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CARB-X awards funding for rapid sexually transmitted infections test

CARB-X announced today that it is awarding up to $3.6 million in funding to Novel Microdevices, Inc. of Baltimore to develop a rapid, portable molecular diagnostic test for sexually transmitted bacterial infections.

European health groups release antimicrobial resistance declaration

Health First Europe (HFE) and the European Patient Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR Patient Group) today launched their 2021 Declaration on AMR.

1 in 3 COVID survivors develop neurologic, psychological conditions

One in three COVID-19 survivors were diagnosed as having a neurologic or psychological condition within 6 months after their coronavirus diagnosis, according to a study yesterday in The Lancet Psychiatry. The researchers noted that disease severity was linked to higher risk.

Australian study links rapid flu tests to reduction in antibiotic prescribing

Antibiotics were initiated less frequently, and antivirals used more frequently, in patients diagnosed as having influenza using rapid polymerase chain reaction (RPCR) tests compared with standard multiplex PCR (MPCR) tests, Australian researchers reported yesterday in BMC Infectious Diseases.

Report spotlights inequalities in COVID-related restrictions

COVID-related mobility restrictions such as stay-at-home orders had disproportionate burdens on women, minorities, and lower-income populations, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

Kidney dialysis patients 40 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID

COVID-19 hospitalization and all-cause death rates for patients with end-stage kidney disease undergoing dialysis, as well as kidney transplant recipients, climbed steeply early in the pandemic, and both exhibited racial disparities, according to a study published yesterday in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

Nigeria reports H5 avian flu infections in poultry workers

Nasal swab testing of poultry workers and handlers in recent highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu outbreak settings in Nigeria turned up seven positive results in humans, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its weekly communicable disease threat report.

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

Australian study links rapid flu tests to reduction in antibiotic prescribing

Originally published by CIDRAP News Apr 8

Audit and feedback, prior approval may reduce fluoroquinolone use

A study of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals found that prospective audit and feedback (PAF) and prior-approval strategies focused on fluoroquinolone use were associated with lower fluoroquinolone prescribing rates, US researchers reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

COVID disrupts healthcare in low- and middle-income countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected healthcare programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that work to protect populations against HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria, according to a new report by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Antibiotic prescribing fell in British Columbia during pandemic

Overall and respiratory tract infection (RTI)-specific antibiotic prescribing fell significantly in British Columbia during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Study suggests airline passenger spacing will slow COVID-19 spread

Keeping middle seats vacant on air flights has the potential to cut transmission of virus particles by 57% when multiple passengers are infected and by 23% when a single passenger is infected, according to an aerosol dispersion study that included earlier data that modeled plane airflow.

ED stewardship intervention tied to reduced prescribing for viral infections

A pilot trial conducted at two emergency departments (EDs) found that audit and feedback with peer-to-peer comparisons reduced antibiotic prescribing for viral acute respiratory infections (ARIs) but not overall antibiotic use, researchers reported today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

P1 COVID-19 variant more transmissible, may evade cross-immunity

The P1 SARS-CoV-2 variant, which was first identified in Brazil, may be more than twice as transmissible as non-P.1 lineages, and it may lower protective immunity from non-P1 variants 21% to 46%, according to a study published yesterday in Science.

Study: MERS antibodies persist up to 6 years

A study of antibodies in 48 people in Saudi Arabia who survived their MERS-CoV infections found that some neutralizing antibodies persisted 6 years, a Saudi-led team reported yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Scientists tie platelet factor 4 to AstraZeneca COVID vaccine-related clots

UK researchers have uncovered the novel mechanism behind rare abnormal blood clotting seen in some AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine recipients, according to a study today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

MRSA hospital return tied to extensive antibiotic exposure, C diff infection

Secondary analysis of patients from a postdischarge decolonization trial of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriers found that re-hospitalization for MRSA was associated with extensive exposure to non-MRSA antibiotics and Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), researchers reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

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

Study: Indoor school sports most likely to spread COVID-19

A study in an Atlanta school district revealed that the highest secondary COVID-19 attack rates were in indoor, high-contact sports settings (23.8%), staff meetings or lunches (18.2%), and elementary school classrooms (9.5%), and that staff were more susceptible to COVID-19 than students were.

CARB-X to fund development of bacteriophage-based drug

CARB-X announced today that it is awarding Phico Therapeutics of Cambridge, United Kingdom, up to $5.3 million to develop an intravenous bacteriophage drug to treat ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Rapid diagnostic for neonatal sepsis receives CARB-X funding

CARB-X announced today that it is awarding Durham, North Carolina, biotech company Baebies Inc. up to $3.9 million to develop a rapid, easy-to-use diagnostic test for sepsis in newborns.

Study: ICU ECMO experience a factor in COVID-19 patient survival

An analysis of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) use at 17 intensive care units (ICUs) in the greater Paris area during France's first COVID-19 wave reveal that 90-day survival was strongly linked to a hospital's earlier experience with the procedure. Investigators from France detailed their findings yesterday in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Study: B117 variant 45% more transmissible than wild-type COVID-19

A study yesterday in Cell Reports Medicine shows the B117 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom in December, is 45% more transmissible than the original, wild-type COVID-19 virus, but Pfizer's mRNA vaccine protected elderly populations against infections caused by the variant.

Risk factors, mechanisms noted in colistin-resistant Enterobacterales

A study of colistin-resistant Enterobacterales (CORE) isolates from patients in southeast Michigan found that increased age and prior antibiotic receipt were associated with increased risk of CORE colonization or infection, researchers reported today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.