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A randomized trial involving more than 8,000 children in low-income settings found that azithromycin did not improve mortality in children with acute diarrhea, an international team of researchers reported yesterday in JAMA Network Open.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
COVID-19 breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated US adults substantially boosted humoral immunity and demonstrated cross-neutralization against the Delta (B1617.2) variant, despite mostly mild illness, finds a small study yesterday in JAMA.
Humoral immunity involves antibodies secreted by B cells circulating in bodily fluids.
The vaccine can be stored for up to 6 months at refrigerator temperatures.
ACIP votes unanimously that mRNA vaccines are preferred over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for US adults.
Of Denmark's Omicron patients, 75% were fully vaccinated, and 9% had received a booster shot.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today declared the end of its thirteenth Ebola outbreak, given that two 21-day incubation periods have passed since the last patient was discharged from treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) African regional office said today.
Only 20% and 24% of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine recipients in a Chinese study had detectable neutralizing antibodies against two isolates of the highly transmissible Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant, while recipients of the Coronavac vaccine had no antibodies against either isolate.
One study finds that 2 doses of Moderna were highly effective against all variants, but Delta protection waned.
The virus multiplies 70 times faster in the bronchi than Delta and the original SARS-CoV-2, researchers report.
About half of the deaths have occurred in the past year, when vaccines have been available.
Researchers updated a Commonwealth Fund study yesterday, and now estimate that COVID-19 vaccination has prevented 1.1 million US deaths and 10.3 million hospitalizations, up from July's figure of 279,000 deaths and 1.25 million hospitalizations prevented.
Finance ministers for G7 countries yesterday issued a statement in support of actions to boost development of new antibiotics.
The pill cut non-Omicron hospitalization or death 89% if taken early in the disease course, company data show.
Those staying in hotel rooms with medical and social support fared better than those in a shelter.
Even if Omicron causes less severe disease, sheer numbers could overwhelm hospitals.
A national policy restricting over-the-counter (OTC) antibiotic sales in Brazil was linked with a drop in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in two pathogens that frequently cause community-acquired infections, Brazilian researchers reported yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
UK researchers estimate that an additional 2, 1, and 6 cases of myocarditis occur per 1 million people in the week after one dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, respectively, while a positive SARS-CoV-2 test was tied to much higher odds of that and other serious heart conditions.
Only 44% of adults 65 and older had received a booster shot by Thanksgiving, yet 1 in 100 in that age-group have died.
A review of 32 clinical practice guidelines for severely ill patients shows most were of poor quality.
