The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the age indication for Pfizer's Prevnar 13, the pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine, allowing its use in adults ages 18 through 49 years old, the company said yesterday in a press release.
At a time when growing bacterial resistance underlines the need for new antibiotics, records on eight antibiotics approved in the United States from 2010 to 2015 suggest that they cost more than older drugs but don't necessarily offer clear clinical advantages, according to a study published today in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Two new H7N9 avian flu infections have been detected in China, both in Guangdong province, and the World Health Organization (WHO) in its latest overview of zoonotic flu infections has noted a handful of recent illnesses from China involving different strains.
Three studies show moderate protection against pneumococcal pneumonia but limited protection against all-cause pneumonia.
Behavioral interventions that made clinicians justify prescriptions, offered alternatives to antibiotic treatment, or compared prescription rates with peers reduced rates of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, according to findings reported yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new MERS-CoV case today in the capital city of Riyadh.
The case involves a 21-year-old Saudi woman who is in critical condition with a MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection. She is not a healthcare worker and was not exposed to other MERS patients, the agency said. No other risk factors were noted.
A study of hospital admission for severe acute respiratory infections (SARIs) in military personnel found that recent flu vaccination lowered the risk of severe disease, while occupational factors and comorbidities may increase SARI risk, according to findings yesterday in Vaccine.
The seasonal flu vaccine might cut the risk of contracting flu-associated pneumonia acquired in the community by more than half, a study today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found.
Uptake increased a bit in adults and in health workers but dropped among pregnant women.
Nigeria reported six new outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu affecting more than 28,000 chickens, bringing to 12 the number of outbreaks reported this month, according to separate reports filed yesterday with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
