A PLOS Medicine study late last week found double the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and a threefold higher mortality than in COVID-19–negative patients. Men, nonwhite patients, and those with comorbidities were at increased risk of developing AKI with COVID-19.
Hospital room floors could be an underappreciated source of healthcare-associated pathogen spread, including those resistant to antibiotics, according to a study today in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
In a case study of COVID-19 contact tracing during San Francisco's shelter-in-place period, of the 1,124 contacts traced, 1,017 (83.8%) were successfully notified, 457 (37.6%) were tested, and 120 (9.9%) were newly diagnosed.
Eight COVID-19 patients in Texas who have secondary carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) infections are receiving investigational bacteriophage therapy from biotechnology company Adaptive Phage Therapeutics (APT), company officials announced yesterday.
Health Canada yesterday announced that a rare variant H1N2 (H1N2v) influenza case has been confirmed in Alberta, marking the province's only flu case reported so far this season.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Chicago area analyzed movement networks during a COVID-19 outbreak at the Cook County Jail in Chicago, finding that medical isolation and contact interventions were effective at reducing transmission.
The use of point-of-care C-reactive protein (CRP) tests in primary care practices reduced the odds of prescribing antibiotics for cough by 21%, a non-significant but clinically relevant reduction, researchers reported yesterday in Eurosurveillance.
The US and UK digital COVID-19 symptom checkers consistently suggest less healthcare contact than Singapore's and Japan's, which may cause more serious outcomes, according to a study released yesterday by BMJ Health & Care Informatics.
Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection rates were significant among Americans younger than 25 years early in the pandemic, particularly for Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic people, according to a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Use of antibiotic order sets built into the electronic medical record for common infectious diagnoses in the emergency department (ED) was associated with improved antibiotic prescribing at an academic medical center, Emory University researchers reported yesterday in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
A real-world Mayo Clinic study shows a link between vaccination with two doses of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine—either Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna—and an 80% lower risk of asymptomatic infection.
US nursing homes saw an increase in prescribing of antibiotics commonly used for respiratory infections during the pandemic, and large number of residents were prescribed drugs being evaluated for COVID-19 treatment, according to a study yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
In a review of 65 studies from around the world, pooled data indicate that one in five healthcare workers (HCWs) have experienced moderate depression, anxiety, and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published this week in PLOS One.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced yesterday that it has awarded $2.5 million in grants to support research on bacteriophage therapy.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Roughly 15.9 million asymptomatic US COVID-19 cases may have gone undetected as of Sep 30, 2020, which would double the cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during that time, according to a research letter detailing a 6.6% nationwide SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence rate.
A team of Indian scientists yesterday reported the detection of Candida auris isolates from two sampling sites on islands in the Indian Ocean—the first time the multidrug-resistant yeast has been isolated in a natural environment. The discovery was reported in mBio.
Among 3,008 US nursing homes in counties in the top quartile of COVID-19 prevalence, those with larger proportions of racial minority residents, Medicaid participants, and fewer direct patient care hours experienced more coronavirus infections amid the pandemic, according to a research letter published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.
COVID-19 vaccination coverage in less socioeconomically vulnerable US counties was 1.9 percentage points higher than that in the most susceptible counties in the first 2.5 months of vaccine rollout, a study yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) finds.
An audit of an electronic medical record–integrated antimicrobial stewardship intervention in an Australian intensive care unit (ICU) demonstrated long-term benefits and sustainability, Australian researchers reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
For every 3 people who would have died from the previous dominant strains of SARS-CoV-2, 5 will die if they are infected with the B117 variant of concern (VOC), according to a UK study yesterday in Eurosurveillance.
Animal health officials in Wisconsin announced yesterday that they have completed depopulation of a white-tail deer herd at a Burnett County breeding farm where chronic wasting disease (CWD) was found in a buck in October 2020.
A coalition of more than 50 organizations is calling on Congress to boost US investments in efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and develop new antibiotics.
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.
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.
