Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) recorded two cases of MERS-CoV in young women from Khamis Mushait in an update to its epidemiologic week 10 report.
The first patient is a 33-year-old woman who is listed as a secondary case, meaning she likely contracted MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) from another sick person. She did not report recent camel contact, the MOH said.
A 2-year multicenter Veterans Administration (VA) retrospective cohort study published yesterday discovered that 5% of patients having outpatient surgeries received antimicrobial prophylaxis longer than 24 hours after surgery, with rates varying by procedure, facility type, and surgical specialty.
A non-inferiority trial in Australia has determined that intravenous (IV) ceftriaxone at home may be an alternative to IV flucloxacillin in the hospital for children who have cellulitis, according to a study yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
A new study by pharmacists with a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in upstate New York has found that 40% of the antibiotics prescribed for outpatients were inappropriate. The findings appeared in the American Journal of Infection Control.
In updates for epidemiologic weeks 10 and 11, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) announced five new cases of MERS-CoV today and over the weekend, including two in Wadi ad-Dawasir, the site of an ongoing hospital-based outbreak.
Health officials are investigating a pneumonic plague outbreak at the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the World Health Organization (WHO) regional office for Africa said today in its weekly emergencies and outbreaks report.
The US Department of Human Services (HHS) said yesterday that Ned Sharpless, MD, will serve as acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), replacing Scott Gottlieb, MD, who announced his resignation on Mar 5 after less than 2 years in the position.
Representatives from the Center for Biological Diversity, Public Interest Network, and US PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) today delivered 45,000 petition signatures to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), calling on the agency to deny a proposal that would allow for expanded antibiotic spraying on citrus fields.
A Colorado dog with pneumonic plague exposed at least 116 people at a veterinary hospital to Yersinia pestis because of a delay in diagnosis, according to a report in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Iranian investigators have discovered a high rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a common superbug, in two types of cockroaches found in hospitals, according to a study yesterday in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control.
Improperly home-canned peas sickened three women in New York City last summer after they ate potato salad that contained the ingredient, underscoring the importance of safe canning procedures, New York health officials reported today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Australian researchers reported yesterday in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy that a novel, pharmacist-led penicillin allergy de-labeling intervention at a tertiary hospital led to a significant decrease in the prescribing of restricted antibiotics.
US nationwide prescribing data show that oral antibiotic prescription rates dropped 5% from 2011 to 2016, and the ratio of broad- to narrow-spectrum antibiotics decreased 8% in that span, but prescribing rates in adults rose slightly, according to a new study in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today said measles counts have now grown to 268 cases in 15 states—62 more cases than the agency reported in a Mar 4 update. For comparison, the CDC reported 372 cases for all of 2018.
More than half of postgraduate hospital trainees self-reported that they come to work while experiencing influenza-like illness (ILI) symptoms, despite also saying that doing so poses a risk to patients, according to a study yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control.
The University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) today announced the launch of the Chronic Wasting Disease Response, Research, and Policy Program (CWD Program) to address the wildlife disease crisis and the potential for zoonotic spread and human-to-human transmission. CIDRAP is the publisher of CIDRAP News.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) today issued updated guidelines on the management of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) that reinforce previous recommendations to avoid overdiagnosis of urinary tract infection and unnecessary antibiotic treatment.
Originally published by CIDRAP News Mar 21
A new study in the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy shows that the use of peer comparison reports based on prescriber specialty was tied to less use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics throughout a large community-hospital system.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today said measles case counts have reached 314 cases in 15 states—46 more cases than the agency reported in a Mar 18 update. For comparison, the CDC reported 372 cases for all of 2018.
A randomized controlled trial of rapid diagnostics technology in two hospitals in Vietnam found no improvement in antimicrobial therapy compared with traditional microbiologic methods, according to a study in the Journal of Infection.
A survey of physician attitudes about antibiotic use in clinic settings found that nearly all agree that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a national problem, but only 63% thought the issue is a problem at their own facilities. A group based at Wayne State University reported its findings yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported two more MERS-CoV cases from different cities, according to updates to its epidemiologic week 13 report.
