Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center, like many large urban hospitals, has a large immigrant population from regions of the world where leprosy is endemic. Emergency physicians (EPs) in these settings can expect to encounter leprosy patients. This study reviewed the emergency department (ED) course of patients with confirmed leprosy in an attempt to describe the most common presenting patterns so that future cases can be more easily recognized. ⋯ Patients with leprosy present to U.S. EDs, and new cases can be identified. Early recognition is important given leprosy's devastating consequences, major drug side effects of medications used for treatment, and improved prognosis with multidrug therapy. A history of leprosy and associated medications are often not documented in the ED chart, which may reflect a continued fear of stigmatization among these patients.
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To determine the proportion of Canadian emergency department (ED) patients who are at risk for increased morbidity from influenza but were not vaccinated and to determine emergency physicians' (EPs') willingness to screen for and prescribe influenza vaccination. ⋯ Many ED patients are at risk for increased morbidity from influenza and have not been vaccinated. The majority of them are willing to be vaccinated during an emergency visit and the majority of EPs are willing to prescribe vaccination. Emergency department vaccination for influenza should be considered as a strategy to increase vaccination among high-risk groups.