Menu
Primary Care Patients’ and Staff’s Perceptions of Self-Rooming as Alternative to Waiting Rooms
Most patients (n = 1,561) preferred self-rooming (86%), especially among patients aged <65 years and in family medicine clinics. Self-rooming is a patient-centered innovation that is also acceptable to staff. We demonstrated that pragmatic implementation is feasible across primary care without expensive technology or specially designed buildings.
Full Access: Annals of Family Medicine
Vibrating Pill for Constipation Now Available
In a trial, the pill produced at least one additional weekly bowel movement for 41% of participants, compared to at least one additional bowel movement for 23% of participants who took a placebo pill. Vibrant was approved by the FDA in August but is just now becoming available for doctors to prescribe. Because it is not a drug, Vibrant is considered a Class 2 medical device by the FDA, which is the same class as contact lenses.
Full Access: Medscape
Early Treatment with Pegylated Interferon Lambda for Covid-19
A randomized, controlled, adaptive platform trial in Brazil and Canada showed that a total of 25 of 931 patients (2.7%) in the interferon group had a primary-outcome event, as compared with 57 of 1018 (5.6%) in the placebo group, a difference of 51%. Among predominantly vaccinated outpatients with Covid-19, the incidence of hospitalization or an emergency department visit (observation for >6 hours) was significantly lower among those who received a single dose of pegylated interferon lambda than among those who received placebo.
Full Access: NEJM
Norovirus National Trends
The percentage of positive norovirus tests at the end of January has surpassed the peak percentage seen last year in March, according to surveillance data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though the data suggests the virus may have peaked on a national level, regional data shows cases are still floating upward in the Northeast, Midwest, and Western US, with numbers in the South seemingly sinking. The latest wave of infectious diseases in the US comes as the country is still grappling with COVID-19 spread while other germs are reestablishing their normal cycles.
Full Access: CDC