COVID-19 (Omicron strain) hospital admissions from a virtual ward - who required further care?

Background: The COVID-19 virtual ward was created to provide care for people at home with COVID-19. Given this was a new model of care, little was known about the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients requiring admission to hospital from the virtual ward platform. The aims were to characterise hospital admission volume, patient epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and outcome from a virtual ward in the setting of an Omicron (BA.

Infection control behaviours, intra-household transmission and quarantine duration: a retrospective cohort analysis of COVID-19 cases.

Objectives: To study COVID-19 (Delta Variant) cases and close contacts co-located within households. Focusing on epidemiology of transmission of COVID-19, quarantine duration and utilisation of infection control behaviours under a telehealth model of care in an elimination setting.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis examined household spread of infection, duration of quarantine and change in PCR CT value during illness.

Vertebral artery dissection presenting as isolated vertigo.

In this report a central cause of isolated vertigo in a 24-year-old woman is presented: brainstem infarct secondary to vertebral artery dissection.

Hypoglycaemia related to ingestion of a herbal remedy.

We present the case of a 78-year-old diabetic man who was brought to the emergency department because of an episode of hypoglycaemia after taking a herbal remedy for benign prostatic hypertrophy. Patients with multiple comorbidities may well take nonprescribed medication, including herbal remedies, with deleterious effects. If physicians do not specifically ask patients about alternative and complementary medicines, they may be missed.

Vertigo: clinical assessment and diagnosis.

Dizziness is a common presenting complaint to emergency departments and medical admission units; the key is to differentiate between central and peripheral causes of vertigo. This review focuses on bedside assessment of vertigo and, by looking at patterns of symptoms and signs, provides guidance as to when to suspect a central cause.

The need for chest radiography before initiating non-invasive ventilation: a case report.

Severe, acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are a common presentation to emergency departments in the UK. In this group of patients, clinical examination can be unreliable in excluding a pneumothorax. With the increasing role of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in these cases, we present a case report that highlights the need for an urgent chest X-ray prior to commencement of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation.

Best evidence topic report. Transthoracic ultrasonography to diagnose pneumothorax in trauma.

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether transthoracic ultrasound can be used to diagnose pneumothoraces in trauma patients. A total of 46 papers were found using the reported search, of which four represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results, and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated.