Articles related to Family Medicine/General Practice

Publication: JAMAMethod: Electronic health record (EHR) data from 8 health systems over seven 4-week surveillance periods to identify and assign gestational ages for spontaneous abortions and ongoing pregnancies; analyzed and compared odds of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in the 28 days prior to spontaneous abortion and ongoing pregnancies.Results: Of 105,446 unique pregnancies, 13,160 spontaneous abortions and 92,286 ongoing pregnancies were identified; spontaneous abortions did not have an increased odds of exposure to a COVID-19 vaccination in the prior 28 days compared with ongoing pregnancies.

As the influenza season will coincide with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s perfect timing for the release of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) influenza vaccination updated guidance. The comprehensive report indicates that COVID-19 vaccines can be co-administered with other vaccines, including influenza vaccines like egg-based flu vaccines and cell culture-based inactivated and recombinant vaccines.

Shawna McCafferty, MD, a US Navy Veteran and a pediatrician in Charleston, South Carolina, provides a glimpse into her role as a “terrified and angry” doctor and mother seeing kids suffer from this latest wave and ultimately asking the question, “…exactly how much child death and devastation is acceptable?”  

An OBGYN voices frustration — “silently cursing behind my mask” – with the patients who “recite a litany of scientifically illiterate reasons for not taking” the COVID-19 vaccine despite its 99%+ effectiveness in keeping them alive. Do you share this doctor’s sentiments?

Research shows that the “old” 2015 recommendation would only identify about half of Americans with prediabetes and undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. Based on this data, the US Preventive Services Task Force has lowered the recommended screening age from 40 to 35 years in asymptomatic, nonpregnant adults who are overweight or obese.

Can you differentiate between bradykinin-mediated angioedema and the more common histamine-mediated angioedema? How significant is a delayed diagnosis? Do you favor on-demand or preventative therapy? What is the recommended therapy? Access to specialist care and effective treatment in the past 10 years has improved the quality of life and reduced the mortality rate in patients with hereditary angioedema. This wide-ranging report from the British Journal of Hospital Medicine covers emerging treatments and outlines where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going in hereditary angioedema (HAE) care.