Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Jan 2021
Residential aged care facility COVID-19 outbreaks and magnitude of spread among residents: observations from a Victorian residential in-reach service.
There is a paucity of Australian literature exploring the spread of COVID-19 among residents living in residential aged care facilities (RACF). In this case series of COVID-19 outbreaks in six RACF, we collected data on the cumulative proportion of residents who tested positive for COVID-19 within 21 days of the index case being identified. We describe the observations of a Residential In-Reach service within these six RACF and found that rapid cohorting strategies, personal protective equipment availability and adequacy of use, embedded infection control staff, and adequate outbreak preparedness plans may have influenced the differences observed between RACF in the containment and minimisation of the spread of COVID-19 amongst residents.
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Internal medicine journal · Jan 2021
Approach to the patient with early Parkinson disease: diagnosis and management.
This article presents an evidence-based approach to the patient with newly diagnosed Parkinson disease (PD). It includes a discussion of the current understanding of the aetio-pathogenesis of PD and of clinical features, both motor and non-motor, that assist the clinician in making this diagnosis. ⋯ The newly diagnosed patient with PD is often keen to know what the future holds for them, as they face this progressive neurodegenerative condition. While currently available medical therapies are symptomatic, rather than disease-modifying, in nature, it is hoped that improved understanding of the aetio-pathogenesis of PD will pave the way for future disease-modifying therapies.