Infectious 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.
- Another vaccine article? Yes, but a different vaccine
As newer vaccines against Streptococcus pneumoniae have arrived, so have confusing recommendations and guidelines for the sequence and timing of administration.
- Update on pneumococcal vaccination in adults: Simpler is better
Recommendations have been updated in the hopes not only of preventing more cases of invasive pneumococcal disease, but also of making the recommendations easier to follow.
- Mucormycosis presenting as dental pain
A root canal procedure failed to relieve the pain, and 1 week later the patient developed mobility of the left upper teeth.
- Diagnostic stewardship for urinary tract infection: A snapshot of the expert guidance
New guidance on ordering, processing, and reporting urine cultures focuses on reducing unnecessary antibiotic use and the misdiagnosis of urinary tract infection.