CIDRAP newsletters options
Flu activity is still high in the Northern Hemisphere's temperate-zone countries, with a few countries now reporting hospitalization and intensive care unit admission levels that top previous seasons, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its latest global flu update. Adults ages 65 and older are the hardest hit groups in both Canada and the United States.
One study hints that infection in children and young adults may affect brain health.
The findings undermine the country's efforts to combat rising antibiotic resistance.
Today the French pharmaceutical company, Sanofi Pasteur, said they would not pay the Philippines millions of dollars in return for Dengvaxia vaccines, after the country halted a national vaccination program in light of concerns the vaccine can cause severe infection in dengue-immune recipients.
The United States, Brazil, Argentina, and now Canada, have all reported cases of cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea, according to the latest situation report published by the Pan American Health organization (PAHO).
Strains with key drug-resistance genes grew from 16% of samples in 2008 to 68% in 2013.
By every metric, this H3N2-dominated season is measuring up as a bad one.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has received early reports of two new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases, both in Kandahar province, GPEI said in its weekly update today.
Allergan, a pharmaceutical company based in Dublin, Ireland, yesterday announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an expanded indication for its antibiotic combination drug Avycaz (ceftazidime and avibactam) to treat hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP) caused by gram-negative organisms.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Protection against the H3N2 strain was 17%—and not statistically significant.
A new story by the UK-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism alleges the last-resort antibiotic colistin is being widely used on Indian poultry farms, despite worldwide concerns that using the drug in food-producing animals could render it ineffective.
A new report from Brazil's Ministry of Health showed a steady rise in the number of yellow fever cases confirmed and suspected since an update posted last week. There are now 213 confirmed cases, 83 more than last week, and 1,080 suspected cases, an increase of 479 since the previous report.
Recent gains in preventing the disease in pregnancy may be lost as resistance to prophylactic treatment rises.
Multiple factors may affect antibiotic overprescribing.
It's too soon to know if the study applies to people, but West Nile caused fetal brain damage and death in mice.
The Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH) tuberculosis program is assisting with the investigation of two confirmed multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) cases in the northeastern part of the state, according to Nancy Nydam, a communications official with the GDPH.
Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resigned today after a report that she bought tobacco stocks while leading the agency.
Anne Schuchat, MD, the CDC's principal deputy director who served as interim CDC director before Fitzgerald began her tenure last year, will resume that role, the Wall Street Journal and other news sources reported.
SEDRIC will bring together experts in infectious diseases, epidemiology, and human and animal health to identify gaps.
Yesterday the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new case of MERS-CoV and announced the death of a previously reported MERS patient.
A 40-year-old Saudi woman from Riyadh is in stable condition after presenting with symptoms of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus). The woman's source of infection is listed as "primary," meaning it's unlikely she contracted the disease from another person.
