Jama Clinical Reviews: Interviews About Ideas & Innovations In Medicine, Science & Clinical Practice. Listen & Earn Cme Credi

Natural experiments comparing coronavirus spread on ships and in hair salons with vs without face masks point to the importance of wearing masks for curbing SARS-CoV-2 spread. John T. Brooks, MD, chief medical officer of the CDC’s COVID-19 response team, reviews recently published epidemiologic data that reinforce the role of mask use for pandemic control. Related Article: Effectiveness of Mask Wearing to Control Community Spread of SARS-CoV-2

Philip Cohen, MD, associate clinical professor of internal medicine at UCLA, a primary care internist who also specializes in sports medicine, discusses the primary care management of osteoarthritis. Related Articles: Drugs for Osteoarthritis Diagnosis and Treatment of Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have been a major breakthrough in cancer treatment but can have many serious adverse effects. Pankti Reid, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine in rheumatology at the University of Chicago, discusses the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of toxicities from immune checkpoint inhibitors as outlined by the 2019 NCCN guidelines. Related Article: Management of Immunotherapy-Related Toxicities in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy

Howard Reber, MD, emeritus professor of surgery at UCLA, discusses how to treat acute pancreatitis. Related Article(s): Acute Pancreatitis

Howard Reber, MD, emeritus professor of surgery at UCLA, discusses how to diagnose acute pancreatitis. Related Article(s): Acute Pancreatitis

Ethnic and racial minorities have been particularly hard hit with COVID-19 in some communities. Mitchell Katz, MD, president and chief executive officer of New York City Health + Hospitals, and former Los Angeles County health agency director, discusses this problem and what has been learned from COVID-19 that can help resolve the general problem of health care disparities. Related Article: Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Related to COVID-19

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the world, but most attempts to quit are unsuccessful. Atul Jain, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Mayo College of Medicine, discusses new guidelines from the American Thoracic Society on pharmacologic management of tobacco cessation, including target population and deciding when to initiate. Related Article(s): Initiating Pharmacologic Treatment in Tobacco-Dependent Adults

Mitchell Katz, MD, president and chief executive officer of New York City Health + Hospitals, and former Los Angeles County health agency director, discusses causes, similarities, and differences between the spike of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the 2 cities. Related Article: Modernize Medical Licensing, and Credentialing, Too—Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic

Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness in the world. Joshua Stein, MD, MS, associate professor of ophthalmology at the University of Michigan, reviews the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma. Related Article: Glaucoma in Adults—Screening, Diagnosis, and Management

A new trial reports that a third of emergency department patients presenting with appendicitis admitted for oral antibiotic treatment had outcomes no different from those admitted for intravenous antibiotic treatment. Paulina Salminen, MD, PhD, professor of surgery at the University of Turku in Finland, discusses the findings. Related Article(s): Effect of Oral Moxifloxacin vs Intravenous Ertapenem Plus Oral Levofloxacin for Treatment of Uncomplicated Acute Appendicitis

Gregory Armstrong, MD, director of the Advanced Molecular Detection Program for the CDC, explains what is currently known about the new mutations of SARS-CoV-2. Related Article(s): Genetic Variants of SARS-CoV-2—What Do They Mean? Next-Generation Sequencing of Infectious Pathogens Next Generation Sequencing of Infectious Pathogens in Public Health and Clinical Practice Understanding SARS-CoV-2 Genetic Variants

Next-generation sequencing is a catchall term for new, high-throughput technologies that allow rapid sequencing of a full genome. It can be used to sequence a patient’s DNA in diagnosing a genetic disorder or characterizing a cancer, but it can also be used to sequence the genome of a pathogenic bacteria, virus, fungi, or parasites. In this JAMA clinical review podcast, we talk with authors Marta Gwinn, MD, MPH, and Gregory L. Armstrong, MD, from the CDC, about how next-generation sequencing of infectious pathogens is being implemented in clinical practice and in public health surveillance for infectious disease. Related Article(s): Next-Generation Sequencing of Infectious Pathogens Podcast originally published 2/14/19.

Tom Shimabukuro, MD, MPH, MBA, and Sara Mbaeyi, MD, MPH, from the CDC discuss rare allergic complications in patients who received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine between December 14-23, 2020.

New therapies have greatly improved outcomes for patients with Crohn disease. Peter Higgins, MD, from the University of Michigan, discusses advances in management and treatment protocols. Related Article: Management of Crohn Disease

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is an often overlooked cause of acute ischemic stroke. JAMA Associate Editor Jeffrey Saver, MD, professor of neurology at UCLA, discusses new recommendations from a 2020 AAN Practice Advisory about use of mechanical PFO closure and anticoagulant vs antiplatelet therapy to prevent subsequent strokes in patients with a PFO and an initial event. Related Article: Management of Patients With a Patent Foramen Ovale With History of Stroke or TIA

Adam Lauring, MD, PhD, from the University of Michigan Division of Infectious Diseases, an expert on the evolutionary biology of RNA viruses, explains the new genetic variants recently found in SARS-CoV-2 and their importance. Related Article(s): Genetic Variants of SARS-CoV-2—What Do They Mean?

Elderly persons and residents of nursing homes have been the hardest hit in the COVID-19 pandemic. Harvard geriatrician Sharon Inouye, MD, discusses the effect COVID-19 has had on nursing homes and what should be done about it. Related Article: Association of Nursing Home Ratings on Health Inspections, Quality of Care, and Nurse Staffing With COVID-19 Cases

Homeless patients with chronic medical conditions who need long-term care often repeatedly present to emergency departments to receive treatment. Following a performance improvement analysis, clinicians at UCSF developed an emergency department–based team who work with the community to provide care for this challenging population. Hemal Kanzaria, MD, and Jack Chase, MD, discuss how UCSF has addressed this clinical problem. Related Article(s): Caring for Emergency Department Patients With Complex Medical, Behavioral Health, and Social Needs

JAMA Fishbein Fellow Kristin Walter, MD, interviews Craig Garfield, MD and Richard Weissbourd, EdD, about parental relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Related Article(s): Considerations for Young Children and Those With Special Needs as COVID-19 Continues

Lockdowns resulting from COVID-19 have had a devastating effect on everyone’s personal lives and the economy. What factors in people’s daily lives are most associated with SARS-CoV-2 transmission between people? Manish Patel, MD, team lead of the CDC’s Influenza Prevention & Control Team, discusses a study they conducted examining what sorts of activities might be associated with COVID-19 disease transmission. Related Article(s): Community Outbreak Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Among Bus Riders in Eastern China