Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most commonly used class of antidepressants in the United States, don't appear to prevent severe COVID-19 or death among outpatients, according to a study presented this week at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago.
A clinical trial conducted in seven countries found that two shortened, bedaquiline-containing regimens had superior efficacy in treating rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (TB) compared with a 9-month injectable-containing regimen, with fewer cases of hearing loss, investigators reported today in The Lancet.
A study of US patients aged 0 to 20 years hospitalized for COVID-19 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) in 2020 and 2021 shows that 22% had a neurologic condition, including 9% with life-threatening illness.
An observational study published this week in eClinicalMedicine suggests that COVID-19–related acute kidney injury (AKI) is tied to a greater risk of death, and that severe AKI may lead to poor recovery of kidney function.
JAMA Network Open published a new study yesterday showing higher cord blood COVID-19 antibodies in women who were vaccinated compared with those who were infected with COVID-19, suggesting vaccination produces more than 10-fold higher antibody concentrations in unborn babies compared to natural infections.
A study of more than 3 million patients with bacterial and viral respiratory infections found that inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions were associated with increased risk of adverse events and higher healthcare costs, researchers reported today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Repeat SARS-CoV-2 infections confer significant additional risk of adverse multi-organ medical conditions and poor outcomes such as hospitalization, diabetes, kidney disease, mental illness, death, and diseases affecting the lungs, heart, brain, blood, and musculoskeletal systems, suggests a study published yesterday in Nature Medicine.
A study of 97 hospitals in the United States and Canada found that the incidence of urinary tract infection (UTI) and invasive bacterial infection (IBI) in infants with fever fell to pre-pandemic levels by early 2022, researchers reported yesterday in Pediatrics.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Several countries, including many in Europe, have reported more highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in poultry.
Uganda's health ministry yesterday reported that Ebola has spread to Jinja district in the southeastern part of the country (see Google Maps image below).
A study today in BMC Medicine highlights the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in high-burden countries, particularly in vulnerable populations.
A UK study suggests that Omicron BA.2 is tied to more symptoms and impeded daily activities than BA.1, and Taiwanese researchers describe fatal cerebral edema in 6 kids with BA.2.
The sensitivities of 3 commonly used rapid antigen tests were very low for Omicron in asymptomatic people.
A study of 2,126 vaccine recipients identifies 10 cardiac events that all had alternative explanations, and no hospitalizations.
Flu activity in the Northern Hemisphere is rising, with levels up sharply over the past few weeks in North America, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its latest global flu update, which roughly covers the last half of October.
The findings suggest the drug could be part of a shorter and simpler tuberculosis treatment regimen.
The percentage of kids receiving 5 to 7 days of antibiotics rose from the baseline of 60% to 86%.
Uganda has reported one more lab-confirmed Ebola infection, which involves a 23-year-old woman who is a healthcare worker in Mubende, one of the outbreak's hot spots, according to an update yesterday from the World Health Organization (WHO) Uganda office.
Relative vaccine effectiveness of a second booster dose against severe COVID-19 is only about 30% after 2 to 4 months in people 80 and older, compared with one booster dose.
US adults who get the flu vaccine every year are 24.7% more likely to complete a primary COVID-19 vaccine regimen.
The Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) in Arizona this week reported a dengue infection in someone who was probably exposed to an infected mosquito in Maricopa County.
Mosquito surveillance has detected dengue virus in a mosquito trap in one of the county's neighborhood, the MCDPH said in a Nov 14 press release.
Flu vaccination reduced pneumonia by 40% and hospitalization by 15% in people with heart failure.
From 53% to 74% of students were able to end isolation early, but 15% to 22% tested positive beyond the recommended isolation period.
New highly pathogenic avian flu outbreaks have been reported in poultry in six states.
