Emergency Medicine News

Researchers have developed an at-home anaphylaxis management algorithm for patients who need emergency epinephrine treatment. Importantly, it may prevent unnecessary ED visits — a particularly helpful development given the risk that COVID-19 poses in health care settings.

In new guidance, a panel of pediatric infectious diseases physicians and pharmacists suggested that supportive care alone is sufficient to treat most children with COVID-19. Among children who develop severe or critical cases — a rare occurrence — the panel suggested the use of remdesivir as the preferred antiviral.

Poison centers in the United States saw a more than 20% increase in calls for exposures to cleaners and disinfectants during the first 3 months this year compared with the same time period in 2019, according to a new MMWR report. The spike is likely related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors said.

In a letter, AAP President Sara H. Goza, MD, FAAP, asked HHS for “immediate, direct financial relief payments” for pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists “to keep practices open, pay staff, and procure needed supplies.”

As of April 2, just 1.7% of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States occurred in children, with more males than females being infected, according to new data published in MMWR.

According to findings published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine, common signs or symptoms of COVID-19 in children include fever, cough and pharyngeal erythema.

A multi-disciplinary task force issued guidance for vaping-associated respiratory disease, or VARDS. The nationwide guidance, which was presented at the Society for Critical Care’s annual congress and concurrently published in Critical Care Explorations, recommended that physicians focusing on quickly identifying patients at risk for lung injury and familiarize themselves with vaping jargon.

More than one in four opioid poisonings involve children and adolescents, and the severity of hospital admissions for acute opioid ingestions has increased over a recent 14-year period, according to findings presented at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Critical Care Congress.

The implementation of a pediatric observation unit, or POU, reduced patient length of stay and conversion rates and increased patient satisfaction at a New York City hospital, according to a study published in BMJ Open Quality.

A 16-month-old female is admitted to the PICU with fever and concerns for sepsis. A few weeks earlier, she had the onset of a generalized maculopapular rash. The rash seemed to wax and wane, and then 4 days prior to admission, she was seen and treated with oral amoxicillin for fever and acute otitis media. The rash had since transitioned into several dark skin lesions with some surrounding erythema. Several lesions had become significantly larger, especially a presacral lesion (Figure 1), as well as lesions on both upper and lower lips (Figure 2) and her right ankle. A swab of the surface of the presacral lesion was sent for routine bacterial culture, growing three organisms: methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), Enterobacter and Klebsiella.