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WHO condemns attack on Syrian vaccine supply 

The World Health Organization (WHO) today said it has received word of an attack at medical facilities in Syria that destroyed the only vaccines cold room in a district where several polio cases have been reported over the past several months.

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

Study identifies MDR risk factors in hemodialysis pneumonia

A multi-hospital study in South Korea has identified risk factors for infection with multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens in patients with hemodialysis-associated pneumonia (HDAP), researchers reported yesterday in BMC Infectious Diseases.

Gonorrhea in Seattle-area MSM increasingly less susceptible to key drug

Seattle researchers report that, among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Seattle and King County, Washington, 5% have gonorrhea with reduced susceptibility to azithromycin, according to a study today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Saudi Arabia identifies new MERS cases linked to camels

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported two new cases of MERS-CoV over the last few days, both linked to camel exposure.

On Oct 13, a 60-year-old Saudi man from Jazan was diagnosed as having MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) after presenting with symptoms. He is in stable condition, and the MOH said the man had direct contact with camels.

Flu starts to decline in Australia, elsewhere

Influenza is finally on the decline in Australia, according to yesterday's global flu update from the World Health Organization (WHO). Influenza A, H3N2, remained the dominant circulating strain, followed by influenza B.

Tests rule out imported plague cases in Seychelles

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that tests have ruled out plague in several patients in Seychelles under monitoring and treatment for probable or suspected pneumonic infections. The set of samples included one from a 34-year-old man who had returned from Madagascar and who was previously identified by the Seychelles health ministry as a probable imported case, based on a weakly positive result on a rapid test.

Madagascar's plague total climbs to 849

The number of confirmed, probable, and suspected cases in Madagascar's plague outbreak has climbed to 849, 67 of them fatal, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in an update. The totals reflect increases of 165 cases and 10 deaths since the WHO's last report on Oct 12.

Study: IV zanamivir in kids is safe, yields clinical benefits

A phase 2 study of intravenous (IV) zanamivir in children hospitalized with severe influenza found that treatment was safe, reduced viral load, and was associated with clinical improvement, researchers reported yesterday in an early online edition of Pediatrics.

More suspected cases identified in Uganda's Marburg virus outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that it is involved with efforts to curb a Marburg virus outbreak in eastern Uganda near the border with Kenya, where at least one case has been confirmed and several hundred people may have been exposed at health facilities and at a traditional burial ceremony.

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

WHO, CDC establish gonococcal antimicrobial surveillance system

Originally published by CIDRAP News Oct 19

Salmonella strain in US pigs linked to resistant group from Europe

A new study published in Clinical infectious Diseases suggests that a Salmonella strain circulating in pigs in the US Midwest is part of an emerging clade from Europe that is resistant to multiple antibiotics and may pose a public health risk.

Mugabe appointment to WHO goodwill post triggers firestorm, quick reversal

In a stunning development that played out over the weekend, news surfaced that WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appointed 93-year-old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as goodwill ambassador for noncommunicable diseases, prompting international outrage followed by a quick withdrawal of the appointment.

MERS sickens Saudi man from Riyadh

After a 9-day lapse in cases, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Health (MOH) today reported a MERS-CoV infection in a 77-year-old man in Riyadh who had contact with camels before he got sick.

In a statement, the MOH said the man is a Saudi citizen who has symptoms of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) and is listed in stable condition.

Antiviral drugs infrequently prescribed to high-risk flu patients, study finds

A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–led study published yesterday in Clinical Infectious Diseases reveals that antiviral drugs are prescribed to only 15% of outpatients who have acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and a high risk for influenza.

The data underscore a need to increase appropriate prescribing, the authors said.

Good phase 1 results noted for vaccine against MRSA, other pathogens

Alopexx Vaccine LLC today reported positive phase 1 results for its broad-spectrum antimicrobial vaccine, which targets drug-resistant bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and serious infections like pneumonia, meningitis, bloodstream infections, and gonorrhea.

Yellow fever case confirmed in rural Brazil

A fatal yellow fever case has been confirmed in a resident of Itatiba, a city in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, located about 50 miles north the state's capital city, according to an Oct 17 city government statement translated and posted yesterday by ProMED Mail, the online reporting system of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.

European officials establish indicators for progress on AMR

European health and food safety agencies have established a set of indicators to assess progress in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and reducing antimicrobial use in humans and food-producing animals.

Analysis of H7N9 strains finds changes that could increase human threat

Genetic analysis of H7N9 viruses obtained from Chinese poultry from 2013 to 2017 identified new mutations that make the virus more lethal in chickens and may pose a greater threat to human health, based on virulence and transmissibility tests in animal models. Researchers from China reported their findings Oct 24 in Cell Research.

CDC confirms new H1N2v flu case in Ohio

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its weekly FluView report, noted a new case of variant influenza A reported in Ohio involving variant H1N2 (H1N2v).

More than 1,300 suspected plague cases reported in Madagascar

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a total of 1,309 suspected cases, including 93 deaths, in an update  yesterday on the plague outbreak in Madagascar. The case-fatality rate for the outbreak is now 7%.

The numbers reflect an increase of 12 cases and 9 fewer deaths from the WHO's previous update on Oct 20.

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

Study looks at relationship between hospitals' antibiotic use, resistance

Canadian researchers have found that hospital-specific antibiotic usage was associated with increased, rather than decreased, antibiotic susceptibility in a study yesterday in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

Ugandan man who died from Marburg virus visited healer in Kenya

Uganda's recently announced second lab-confirmed Marburg virus patient—part of a family cluster— visited two traditional healers for his symptoms, one of them across the border in western Kenya, the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) said today in its weekly outbreak and health emergencies bulletin.

CARB-X awards $4.55 million for Pseudomonas antibody treatment

CARB-X, an initiative to build a better pipeline of new antibiotics for treating resistant infections, announced today that it awarded Inhibrx $4.55 million to speed up the development of a new antibody to prevent and treat Pseudomonas, a hard-to-treat Gram-negative pathogen often found in health settings.

H5N8 strikes poultry, zoo bird in South Africa

South Africa reported four more outbreaks involving highly pathogenic H5N8, two in poultry and two in other captive bird settings, according to two reports today from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

CARB-X awards $168,000 for development of novel MRSA vaccine

CARB-X announced today that it's awarding $168,000 to Integrated Biotherapeutics to develop a vaccine for the prevention of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).