News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Federal officials announced yesterday that $1 billion worth of grants and tax credits will be awarded to thousands of small biotechnology companies to support the development of new medical therapies, including a number of products for infectious diseases.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded a contract to a San Francisco company to further the development of a new broad-spectrum antibiotic for treating plague, tularemia, and various resistant infections.

(CIDRAP News) – A new large-scale study of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections shows that infection rates have dropped in hospitalized people and those recently exposed to healthcare settings, but experts aren't sure what factors are driving the decline.

(CIDRAP News) – A study designed to explore management of Staphylococcus aureus of hospitalized children found that methicillin-resistant (MRSA) infections rose tenfold over the 10-year study period, leading to dramatic changes in antibiotic prescribing patterns.

Editor's Note: This is the first of a series of articles reviewing the world's experience with pandemic H1N1 influenza and what we've learned in the past year. Look for further installments in the days to come.

(CIDRAP News) – A year's experience with the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus has underscored the endless unpredictability of flu.