A study released this week shows a 40% asymptomatic rate among healthcare workers (HCW) testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 at the time of screening—meaning they had no symptoms compatible with a COVID-19 diagnosis—raising concerns about silent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare settings.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday announced a Salmonella Stanley outbreak linked to dried mushrooms in dishes served at ramen restaurants that has so far sickened 41 people in 10 states.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
A report this week from Australian health officials shows a consistent decline in the country's antibiotic use.
A review by members of the National Institutes of Health COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel finds insufficient data to recommend for or against convalescent plasma for treating COVID-19.
World Health Organization (WHO) flu vaccine advisors recently met to recommend the strains to include in vaccines for the Southern Hemisphere's 2021 season, which—when compared with the Northern Hemisphere upcoming-season version—swaps out the 2009 H1N1 strain.
A JAMA Network Open survey study of US adults' preferences for COVID-19 vaccine allocation in the event of a limited supply ranks frontline medical workers, high-risk children, and high-risk older adults as highest priority for vaccine distribution.
A review of studies analyzing use of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) apps found they may increase adherence to antibiotic prescribing guidelines, European researchers reported yesterday in PLOS One.
Domestic cats and dogs are susceptible to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a study yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). While both types of animals showed an immune response to the virus, only cats demonstrated viral shedding, and neither animal model showed evidence for a significant role in human infection, the study found.
Based on available evidence and antibiotic stewardship principles, a committee of Dutch clinicians and researchers is recommending restrictive use of antibiotics in COVID-19 patients, according to guidelines published yesterday in Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
Initial results from the FMT (fecal microbiota transplantation) National Registry indicate that FMT is highly effective for treating Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), with a good safety profile, US researchers reported yesterday in Gastroenterology.
A JAMA study today analyzing trends in internet searches found increased queries for anxiety, panic attack, and insomnia during the New York statewide lockdown in March, with searches for depression and suicide remaining at expected levels.
CARB-X announced today that it is awarding up to $2.5 million to GangaGen Biotechnologies of Bangalore, India, to develop novel antibacterial proteins to treat hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae.
A diagnostic stewardship program at a large Los Angeles hospital was associated with significantly reduced inpatient urine culture orders and rates of hospital-acquired catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), researchers reported today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Most pregnant women with COVID-19 experience mild disease, but many have prolonged symptoms lasting weeks after infection, according to a large nationwide study yesterday in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
During recent meetings to recommend the flu strains to include in the Southern Hemisphere's 2021 flu season, the World Health Organization (WHO) advisory group also reviewed the latest developments with zoonotic strains and recommended two new candidate vaccine viruses for pandemic preparedness.
As of Oct 8, public health investigators and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have concluded their investigation of a Salmonella Newport outbreak that has resulted in 1,127 confirmed cases and 167 hospitalizations across 48 states.
Originally published by CIDRAP News Oct 7
European lawmakers yesterday called for the European Union (EU) to address antibiotic shortages and antibiotic development as key components of its forthcoming Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe.
Six of 11 deceased patients—all but one of whom had COVID-19—had SARS-CoV-2 RNA in their corneas, but live virus was not detected, according to a study published today in JAMA Ophthalmology.
New data published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) show routine vaccine uptake among kindergarteners across the United States during the 2019-20 school year was high, approximately 95%—but the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to bring that number down.
Five barriers to better antibiotic decision-making at hospital discharge emerged after John Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers interviewed healthcare workers and discharged patients.
As the pandemic has made hand sanitizer ubiquitous, perhaps it was inevitable that clinicians would report sanitizer-related eye injuries in children.
An intensive COVID-19 prevention and surveillance system that the National Football League (NFL) put in place this season identified certain types of risky in-club transmission, which helped officials revise its high-risk contact definition and improve its protocols.
Antibiotics were widely prescribed to hospitalized COVID-19 patients at Dijon University Hospital in France during the first wave of the pandemic but did not have any impact on outcome, French researchers reported yesterday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
