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The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) confirmed today that there are at least three children with circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in the Deir-Ez-Zor governorate of Syria. Two children have developed acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), and one child has tested positive for the virus but is currently healthy.
Also, the Saudi MOH reports 5 new cases in Riyadh, 4 of which are healthcare-related.
President Donald Trump announced yesterday that Francis Collins, MD, PhD, an Obama administration holdover, will stay on as permanent director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), multiple media sites reported.
Two countries reported more highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks: H5N8 in Russia and H5N2 in South Korea, according to notifications today from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Russia's outbreak began on May 4 in backyard birds in the Republic of Tatarstan in the west. The virus killed 13 of 51 birds, and authorities culled the remaining ones as part of the response measures.
The WHO groups antibiotics into 3 categories—access, watch, and reserve.
Poorly maintained water systems are typically to blame, and those in long-term care facilities are especially vulnerable.
A survey of parents suggests that few physicians fully explain the rationale for watchful waiting.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in its latest update reported a new suspected case of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), prompting the surveillance of 15 additional contacts. The suspected case is from the Ngayi health area, in northern DRC.
A pharmacist-driven antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) in intensive care units (ICUs) in eastern China was associated with decreased mortality, lowered emergence of multidrug resistance, and optimized use of antimicrobial agents, according to a study yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control.
South Korea, Belgium, and the United Kingdom all report new H5N8 avian flu outbreaks.
Reassuringly, the disease doesn't seem more severe than in the earlier 4 waves.
At least 10 of the Riyadh cases are healthcare related, possibly signaling a new hospital outbreak.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Jun 2 said that two suspected Ebola cases had been confirmed via laboratory testing. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), these cases came from known transmission chains, and the date of the last confirmed case in the DRC remains May 11.
A review of hospital-onset Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in the United States found that the mortality from multidrug-resistant P aeruginosa (MDR-PSA) is nearly twice that of non-MDR-PSA infections.
Restrictions are lifted because the area has had no Zika activity for more than 45 days.
Cases are down slightly from the 9 reported last week.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new case of MERS yesterday in a man from Riyadh.
The 47-year-old expatriate is in critical condition after presenting with symptoms of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus). The man is not a healthcare worker, nor did he have contact with camels. The source of his infection is listed as primary, which means it's unlike he contracted it from anyone else.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
So far 71 people have been hospitalized, and 36% of the sick patients are children.
In another sign of further northward spread, China's Inner Mongolia province has reported its first human H7N9 avian flu case, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said today in a statement. The development comes just a few weeks after H7N9 was detected for the first time in live-bird markets in Inner Mongolia province. The province mainly borders Mongolia, with a small part abutting Russia.
