Infectious Diseases
- Should urine antigen testing for Legionella pneumophila be ordered for all hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia?
Testing is recommended if the pneumonia is severe, if there has been recent travel, and if there is currently an outbreak of legionnaires disease.
- The perfect storm: An unseasonably early RSV annual epidemic, a severe annual flu epidemic, and a smoldering COVID-19 pandemic
The author presents scenarios illustrating the overlapping clinical manifestations of respiratory viral infections that challenge clinical diagnosis.
- Brodie abscess in an 87-year-old man
Though Brodie abscess is rare in older adults, timely diagnosis and treatment can prevent exacerbation of the abscess and avoid the need for additional surgical treatment, shortening the duration of hospitalization and preventing long-term complications.
- Diagnosis and management of ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, and hepatorenal syndrome
A review of recommendations from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
How does climate change impact our patients?Comprehensive patient health and well-being will benefit from an understanding of the effects of climate change on health.
- Viruses change; we can, too
As we learn more about the mpox (formerly monkeypox) virus, Sossai et al in this issue of the Journal discuss how our understanding of its link to variola has led to therapeutic and prophylactic vaccination options.
- Smallpox and monkeypox: Looking back and looking ahead
Two vaccines have been developed for mpox prevention, but clarity is needed on when and how to use them.
- Central vision loss in a 44-year-old woman
The patient had a wide range of symptoms and comorbidities, resulting in a complicated differential diagnosis. Careful evaluation eventually led to a focus on sexually transmitted infection.
- Test ordering: Balancing the good for the many with the good for the one
Three articles this month address how we order clinical tests, one on the question of treating the patient with asymptomatic bacteriuria, the others on the advantages and disadvantages of standing orders for “daily labs” for inpatients.
- Does my patient need to be screened or treated for a urinary tract infection?
When patients present with symptoms that suggest but are not clearly diagnostic of urinary tract infection, urine studies should be obtained.