Spain reported its first highly pathogenic H5N8 avian flu outbreaks in poultry, following two earlier detections in wild birds, and Egypt noted poultry outbreaks involving both the H5N8 and H5N1 strains, according to the latest reports from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
A World Health Organization (WHO) working group recently updated its Zika vaccine target profile, a document used to inform vaccine developers, regulators, and other stakeholders. The group published the first version of the profile in July 2016, and the revision takes into account new data from the past 6 months.
Egypt today reported two human H5N1 avian flu cases, one of them fatal, according to notifications from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Few details were reported. One of the cases occurred in Minya governorate and was observed on Feb 1. The fatal case was reported from Faiyum governorate and was observed on Feb 5. Both governorates are in upper Egypt.
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement today reaffirming the need for more research and development on new antibiotics for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).
A federal ethics committee that reviewed a research proposal to experimentally infect humans with Zika virus to help gauge the best approach to a vaccine has rejected the application, according to a report posted last week and first reported today by Stat.
Receiving two or more antibiotic regimens is associated with an increased risk of gram-negative pathogens in patients with hospital-onset urinary tract infections (UTIs), according to a study yesterday in BMC Infectious Diseases.
Neuraminidase inhibitors, the antiviral drugs given to fight and prevent influenza, pose no safety risks to fetuses or newborns, according to a new study published today in BMJ. This is the largest study on antiviral use and safety in pregnancy conducted to date.
The incidence type of birth defects seen with congenital Zika infections in the United States rose 20 times higher than it was before the virus started circulating in the Americas region, researchers reported today in the latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
A new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs to provide more guidance to drug companies on how to use incentives to develop new antibiotics.
The Florida Department of Health (Florida Health) yesterday reported three more locally acquired Zika cases, all involving samples collected a few months ago.
Two involve people who were sampled in October as part of an ongoing investigation, and Florida Health recently received confirmation test results back from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Our weekly wrap-up of antimicrobial stewardship & antimicrobial resistance scans
Appropriate use of the "watchful waiting" strategy for management of acute otitis media (AOM) in children could reduce healthcare costs and improve health outcomes, according to a new study in Pediatrics.
A study today of Zika infections in Canadian travelers who visited destinations in the Americas revealed they were just as common as other mosquito-borne diseases, with complications more severe than expected. A team from Canada reported its findings in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
Two more H7N9 avian influenza cases have been reported from China's mainland, and one new imported infection has been detected in Hong Kong, according to separate announcements today from Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP).
In a study that expands on an earlier analysis, screening of blood donations in Puerto Rico last spring and summer found a 13% incidence of Zika virus, according to a study yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Despite guidelines that recommend amoxicillin as a first-line therapy for children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), most kids diagnosed with CAP are receiving macrolides and broad-spectrum antibiotics, according to a study yesterday in Pediatrics.
Three more children and one more adult have been infected by harmful Escherichia coli linked to an Illinois company's soy nut butter products, bringing to 16 the number of confirmed cases in an expanding national outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday in an update as the company expanded its recall.
Vietnam today reported two more highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu outbreaks, raising the number of affected provinces this year to seven, according to a report from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
In an epidemiologic update on MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia today, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted that there were more cases in the first 2 months of 2017 than during the same period last year. The WHO also said its scientists are seeing younger women with the coronavirus, but that much of the disease's demographics haven't changed.
Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) in a regular update today said the mainland from Mar 3 to Mar 9 reported 22 more H7N9 avian influenza cases, 3 of them fatal. The pace of infections in China's fifth and biggest wave has slowed some since illnesses peaked in February, but the country continues to report a steady stream of cases.
Originally published by CIDRAP News Mar 9
A large survey of Australian parents has found significant misconceptions about antibiotic use for acute respiratory infections.
China today reported another highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza outbreak in poultry, this time in backyard ducks in Hubei province, officials said in a report to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The outbreak began on Mar 3, and, of 767 susceptible birds, the virus sickened 134 and killed 86. Authorities culled the surviving ducks.
Pakistan has a new case of paralysis and infection with wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), its second of the year and the world's fourth in 2017, according to a post yesterday by ProMED-mail, the infectious disease news service of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.
