Pelvic examination added little to clinical judgment when evaluating for sexually transmitted infections in young women.

Topical antibiotic use for bacterial conjunctivitis was associated with improved rate of clinical cure compared to placebo. For early and late clinical cure with topical antibiotics, the NNT was 9 and 11, respectively.

The modified Philadelphia criteria had high enough sensitivity to rule out invasive bacterial infection in infants 29-60 days old without obtaining CSF. No infants 29-60 days old who were classified as low risk had bacterial meningitis.

Corticosteroids did not reduce the incidence of post-herpetic neuralgia at 6 months or pain severity at 3, 6, or 12 months. However, the evidence for this review was fairly weak. Two trials indicated that steroids may reduce short-term pain and speed healing at one month.

Acyclovir within 72-hours of onset of herpes zoster did not reduce pain from post-herpetic neuralgia better than placebo at 4 to 6-month follow up. But it likely helps with acute pain from zoster at 1-month.

In premenopausal women with recurrent cystitis, drinking more water on a daily basis can reduce episodes of cystitis.

There has been a surge of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) cases this year, similar to poliomyelitis. The etiology is unknown. Here is how to recognize and treat it based on what we know at this point.

Probiotics decrease the risk of C. difficile infection in adults and children taking antibiotics and may reduce overall adverse events like cramping, nausea, or diarrhea.

This rapid review by BMJ included ADRENAL and APROCCHSS along with 40 other RCTs and made a weak recommendation to use corticosteroids (CCS) for patients with sepsis. You’ll want to pull up the free full text with some great infographics.

There was no difference between a regular medical mask and N-95 mask worn by healthcare workers in preventing influenza or any other respiratory infection.