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Today the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xofluza (baloxavir marboxil) for the treatment of flu in patients ages 12 years and older who have been symptomatic for no more than 48 hours.
Xofluza is the first novel flu treatment approved by the FDA in nearly 20 years; the FDA approved the neuraminidase inhibitors oseltamivir and zanamivir in 1999.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed three more cases of Ebola and recorded two new deaths in the ongoing outbreak in North Kivu province.
Two of the new cases and both deaths occurred in Beni, the hots pot of the outbreak that saw violent attacks by rebel forces over the weekend. One new case was recorded in Butembo.
Report calls for more aggressive action to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and promote antibiotic development.
Health officials are probing why a disproportionate number of children are among the recent cases in Beni.
In an update today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced 63 more cases of Salmonella illnesses connected to tainted beef products from JBS Tolleson, Inc. The outbreak, caused by the Newport strain of the bacterium, now stands at 120 cases in 22 states.
In avian flu outbreak developments, the United States reported the detection of low-pathogenic H5N2 in a Minnesota turkey flock and Laos reported a highly pathogenic H5N1 outbreak in backyard birds.
Eight of the new cases are in Beni, including 5 of the 6 fatal illnesses.
Experts hope the move will aid future antibiotic discovery.
In an update today, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said state and federal health partners are investigating 28 more suspected acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) cases, raising the overall number of patients under investigation to 155.
The antibiotic prescribing component of a financial incentive program to improve services at UK National Health Service (NHS) clinics found a significant reduction in both total and broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing in primary care settings, with no link to unintended consequences, except for a few specific conditions.
The CDC started its reporting for the new flu season last week, and so far most of the United States is experiencing sporadic flu detections.
An international team of researchers found that the World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed diagnostic tests for drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) are missing a substantial number of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB cases in South Africa. The study appeared yesterday in Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Today the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced four more confirmed cases of Ebola virus in Beni, the current epicenter of the outbreak in North Kivu province.
Officials also recorded three new deaths in Beni, including two community deaths that had safe and dignified burials.
The WHO is concerned about recent cases from a 'red zone' that is close to camps for internally displaced people.
A genomic analysis indicates that Nigeria’s big Lassa fever outbreak this year has been driven by transmission from rats, not by human-to-human spread, easing worries about a possible Lassa superbug, according to a study described yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
An international group of specialists from hospitals, research institutes, public health agencies, and diagnostics firms yesterday published a paper outlining the challenges to developing novel and rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests (ASTs). The consensus statement was published in Nature Reviews Microbiology.
"This does not mean that WHO is not taking the outbreak seriously."
Two burger chains got an "A," one a "D-," and 22 an "F" for their antibiotic sourcing policies.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today announced a new outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella Infantis infections tied to raw chicken products.
