Remote Versus In-person Outpatient Clinic Visits and Antibiotic Use Among Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The proportion of remote clinic visits was expected to increase among children during the COVID-19 pandemic which might result in antibiotic overuse.

Methods: In southern Israel, 2 ethnic groups, Jewish and Bedouin, live side-by-side. Computerized data on visits for children <18 years were examined from clinics with ≥50 insured children, active both pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disproportionate reduction in respiratory vs. non-respiratory outpatient clinic visits and antibiotic use in children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to improved hygiene and reduced social encounters. Near elimination of the activity of respiratory syncytial virus and influenza viruses were observed, worldwide. Therefore, we assessed the rates of pediatric outpatient clinic visits and medications prescribed at those visits during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and pre-COVID-19 period (2016-2019).

The impact of a community-based heart failure multidisciplinary team clinic on healthcare utilization and costs.

Aims: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) management in heart failure (HF) is recommended to reduce mortality and HF hospitalization. We investigated whether an MDT in a community-based HF unit (HFU) impacted patients' healthcare utilization (HCU) and costs.

Methods And Results: A retrospective cohort study was conducted among HF patients who visited at least once in a regional community-based HFU, established for ambulatory specialist care for New York Heart Association Functional Classes III and IV, between January 2012 and August 2019.

The association between antibiotic use in the community and nasopharyngeal carriage of antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae in Bedouin children.

Background: The objective of the study was to evaluate whether the increase in antibiotic-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage was associated with antibiotic use in the community in children in Southern Israel.

Methods: All the prescriptions given to Bedouin children <5 years old enlisted in 2 sentinel primary pediatric clinics treating approximately 20% of the Bedouin pediatric population of this age range were recorded, from 1998 to 2005. Nasopharyngeal pneumococcal isolates obtained during the same period from healthy children <5 years old were collected and antibiotic susceptibility was determined.

Lipid levels among African and Middle-Eastern Bedouin populations.

Background: Previous studies observed higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels and lower triglycerides levels among people of African ancestry. The goal of this study was to characterize lipid levels in Bedouins of African vs. Middle-Eastern ethnicity.

Seasonality of antibiotic-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae that causes acute otitis media: a clue for an antibiotic-restriction policy?

Background: It is unclear whether reducing antibiotic prescriptions can reduce rates of resistance once resistance becomes prevalent. We attempted to determine whether reduced antibiotic consumption, which is observed yearly in children during the warm season, is associated with a reduction in antibiotic resistance in pneumococcal acute otitis media (AOM).

Methods: Antibiotic prescriptions and resistance were measured prospectively during 1999-2003 in 2 demographically distinct populations: Jewish and Bedouin children (aged <5 years) in southern Israel.

Utilization of emergency department services by the Bedouin population in southern Israel.

Excessive use of the emergency department (ED) is associated with increased costs and workload in the ED, patients' inconvenience and disruption of the continuity of care. The study's goal was to describe trends in ED utilization among Bedouins living in southern Israel. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in primary care clinics in southern Israel.