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The World Health Organization (WHO) advisory committee that reviewed the most recent influenza developments and recommended strains for the Southern Hemisphere's 2018 flu season also looked at the newest genetic findings with zoonotic influenza viruses and recommended three new candidate vaccine viruses (CVVs).
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $10 million to five organizations for research into the spread and prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), especially those that are antibiotic resistant.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
The changes will not be reflected in the vaccine used in the upcoming Northern Hemisphere season.
Coverage in adults over 50 increased, but immunization reached only 46.8% of the US population.
One genetic mutation in 2013 allowed the virus to become more infective and cause birth defects, a new study suggests.
New paper argues that a combination of caps, user fees, and limits on meat consumption could cut antibiotic use in food animals by 80%.
Using Project BioShield funding, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is investing up to $539 million in a freeze-dried (lyophilized) smallpox vaccine for women who are pregnant or nursing and for people with HIV or atopic dermatitis, HHS said in a press release today.
Maryland health officials yesterday announced five more presumed variant H3N2 (H3N2v) illnesses in people who had close contact with pigs at county fairs in two different counties, and the Delaware announced a H3N2v illness in a resident of that state who had contact with pigs at a Maryland fair.
Only 54% of US workers with asthma had received the recommended pneumococcal vaccine.
The CDC issued a foreboding warning, noting that all progress made toward STD elimination in the United States has lost traction.
Animal health officials in Vietnam have detected a highly pathogenic H5N6 avian flu outbreak in poultry, and South Korean authorities have found the H7N7 strain in wild bird droppings at a location in the south, according to media reports flagged by Avian Flu Diary, an infectious disease news blog.
More than half of the nation's top 25 chain restaurants are taking steps to reduce the use of medically important antibiotics in their meat and poultry supply, according to a report today from a collection of consumer, environmental, and public health organizations.
The antibody protected both adult and fetal mice against Zika infection.
In an update late last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the multistate Cyclospora outbreak now involves 1,031 cases, 43 more cases than in the previous update on Sep 13.
In the latest avian flu developments, France reported a low-pathogenic H5N3 outbreak at a turkey farm and Switzerland detected highly pathogenic H5N8 in a pair of wild swans, according to new notifications from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
By day 7, both treatment groups had similar rates of viral shedding.
Many nations are following up on last year's pledges, and 85% of nations have action plans in the works or completed.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported two new cases of MERS-CoV in Al Hofuf late last week, one of which was fatal. These are the first cases reported by the MOH in 10 days.
On Sep 21, the MOH confirmed that a 48-year-old Saudi man with direct camel contact was diagnosed as having MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection after presenting with MERS symptoms. He is in stable condition.
State and county health officials in Maryland are investigating influenza in 11 pigs that were recently shown at a fair in Frederick County, the second time flu has been detected at the state's county fairs in as many weeks.
