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Babies born with Zika at greater risk of dying than those without

Mortality rates among children born with congenital Zika syndrome up to 3 years of age were more than 11 times higher than those without Zika, researchers reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

WHO advisors switch 2 strains for next Northern Hemisphere season

World Health Organization (WHO) flu vaccine strain selection advisors met this week to recommend the strains to include for the Northern Hemisphere's 2022-2023 flu season, swapping out the components for the H3N2 and influenza B Victoria lineage strains.

Study: More than 5 million kids have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19

More than 5 million children have lost a parent or caregiver during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a modeling study published yesterday in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

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

Study: Increased flu vaccination could cut flu-linked antibiotics

A study of influenza-associated antibiotic prescribing in California suggests that increasing influenza vaccination coverage could have a modest benefit for reducing antibiotic prescribing, researchers reported today in Epidemiology & Infection.

Waterfowl testing finds high-path H5 avian flu in 3 more states

Federal health officials have announced 45 more high-pathogenic H5 avian flu detections in waterfowl, including the first involving wild birds in Alabama, Maine, and New Jersey in the recent spread of the virus. Also, officials reported two more outbreaks involving other types of birds in New York.

New lineage of SARS-CoV-2 detected in Canadian deer

An investigation led by Canadian Food Inspection Agency scientists has identified a new and highly divergent lineage of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in white-tailed deer (WTD) in that country. The findings, which are not peer-reviewed, are published as a preprint study on bioRxiv.

Study highlights excess RSV, flu deaths in infants, elderly

A study yesterday in JAMA Network Open tracked excess mortality caused by both influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in the United States from 1999 to 2018 and found that RSV caused more deaths in infants, while both viruses caused substantial mortality in elderly Americans.

Childcare workers left out of state COVID vaccine mandates for teachers

Fewer than half of US states requiring COVID-19 vaccination or routine testing of schoolteachers included childcare professionals in their mandates, leaving some young children vulnerable to infection by  unvaccinated caregivers, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics.

Study: 59% of long-COVID patients had nerve damage

A retrospective study of 17 COVID-19 survivors with lingering symptoms reveals that 10 (59%) had nerve damage, which the researchers said could have been triggered by potentially treatable infection-related immune dysfunction.

WHO handbook aims to help countries implement AMR action plans

The World Health Organization (WHO) this week published new technical guidance to help countries implement national action plans (NAPs) for antimicrobial resistance in the human health sector.

Women have borne an outsized social, economic burden during pandemic

From March 2020 to September 2021, women were more likely than men to lose their jobs, forego work to care for others, and report increasing violence, and women and girls were more likely than men and boys to drop out of school for reasons other than school closures, according to a study yesterday in The Lancet.

High levels of drug resistance found in Eastern Mediterranean region

An analysis of data on bloodstream infections (BSIs) from countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region shows a high prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the region and limited capacity to prevent the emergence and spread of resistant pathogens, WHO researchers reported yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Pfizer COVID vaccine shown highly protective in teens against Delta

The estimated effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine against infection in US adolescents was 91%, with 93% protection against symptomatic illness and 85% against asymptomatic disease amid the Delta SARS-CoV-2 surge in Connecticut, finds a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

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

Joint European report calls for more action on antimicrobial resistance

A new joint report on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in European Union/European Economic Activity (EU/EEA) countries is calling for concerted action to address the problem from a One Health perspective.

COVID patients with heart defects may be at higher risk for severe disease

Hospitalized COVID-19 patients with congenital heart defects (CHDs) were more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), require invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), and die than those without CHDs in the first 11 months of the pandemic, suggests a study published today in Circulation.

H5N6 avian flu sickens 2 more in China, both fatally

China has reported to more H5N6 avian flu infections in humans, both fatal in people who were sick in November and died in early December, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said in a statement today.

Study: 3% of adults with COVID pneumonia develop new-onset dementia

Three percent of 10,403 adults with COVID-19 pneumonia were diagnosed as having new-onset dementia after a median of 182 days, a significantly higher proportion than that observed with other types of pneumonia, finds a study yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Continuing dexamethasone after COVID hospital release shows no benefit

Continuing the corticosteroid dexamethasone after hospital release didn't benefit COVID-19 patients who didn't complete the 10-day drug regimen during their stay, finds a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

Non-COVID post-hospital deaths highlight pandemic consequences

While Medicare beneficiary hospitalizations for non–COVID-19 diagnoses fell sharply in March and April 2020 and stayed low through September 2021, death rates after hospitalization rose substantially—particularly for Black and Hispanic patients, finds a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open.

Study: Young kids with simple pneumonia fare well without antibiotics

A study of children 3 years old or younger who were hospitalized for uncomplicated community-associated pneumonia (CAP) found that a significant proportion did well without a full course of antibiotics, researchers reported yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Candidate antibiotic combo shows promise for resistant urinary infections

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals of Malvern, Pennsylvania, yesterday released promising data from a phase 3 trial of its investigational new drug for patients with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs).

COVID vaccine uptake low in young US kids in first months of availability

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children 5 to 11 years old in the United States remained low during the first 11 weeks of vaccine eligibility, especially in high social vulnerability index (SVI) areas. The research was published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

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

Candidate antibiotic combo shows promise for resistant urinary infections

Venatorx Pharmaceuticals of Malvern, Pennsylvania, yesterday released promising data from a phase 3 trial of its investigational new drug for patients with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs).

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

Study finds high childhood antibiotic exposure in low-resource countries

A study this week in Clinical Infectious Diseases reveals high levels of childhood antibiotic exposure in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).