The proportion of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae found in Canadian hospital patients increased substantially from 2007 through 2018, according to a surveillance study published today in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.
Inhaled budesonide, a corticosteroid often used for Crohn's disease, was tied to a shorter recovery time in COVID-19 patients who were at a higher risk of severe infection, according to a study published in The Lancet yesterday.
An analysis of Google Trends suggests World Antimicrobial Awareness Week has not improved public awareness of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine was safe in adolescents 12 to 17 years old, with a similar immune response to that in young adults, according to results of an ongoing phase 2-3 trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday.
COVID-19 transmission among households was three times more likely if the household had a high living density, according to a study yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Higher living density is defined as having more than three household members but fewer than six rooms.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Outpatient antibiotic use in British Columbia has declined by more than 23% over the last two decades, driven by significant decreases in pediatric use, Canadian researchers reported yesterday in JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance.
An analysis of hospitalized geriatric patients found that rigorous de-escalation and curtailing of antibiotics was associated with reductions in hospital readmission and mortality, US researchers reported last week in JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance.
US wildfires were associated with excess COVID-19 cases and deaths from mid-August to mid-October 2020, according to a study published late last week in Science Advances.
China's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine is tied to a slight increased risk of Bell's palsy, while the Fosun/BioNTech (Pfizer/BioNTech's parallel product in China) did not show a significantly increased risk, according to a study yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Both the researchers and a related commentary conclude that COVID-19 vaccines' benefits outweigh the risks.
The Ivory Coast yesterday launched an Ebola vaccination campaign aimed at frontline health workers and other high-risk groups, part of the response into an imported Ebola case involving a woman who had just arrived from Guinea.
For refugees, the biggest predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), health anxiety, depression, or disability during COVID-19 was if their pandemic experiences triggered memories of past trauma, according to survey results published today in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) has received a $1.8 million grant from the Wellcome Trust to establish a clinical trial network focused on antibiotic-resistant infections.
COVID-19 restrictions in Australia were associated with a substantial decline in community dispensing of antibiotics for respiratory infections, researchers reported this week in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Early use of convalescent plasma didn't prevent COVID-19 progression in a group of high-risk adult outpatients, concludes a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
Hospitalization and respiratory complications were more frequent in children and adolescents with COVID-19 during the early months of the pandemic than in those diagnosed as having influenza in past flu seasons, an international team of researchers reported today in Pediatrics.
Screening of a network of urban streams in Baltimore revealed high concentrations of pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, researchers reported this week in Environmental Science & Technology.
Early use of a procalcitonin-guided algorithm in non-critically ill patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia reduced antimicrobial use with no adverse effects, researchers reported last week in JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance.
Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 significantly decreased the probability of virus culture positivity in breakthrough cases versus cases in unvaccinated healthcare workers, according to a study on the non–peer-reviewed research server, medRxiv.
The number of older adults who are homebound (leaving home once a week or less) increased in 2020 over the prior decade, according to a research letter yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers say that this could affect social, psychological, and physical needs because of factors such as physical distancing and caretaker or telehealth access.
Two US outbreaks of Salmonella, one S Typhimurium and the other S Infantis, have been linked to Italian-style meats, although none are connected to a specific product or brand yet, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigation notice today.
Substance use among US kids 10 to 14 years old remained relatively stable during the first 6 months of the pandemic, according to longitudinal study results published yesterday in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
US veteran suicide ideation (SI) rates showed a slight decrease during the first year of the pandemic, according to a JAMA Psychiatry study yesterday. Among the associated risks, however, was having COVID-19, which doubled the odds of SI.
A quality improvement (QI) program combining clinician education, clear and concise recommendations, and decision support was associated with a safe reduction in vancomycin use in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), researchers reported today in Pediatrics.
The risk of blood clots is higher following COVID-19 infection than after vaccination, researchers based at Oxford University reported today in BMJ.
