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An expert on variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human form of the animal malady known as mad cow disease, claims that the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) has neglected to employ recently developed methods of sterilizing surgical instruments used on patients with the disease, thus putting subsequent surgical patients at risk, said a story last week in The Independent.
Oregon's senior state epidemiologist, William Keene, PhD, MPH, died yesterday at the age of 56 after a 2-week hospitalization for acute pancreatitis, according to a story in The Oregonian.
Princeton University will offer a vaccine that includes the outbreak strain starting Dec 9.
The influenza vaccine did not reduce the risk of hospitalization for flu after vaccine failure, according to an analysis of 8 years of data published yesterday in Vaccine.
Data show H1N1 deaths skewed toward young and reflect wide regional variance.
Studies show that antivirals up to 3 days after flu symptom onset can benefit, but their use is down in hospitalized kids.
The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed three cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Saudi Arabia that the country's Ministry of Health (MOH) first reported last week. Two of the cases proved fatal.
As has been the pattern with Saudi MERS-CoV cases, the WHO report contained little information on the cases.
Flu vaccine effectiveness (VE) varied from 44% to 53% over the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons among pregnant women, and getting a flu shot the previous year appeared to be just as effective as getting the current year's vaccine, according to a study in Clinical Infectious Diseases today.
The agency's alert follows meningitis outbreaks at two colleges involving a strain not found in the vaccine.
Construction has begun on a plant in north Florida that will enable the Department of Defense (DoD) to produce its own vaccines and drugs against potential bioterror threats, an effort that appears to duplicate Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) efforts, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The WHO says MERS is likely sustained by both human-to-human spread and infection from animals.
US flu activity stays steady overall, but reports of flulike illness in the South grow.
The FDA approves the first adjuvanted H5N1 flu vaccine to aid in pandemic preparedness.
At least 32 people have now been sickened in a four-state Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak tied to ready-to-eat salads sold at Trader Joe's stores, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday. That number is 6 cases higher than reported in the CDC's initial notice on the outbreak on Nov 10, and Texas has confirmed its first case.
The CDC noted some hope in Afghanistan and Pakistan—but the disease reappeared in Cameroon.
A 37-year-old Riyadh resident has died of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, according to a brief translated statement from the Saudi Arabian health ministry today.
Officials are investigating a small but deadly outbreak in Niger and a 794-case outbreak in Tanzania.
The number of people infected by Salmonella linked to chicken products produced by Foster Farms at three facilities in California has grown to 389 in 23 states and Puerto Rico, up by 27 cases and 2 states in the past 3 weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an update yesterday.
Development of a national flu vaccination program in China is complicated by the differing flu seasons in various parts of the vast country.
Besides new Saudi cases, a Qatar man has died, and debate continues on the role of camels in transmission.
