Evaluating An Urgent Care Antibiotic Stewardship Intervention: A Multi-Network Collaborative Effort
Urgent Care centers (UCCs) have reported high rates of antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections. A quality improvement study comparing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing rates in UCCs after the introduction of an antibiotic stewardship intervention showed reductions in inappropriate prescribing among actively engaged clinicians. Implementing stewardship interventions in UCCs may reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for common diagnoses; however, active clinician engagement may be necessary. Full Access: Cambridge University
Cases of HMPV Are Trending Up in the US, Especially in These States, CDC Data Shows
Data from the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) shows that among lab tests submitted for HMPV, more than 2% tested positive through the first week of January. That’s up slightly from the week prior (1.77%) and more than double the rate reported in early December (0.87%). Full Access: CDC
CDC Recommends Accelerated Subtyping of Influenza A in Hospitalized Patients
In light of the ongoing avian influenza A(H5) virus animal outbreak in the US, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a health advisory, recommending a shortened timeline for subtyping all influenza A specimens among hospitalized patients and increasing efforts at clinical laboratories. Full Access: CDC
Six-Month Outcomes in the Long-Term Outcomes After the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Study
In this cohort study including 1204 participants by 6 months after hospital discharge, 99% had normalization of left ventricular systolic function, and 92.3% had normalization of coronary artery dimensions. Over 95% reported being more than 90% back to baseline health status. Full Access: JAMA
Point-of-Care Testing to Combat Congenital Syphilis—The Time Is Now
There is an urgent need to offer US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–cleared syphilis point-of-care (POC) testing with immediate treatment. Syphilis POC testing offers same-day results and immediate on-site treatment to effectively treat cases, including the large proportion of early syphilis infections that if left untreated would progress to late disease requiring additional follow-up and treatment. Full Access: JAMA
Artificial Intelligence–Guided Lung Ultrasound by Nonexperts
In this multicenter diagnostic validation study among adults with shortness of breath, 98.3% of ultrasound examinations performed by trained health care professionals with AI guidance were of sufficient quality to meet diagnostic standards and were not statistically different compared with images acquired by LUS experts without AI guidance. Full Access: JAMA
What Doctors Wish Patients Knew About Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease
Common symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease can also be nonspecific things that you’ll see with other illnesses. When a child has hand, foot and mouth disease, households are at risk because other family members can get sick too, so it is important to “always take special precautions if there are people with any concerning conditions or high-risk conditions that live in the household as well.” Full Access: AMA
Moderna Provides Update on Norovirus Vaccine Candidate
Moderna’s mRNA-1403 is a messenger RNA-based trivalent vaccine candidate designed to protect against multiple norovirus genotypes. It is currently being evaluated in the randomized, observer-blinded, placebo-controlled phase 3 Nova 301 trial. Full Access: MPR
