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News Scan for Sep 10, 2018

Saudi Arabia confirms new MERS case

As South Korea reported a new MERS-CoV case (see today's news story), the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH), in a new weekly epidemiological report today, noted one new MERS case in a 44-year-old man in Riyadh. The patient had camel contact, the MOH said, and he remains hospitalized.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 11, 2018

Study: Antibiotics do not reduce hospitalization risk for cough

A study published in the British Journal of General Practice yesterday shows that prescribing antibiotics to children with coughs does not reduce the risk of subsequent hospitalization.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 12, 2018

Chilean study finds multidrug-resistant gut bacteria in farmed salmon

Chilean scientists have found that extensive use of the antibiotics oxytetracycline and florfenicol leads to the selection of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in the gut microbiota of farmed salmon, according to a study yesterday in PLoS One.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 13, 2018

Investigation provides details on Candida auris outbreak in New York

A study published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases describes the outbreak of the multidrug-resistant fungal infection Candida auris in New York healthcare facilities.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 14, 2018

UK-India effort explores diagnostics solutions to AMR in India

A 3-year, £3 million ($3.9 million) collaboration between UK and India researchers seeks to create rapid diagnostics to help address the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in India, according to a news release yesterday from the University of Edinburgh, one of the project partners.

ASP Scan (Weekly) for Sep 14, 2018

UK-India effort explores diagnostics solutions to AMR in India

A 3-year, £3 million ($3.9 million) collaboration between UK and India researchers seeks to create rapid diagnostics to help address the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in India, according to a news release yesterday from the University of Edinburgh, one of the project partners.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 17, 2018

Study links seasonal macrolides use, resistance in N gonorrhoeae

Using a mathematical model that links seasonal patterns of antibiotic use with resistance, researchers from Harvard and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have found that seasonal changes in population-wide macrolide use is associated with a small rise in azithromycin non-susceptibility in Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 18, 2018

New York study finds need for stewardship programs in outpatient clinics

Few outpatient clinics in New York City—one of the nation's most densely populated cities—have antibiotic stewardship programs, according to a study that focused on prescriptions written for acute respiratory infections. A team from several facilities in the city published its findings today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 21, 2018

CARB-X report highlights growing portfolio, new partnerships

A new report from CARB-X highlights the progress the public-private partnership made in its second year of operation.

ASP Scan (Weekly) for Sep 21, 2018

CARB-X report highlights growing portfolio, new partnerships

A new report from CARB-X highlights the progress the public-private partnership made in its second year of operation.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 24, 2018

New platform to detect and track drug-resistant infections in the works

The office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that the New York State Department of Health (DOH) will partner with ILÚM Health Solutions to develop a research program to detect, track, and manage antibiotic-resistant infections at healthcare facilities across the state.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 25, 2018

Antifungal stewardship tied to an 89% drop in inappropriate prescribing

A small single-center UK study has demonstrated that a diagnostics-driven antifungal stewardship (AFS) program was tied to an 89% drop in inappropriate prescribing, according to a study yesterday in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 26, 2018

Stakeholders recommend incentivizing antibiotic development

Twelve European third-party stakeholders made recommendations for ensuring antibiotic development and the equitable availability and responsible use of effective antibiotics, focusing on new incentives, according to a commentary yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

News Scan for Sep 27, 2018

CDC reports multidrug-resistant fungus linked to fungicide exposure

A case report today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) details the detection of a multidrug-resistant fungus in patients from three states.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Sep 28, 2018

Study: White people fill twice as many antibiotic prescriptions as others

A new study examining racial and ethnic disparities in antimicrobial drug use in the United States shows that white people filled twice as many antibiotic drug prescriptions per capita compared with people of other races and ethnicities. The study was published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

ASP Scan (Weekly) for Sep 28, 2018

Study: White people fill twice as many antibiotic prescriptions as others

A new study examining racial and ethnic disparities in antimicrobial drug use in the United States shows that white people filled twice as many antibiotic drug prescriptions per capita compared with people of other races and ethnicities. The study was published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Oct 01, 2018

Telemedicine study finds antibiotic Rx linked with shorter encounters

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic have observed that telemedicine encounters in which antibiotics were prescribed for a respiratory tract infection (RTI) were shorter than encounters where a non-antibiotic or nothing were prescribed.

News Scan for Oct 02, 2018

Combo antibiotic for CRE infections performs well in phase 3 trial

The results of a phase 3 randomized, controlled clinical trial show that monotherapy with the antibiotic/beta-lacatamase inhibitor combination Vabomere (meropenem-vaborbactam) in patients with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections was associated with increased clinical cure, decreased mortality, and reduced kidney toxicity compared with the best available therapy (BAT).

News Scan for Oct 03, 2018

Massachusetts General announces participation in ZMapp study

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) said today it was part of an international multisite study evaluating ZMapp, an experimental Ebola treatment. ZMapp contains three antibodies and is being used in the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Oct 04, 2018

Topical phage treatment shows potential, weaknesses, in small clinical trial

The results of a small clinical trial in France show that a topical treatment containing a cocktail of bacteriophages successfully reduced bacterial burden in patients with infected burn wounds, but at a significantly slower rate than standard of care. The findings appeared yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Oct 05, 2018

De-colonization of therapy dogs lessens risk of MRSA spread, study finds

A pilot study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins has found that using a special antiseptic shampoo and wipes to decolonize therapy dogs before and between visits with young cancer patients can reduce the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The findings were presented today at IDWeek 2018.

ASP Scan (Weekly) for Oct 05, 2018

De-colonization of therapy dogs lessens risk of MRSA spread, study finds

A pilot study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins has found that using a special antiseptic shampoo and wipes to decolonize therapy dogs before and between visits with young cancer patients can reduce the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The findings were presented today at IDWeek 2018.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Oct 08, 2018

Report identifies bacterial pathogens that could be addressed by vaccines

A new report from the Wellcome Trust and Boston Consulting Group identifies antibiotic-resistant pathogens that could be addressed by increased vaccine uptake and vaccine development.

News Scan for Oct 09, 2018

New data show no advantage of cell-based over egg-based flu vaccine

Cell culture–based inactivated influenza vaccine (ccIIV) was not significantly more effective than egg-based IIV (ebIIV) against influenza A during the 2017-18 flu season, according to new data presented at IDWeek that have not been peer reviewed.

Stewardship / Resistance Scan for Feb 02, 2018

FDA approves gram-negative antibiotic for pneumonia

Allergan, a pharmaceutical company based in Dublin, Ireland, yesterday announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an expanded indication for its antibiotic combination drug Avycaz (ceftazidime and avibactam) to treat hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP) caused by gram-negative organisms.

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