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) – 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) – New surveillance data in Europe show a steep rise in the percentage of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia, a drug-resistant issue seen as a growing threat in the United States as well.

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.

(CIDRAP News) – H1N1 flu patients who were also infected with a common cause of pneumonia were 125 times more likely to develop life-threatening disease, a team of American and Argentinean researchers reported Thursday.

(CIDRAP News) – In a worrisome but not unexpected pandemic-related development, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today that it is seeing a spike in serious pneumococcal disease, particularly in younger patients.