Polio

Study suggests redundant antibiotic use is widespread in US hospitals

An analysis of 4 years of records from 505 US hospitals suggests that duplicative use of antibiotics is pervasive, leading to needless costs and potentially increasing resistance to the drugs, says a report yesterday in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology (ICHE).

Saudi Arabia reports MERS in another health worker

Saudi Arabia today confirmed one new MERS-CoV case, in a 60-year-old foreign health worker whose illness was detected in the city of Jubail, in the northeastern part of the country, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health (MOH).

The man is hospitalized in an intensive care unit, according to the report. He had no pre-existing disease, the MOH said.

Doubts raised about screening and isolation to control MRSA

It's time to reassess strategies for controlling methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals, mainly because of poor evidence for the efficacy of screening and isolation, which have been regarded as the gold-standard approach, say three German and Swiss experts writing in The Lancet.

Study: Flu viruses can quickly evolve, gain transmissibility in pigs

In a study designed to simulate how the pandemic 2009 influenza (pH1N1) virus might have evolved, researchers say it took only nine passages in pigs for a virus to gain "greatly enhanced virulence and transmissibility" in pigs, guinea pigs, and ferrets.

Chikungunya outbreak expands by 12%, to 576,000 cases

Officials reported more than 62,000 new chikungunya cases in the Caribbean and surrounding areas last week—almost all in the Dominican Republic—expanding the outbreak to 576,000 cases, according to an Aug 8 update from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

WHO emergency committee extends polio emergency declaration

A World Health Organization (WHO) emergency committee has extended a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) over the global polio situation and the temporary recommendations that came with it, the WHO said in a statement yesterday. The group met by teleconference on Jul 31, its first meeting since it first declared the PHEIC on May 5.

CDC: Imported US chikungunya cases surge to 300

The chikungunya epidemic in the Caribbean is continuing to spill over into the United States, with 300 imported cases identified as of yesterday, an increase of 66 from a week earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Final report on E coli lettuce outbreak notes two additional products

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) yesterday released a final report on a 2013 Escherichia coli outbreak traced to pre-packaged salads sold at Trader Joe's stores that sickened 33 people in four states, Food Safety News (FSN) reported today.

ECDC says 'gain-of-function' research needs more evaluation

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said this week that the safety of gain-of-function (GOF) studies like a recent one involving the generation of a 1918-like influenza virus merits more public discussion, given the obligation of researchers to "first do no harm."

Dengue candidate vaccine shows promise in phase 3 trial

Phase 3 clinical trial results for the most advanced dengue vaccine in development, known as CYD-TDV and made by Sanofi Pasteur, showed it is more than 50% protective overall and nearly 90% effective against the most serious, hemorrhagic form of the disease, according to a new study published in The Lancet.