Italian researchers report that an antimicrobial stewardship program based on a clinical pathway (CP) was associated with both an improved choice of antibiotic and duration of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis (PAP) in pediatric surgical patients. The findings appeared yesterday in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.
Infection rates were 10 times higher in children from an Orthodox Jewish community.
Saudi Arabia's health ministry yesterday reported a new MERS-CoV case, its first of 2019, according to an epidemiological week 1 notification.
The patient is a 54-year-old man from the city of Riyadh who is hospitalized for his MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) illness. An investigation has so far found that he had no contact with camels or another MERS patient.
Two articles yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases describe severe infections caused by highly virulent strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) sequence type (ST) 398, a clonal type that is usually associated with animals.
A study by researchers from the University of Michigan has found frequent co-colonization of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among patients in nursing facilities.
The Vermont Department of Health (VDH) is investigating an outbreak involving an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Shigella sonnei strain at a retirement community in Wake Robin. The outbreak involves 22 confirmed and 44 probable cases.
Staphylococcus aureus hospitalizations at US pediatric hospitals fell by 36% from 2009 to 2016, with methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA) declining by 52%, with a corresponding drop in antibiotic use, according to a study today in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
A pilot study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins has found that using a special antiseptic shampoo and wipes to decolonize therapy dogs before and between visits with young cancer patients can reduce the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The findings were presented today at IDWeek 2018.
A workgroup on behavioral approaches to antibiotic stewardship has identified research priority areas for optimizing effective implementation of antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) in hospital settings. The findings were published yesterday in Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported yesterday that French diagnostics firm bioMerieux has recalled two of its antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) cards because of false results for some strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
