News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Test results on a cluster of Alabama patients hospitalized with similar respiratory symptoms indicated no unusual pathogens but instead a variety of common respiratory viruses and bacteria, state health officials announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed reports from Maryland officials that a recent cluster of four severe influenza cases in the state involved a seasonal H3N2 strain, complicated in at least two cases by drug-resistant bacterial infections.

The case cluster in a rural community involved an 81-year-old woman and three of her adult children; the mother and two of her children died.

(CIDRAP News) – Maryland health officials today confirmed that at least 2 of 4 members of a Calvert County family who had severe influenza were co-infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

(CIDRAP News) – Another family member linked to a fatal flu cluster in Calvert County, Md., has been hospitalized, as suspicion grew that an aggressive drug-resistant form of pneumonia may have played a role in the severe illnesses, according to media reports.

(CIDRAP News) – Lab tests conducted by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (MDHMH) have revealed that two patients in a family cluster of four severe respiratory disease cases had the seasonal H3 influenza strain, complicated by bacterial co-infections, the department announced today.