Dyspnea Original author: Tracey Quail Davidoff Originally published in 2014. Substantially updated and clinically reviewed in 2026 to reflect current evidence, guidelines, and urgent care practice. Introduction Dyspnea is the subjective sensation of difficult, uncomfortable, or labored breathing. Causes range from benign and self-limited conditions to immediately life-threatening cardiopulmonary, upper-airway, toxicologic, metabolic, and neurologic disorders. In urgent care, the first task is not to establish a complete differential diagnosis; it is to identify physiologic instability …
Read MoreTextbook of Urgent Care Medicine, Chapter 16, Wheezing and Asthma
Wheezing and Asthma Original chapter author: Rasai L. Ernst Originally published in 2014. Substantially updated and clinically reviewed in 2026 to reflect current evidence, guidelines, and urgent care practice. Introduction Asthma is a heterogeneous chronic airway disease characterized by variable respiratory symptoms and variable expiratory airflow limitation. Acute asthma exacerbations are common in urgent care, but wheezing is not synonymous with asthma. First-time wheezing, focal or asymmetric findings, poor response to bronchodilator therapy, or atypical …
Read MoreTextbook of Urgent Care Medicine, Chapter 3, Vertigo
CHAPTER 3 Vertigo Updated for urgent care practice, 2026 Original author: John Shufeldt. Clinical update prepared for academic review of the 2014 urgent care textbook chapter. INTRODUCTION Dizziness is a common but nonspecific urgent care complaint. Patients may use the term to describe vertigo, presyncope, disequilibrium, medication effects, anxiety-related symptoms, or a systemic illness. Vertigo is an illusion of movement caused by asymmetry in vestibular tone; however, the urgent care clinician must first identify dangerous …
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Valley Fever Diagnosis Too Often Missed During Healthcare Visits
A retrospective review conducted at a safety-net hospital in Fresno, California, found that coccidioidomycosis diagnoses (“Valley fever”) were frequently missed in healthcare visits. In a poster presented at ASM Microbe 2026, in Washington, D.C., and published in IDSE Infectious Disease Special Edition, researchers reviewed records from 62 patients ultimately diagnosed with coccidioidomycosis, a fungal infection caused by Coccidioides species that are endemic to the southwestern United States. They found 60% of patients (37 of 62) …
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HCA’s Medical City Adds 13 Urgent Care Centers To Its Portfolio
Medical City Healthcare, a subsidiary of HCA Healthcare, this week acquired 13 CommunityMed urgent care centers that will become part of its CareNow Urgent Care network, according to a press release. Currently operating 22 hospitals as well as a number of freestanding emergency departments and ambulatory surgery centers in northern Texas, Medical City Healthcare will now have more than 95 CareNow branded sites across the state—including 2 located in Walmart stores. The deal also expands …
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Challenge of Antibiotic Stewardship Amplified in Urgent Care
A recent post from the Association of American Medical Colleges provides an update on the worldwide issue of antibiotic-resistant infections, including the factors contributing to the problem and some of the methods for solving it. More than 2 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur each year in the United States, leading to 35,000 deaths, and globally, 1.2 million people die from such infections. In the outpatient setting overall, about 10% of visits result in a prescription for …
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New 5-in-1 Meningococcal Vaccine Adds to Provider Options
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a meningococcal ABCWY vaccine for use in individuals aged 10 to 25 years, according to a press release from manufacturer GSK. The vaccine targets 5 groups of the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis (A,B,C,W, and Y), which represent the most invasive meningococcal disease cases globally. The vaccine combines antigenic components of the meningococcal group B vaccine and meningococcal groups A, C, Y, and W-135 oligosaccharide diphtheria CRM197 conjugate vaccine. Trial …
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What Happens to Kids With Hypertension When They Grow Up?
In a cohort study of children and adolescents with elevated blood pressure (BP) and/or hypertension, researchers found that as adults, those same individuals had a 16% to 63% chance of returning to normal BP levels. The 2,918 children with elevated BP who were studied were more than twice as likely to have elevated BP/hypertension as adults, according to research published in JAMA Pediatrics. Children with normal BP often sustained it into adolescence, but the probability …
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RSV Vaccine Found Effective in First Season of Use
Use of nirsevimab was found to be 89% effective against acute respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection and 93% effective against hospitalization among children younger than age 5 in a recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics. The study examined data in 7 academic pediatric medical centers in the United States from 2017 to 2020 and data from the 2023-2024 RSV season. It was only in July 2023—right before the 2023-2024 RSV season—that nirsevimab first became available. …
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Obesity On Course to Reach 213 Million Adults and 43 Million Kids
A new study in The Lancet estimates the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States while also forecasting the trends for America’s long-term future. Researchers found that by 2050, the total number of children and adolescents with overweight and obesity will reach 43.1 million (37.2–47.4), and the total number of adults with overweight and obesity will reach 213 million (202–221). That means a projected 1 in 3 adolescents and 2 in 3 adults …
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