The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) announced the first case of variant influenza H3N2 (H3N2v) detected this year in a county fairgoer who was in close proximity to pigs. The Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the infection on Jun 29.
A new European surveillance report shows rising resistance to key antibiotics, and increasing trends in multidrug resistance, in invasive gram-negative bacteria.
Kenya has reported 36 more illnesses in its Rift Valley fever outbreak, lifting the total to 90, the World Health Organization (WHO) African regional office said in its latest weekly health emergencies update. No new deaths have been reported, keeping the fatality count at 10.
Finnish researchers are reporting the first transmission of carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli between humans and dogs.
A study published in Vaccine shows that even small doses of the yellow fever vaccine are likely to offer protection against the virus for up to 8 years after vaccination. The information reassures countries like Brazil, who have used fractional dosing in an effort to stretch supplies of the vaccine during recent outbreaks.
About three in four antibiotic requests and three in five consultations in community pharmacies around the world result in the sale of antibiotics without a prescription, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published yesterday in the Journal of Infection.
In its weekly report, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) announced two advance notices of polio cases, one each in Afghanistan and Somalia.
The case in Afghanistan involves wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Nad-e-Ali district, Helmand province. The patient suffered an onset of paralysis on Jun 1. The case raises the total number of WPV1cases in Afghanistan in 2018 to 9.
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Israeli long-term care facilities (LTCFs) saw a 50% reduction in carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) during a 7-year national intervention program, according to a study today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
A new analysis of a decade's worth of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus genetic sequences collected from poultry and wild birds in Egypt found 39 distinct substitutions with the possible ability to increase the pandemic potential of the virus, with spatial clustering that focused on two governorates—Alexandria and Beheira—that are located in the northwestern Nile Delta.
The UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) yesterday announced the launch of a £10 million ($13 million) research competition to fund innovative efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced that it is updating the labels for fluoroquinolone antibiotics to strengthen warnings about the risk of mental health side effects and reduced blood sugar.
Researchers today reported a case series of four babies with congenital Zika infections who were born with right unilateral diaphragmatic paralysis, suggesting that the virus can cause additional damage in the peripheral nervous system. A team from the Mayo Clinic and Brazil published its findings in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
A new study by researchers with a health system in Detroit indicates that a small, behavioral "nudge" in microbiology reporting increased de-escalation and discontinuation of unnecessary broad-spectrum antibiotics in pneumonia patients. The results were reported in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, today announced the formation of a new task force to address drug shortages and long-term strategies for preventing them.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved TPOXX (tecovirimat), made by SIGA Technologies, as the first drug with an indication for treating smallpox, a disease that has been eradicated but could still be used as a bioweapon.
With 27 new infections, the case count in a multistate Salmonella Mbandaka outbreak tied to Kellog's Honey Smacks cereal has reached 100 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday in an update.
Two more states—Florida (2 cases) and Colorado (1)—have reported cases, bringing the number of affected states to 33. The CDC first reported the outbreak to the public on Jun 14.
Originally published by CIDRAP News Jul 12
Federal health officials are investigating a Vibrio parahaemolyticus outbreak linked to fresh crab meat imported from Venezuela that has sickened 12 people in three states and the District of Columbia.
A report summing up all the investigation findings in India's Nipah virus outbreak says 17 of 19 patients appear to have contracted the virus from the index patient, a 26-year-old man, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported yesterday, citing findings released by health officials from Kerala state.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials examining antibiotic therapy for non-recurrent Clostridium difficile infections has found that fidaxomicin provides a sustained symptomatic cure most frequently, researchers reported yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
A phase 3 study of the novel antiviral baloxavir marboxil suggests that it reduces symptoms in people at high risk of flu complications, Roche announced today.
The United Kingdom's National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) launched a new best practices program meant to guide the responsible use of antibiotics among farmers and veterinarians. The program, which includes online training modules, is aimed at all those working in the sheep, dairy, beef, and pig sectors.
Public Health England (PHE) yesterday released its provisional seasonal flu vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates for the 2017-18 flu season, which revealed low overall effectiveness and no protection against H3N2, but variable findings in different age-groups.
Swiss researchers have identified a large outbreak of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) clone ST796 across multiple hospitals in Switzerland, according to a report today in Eurosurveillance.
