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New guide helps antibiotic developers with stewardship, access plans

A coalition of groups funding antibiotic research and development today released new guidance for developers of antibacterial products to integrate stewardship and access into their plans.

COVID-19 linked with far higher death, hospitalization rate than flu

Compared with the 2014 to 2019 flu seasons, COVID-19's effect in March and April 2020 resulted in a dramatically higher rate of deaths, mechanical ventilation procedures, and hospitalizations at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, according to a study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine late last week.

Audit and feedback tied to improved antibiotic use in long-term care

Audit and feedback with peer comparison was associated with small reductions in prolonged antibiotic treatment in a study involving physicians and long-term care (LTC) facility residents in Ontario, Canadian researchers reported today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Infliximab associated with lower likelihood of COVID-19 antibodies

People with COVID-19 infections who also used the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) drug infliximab had significantly fewer detectable antibodies than those who used vedolizumab, which treats IBD without the immune suppression, according to a study yesterday in Gut.

Remdesivir linked with COVID-19 clinical improvement and safety

Remdesivir treatment of hospitalized patients with noncritical COVID-19 is associated with better clinical improvement, shorter recovery and hospital stays, and safety, according to a meta-analysis of five randomized clinical trials published today in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. No significant association was found in regards to mortality.

Scientists report that SARS-CoV-2 infects oral cells

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, infects cells in the mouth, according to a study published today in Nature Medicine. This could change perceptions on how the virus travels to the lungs or the digestive system as well as how it is transmitted from person to person, the researchers write.

CDC notes dramatic drop in HPV in females since vaccine introduced

Since the introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in 2006, rates of HPV infections among females fell 88% in teens 14 to 19 years and by 81% in those aged 20 to 24 by 2018, according to a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

Report highlights barriers to hospital stewardship in LMICs

Interviews with clinicians at hospitals in three low- and middle-income countries highlight some of the barriers to appropriate antibiotic prescribing in these settings, according to a study published yesterday in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control.

Long-haul COVID-19 likelihood associated with middle age, female sex

Researchers reporting on two non-peer–reviewed studies published this week on the preprint server medRxiv followed up months after adults' COVID-19 hospitalization and found that 55% to 71% have not fully recovered. Middle age and female sex were associated with a higher likelihood of worse recovery in both studies.

Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans

Report highlights barriers to hospital stewardship in LMICs

Interviews with clinicians at hospitals in three low- and middle-income countries highlight some of the barriers to appropriate antibiotic prescribing in these settings, according to a study published yesterday in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control.

Trial suggests shorter antibiotic course for hospitalized pneumonia

The results of a randomized clinical trial conducted in France indicate that 3 days of beta-lactam therapy is non-inferior to 8 days of treatment in patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia who meet clinical stability criteria after 3 days, French investigators reported last week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Adults 20-49 key to last year's US COVID-19 resurgence, study says

Adults 20 to 49 years old may be sustaining the resurgence of COVID-19, according to a study published late last week in Science.

WHO highlights importance of good hand hygiene

To mark World Hand Hygiene Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) today called for countries to reduce inequalities in the availability of good hand hygiene and other infection prevention and control (IPC) measures.

Study says COVID-19 recurrence could be less than 0.1%

Less than 0.1% of all COVID-positive patients in the Intermountain Healthcare system had probable or possible recurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, according to a PLOS One study yesterday.

Clotting, bleeding issues uncommon with AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

The AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine is associated with some increases in bleeding and clotting events, according to a BMJ study yesterday, but experts say the benefits outweigh the risks.

Saudi Arabia reports fatal MERS case

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported a new MERS-CoV case, which involves a 36-year-old man who died from his infection.

The man was from Hafr Al-Batin in the country's northeast. An investigation found that the man had been exposed to camels. He wasn't a healthcare worker and isn't thought to have contracted MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) from another person.

US hospital data show link between antibiotic use, C difficile rates

Data from a cohort of US acute care hospitals (ACHs) reveal an association between total and broad-spectrum antibiotic use and hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infection (HO-CDI) rates, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

Experts estimate global COVID-19 deaths may actually be double

Direct COVID-19 deaths may be more than double previous estimates, according to a report yesterday by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans

Telemedicine consults for Staph bacteremia look promising

Use of infectious diseases (ID) telemedicine for management of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) at 10 US hospitals resulted in similar outcomes compared with on-site consultation, researchers reported today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Mild COVID-19 not associated with heart damage, study says

Mild COVID-19 infection was not linked to longer-term heart damage, according to a JACC Cardiovascular Imaging study late last week.

COVID-19 death rates low in pregnant, hospitalized women, study finds

Compared with non-pregnant women hospitalized with COVID-19, pregnant women with COVID-19 had lower in-hospital death rates, according to a research letter in the Annals of Internal Medicine today.

CARB-X to fund development of rapid test for chlamydia, gonorrhea

CARB-X announced today that it is awarding Australian diagnostics company SpeeDx up to $1.8 million to develop a rapid molecular diagnostic test for chlamydia and gonorrhea infections.

Postpartum depression associated with COVID-19 lockdown

Twice as many mothers with babies 6 months or younger reported postpartum depression during the first UK COVID-19–related lockdown, according to a Frontiers in Psychology study yesterday.

Waiting room video cuts antibiotic expectations but not prescriptions

Watching a brief video about antibiotic treatment prior to a family practitioner visit reduced patients' expectations about receiving antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) but had no influence on physician prescribing, according to a randomized controlled trial published this week in the Annals of Family Medicine.