S. Zika cases were limited to individuals who had traveled to affected …
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