Emergency medicine clinics of North America
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Hydrologic disasters, including hurricanes, tsunamis, and severe flooding, have been associated with infectious diseases, particularly among vulnerable and displaced populations in resource-poor settings. Skin and soft tissue infections, gastrointestinal infections, respiratory infections, zoonotic infections, and vector-borne diseases each present unique threats to human health in this setting. Increased emergency physician awareness of these infectious diseases and their diagnosis and management helps optimize medical care for survivors after a hydrologic disaster and safeguard the health of disaster responders.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2018
ReviewManagement of Human Immunodeficiency Virus in the Emergency Department.
Over the past 30 years, significant advances have transformed the landscape of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care in the emergency department. Diagnosis and management of HIV has improved, resulting in a decline in the incidence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining infections. ⋯ Emergency providers have played an increasingly important role in HIV screening and diagnosis of acute infection. Provision of postexposure prophylaxis is expanding from a focus on occupational exposure to include all high-risk cases.
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Oncology patients are a unique patient population in the emergency department (ED). Malignancy and associated surgical, chemotherapeutic, or radiation therapies put them at an increased risk for infection. The most ominous development is neutropenic fever, which happens often and may not present with signs or symptoms other than fever. A broad differential diagnosis is essential when considering infectious disease pathology in both neutropenic and non-neutropenic oncology patients in the ED.
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Community-acquired pneumonia is one of the most common infections seen in emergency department patients. There is a wide spectrum of disease severity and viral pathogens are common. ⋯ Antibiotics should be selected with attention to risk factors for multidrug-resistant respiratory pathogens. Broad use of pneumococcal vaccine in adults and children can prevent severe community-acquired pneumonia.
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Emerg. Med. Clin. North Am. · Nov 2018
ReviewManagement of Patients with Sexually Transmitted Infections in the Emergency Department.
Sexually transmitted infections (STI) are very common infections in the United States. Most patients with STIs are evaluated and treated in primary care settings; however, many also present to the Emergency Department (ED) for initial care. ⋯ Although most patients with STIs are asymptomatic or may only exhibit mild symptoms, serious complications from untreated infection are possible. Pregnant women with STIs are particularly vulnerable to serious complications; therefore, empiric ED treatment combined with close follow-up care and referral to obstetrics are paramount.