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New European avian flu detections include H5N6 in Sweden and Ireland, H5N8 in Italy, and low-path H5N3 in France.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) last week announced the launch of two phase 2 clinical trials of a candidate H7N9 influenza vaccine, one to assess different dosages with or without an adjuvant and the second to look at the adjuvanted vaccine's performance alongside a quadrivalent seasonal flu vaccine.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) announced a new case of MERS-CoV late last week, in a household contact of a previously reported case.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Originally published by CIDRAP News Mar 15
A research team based in China yesterday reported that the newly identified colistin-resistance genes MCR-4 and MCR-5 occur widely in the country's pigs and poultry, according to a study in PLoS One.
With some multidrug-resistant bacteria, having infectious disease consults cut death rates 52% to 59%.
A 2-year follow-up study of the single-dose oral cholera vaccine (OCV) showed it was effective in adults and children over the age of 5 years. Consistent with results from the 6-month follow-up, the vaccine failed to protect children under the age of 5 from the disease.
The finding "affords us the opportunity to be aggressive about prevention."
In 3 similar recent studies of different populations, the rates of microcephaly have been similar: 3.4% to 5.8%.
Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have become an increasingly common cause of healthcare-related bacteremia, and two new studies published yesterday in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy shed new light on managing the infections, one exploring treatment with high-dose daptomycin and another that found longer exposure to vancomycin, fluoroquinolone, or meropenem was associated with tha
The number of suspected cases in Nigeria's Lassa fever outbreak has climbed to 1,386 over the past week, which includes 12 more confirmed cases and 4 more deaths, the country's Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said in its latest report for the week ending Mar 11. So far 365 confirmed cases and 114 deaths have been reported.
Researchers find that 80% of local health department have communication and referral mechanisms between their maternal and child health programs and agency programs, and 78% have access to electronic lab results.
A total of 76 people in 19 states have been sickened with Salmonella linked to pet turtles, according to a final investigation report today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That's 10 more cases in 1 more state compared with the CDC's previous update, which was in November.
In addition, Mexico reports two highly pathogenic H7N3 outbreaks in poultry.
Research by Dutch investigators suggests that a user-friendly, visual instrument for measuring the quality of infection control and antimicrobial use could be useful for targeting interventions in hospitals and nursing homes.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) announced a new case of MERS-CoV over the weekend.
A 56-year-old Saudi man from Jeddah diagnosed as having MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) is in stable condition. The MOH said he had direct contact with camels, a known risk factor for contracting the disease.
The acting CDC director, though, says more cases can be expected yet this season.
Originally published by CIDRAP News Mar 8
A study yesterday in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control reports widespread and arbitrary use of antibiotics on small-scale pig farms in Cambodia.
In an update on an ongoing intravenous saline bag shortage, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, said yesterday the situation is improving, and the agency expects that the problems will be resolved well before the next flu season begins.
For the top three antibiotics, usage was much higher in winter than in summer.
