Search

DRC reports more suspected Ebola cases in Iboko

The Democratic Republic of Congo's health ministry yesterday and today ruled out some suspected cases based on lab tests and confirmed 2 more in the remote Iboko outbreak location, dropping the outbreak total to 50 cases, including 37 confirmed and 13 probable, with no suspected cases. No new deaths were reported, keeping that total at 25.

Evidence-based antibiotic list helps in appropriate prescribing

A Johns Hopkins study has determined that selecting an indication for antibiotics from an evidence-based list as opposed to free-text indications increases the odds that antibiotic agents will be used appropriately, according to a study yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control.

CDC adds two novel H7N9 viruses to risk assessment list

In an update to its Influenza Risk Assessment Tool (IRAT), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday added 2 more viruses, raising the total on the list to 15.

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

Study suggests potential antibiotic alternative for women's acne

A new study in the Journal of Drugs and Dermatology suggests that a diuretic drug may be as effective as antibiotics for treatment of women's acne.

Frozen breaded chicken tied to Salmonella outbreaks in 2 states, Canada

Health officials in Minnesota and Wisconsin are investigating a Salmonella outbreak linked to frozen breaded chicken products, and Canadian authorities are probing a similar outbreak also linked to the same type of product.

Global Burden of Disease Study to include antimicrobial resistance data

University of Washington and University of Oxford experts yesterday announced the inclusion of mortality and morbidity data related to drug-resistant infections into the annual Global Burden of Disease Study, part of a new antimicrobial resistance (AMR) project "to provide rigorous quantitative evidence of the burden of AMR, to increase awareness of AMR, to support better surveillance of AMR, and to foster the rat

DRC reports six new Ebola cases in known contacts

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported six more suspected cases of Ebola, including five in Bikoro and one in Wangata in its latest outbreak update. All of the new cases are known contacts of previously recorded cases.

Report shows billions saved by increased patient safety measures

The US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released new data showing that national efforts to reduce hospital-acquired conditions, including adverse drug events and infections, helped prevent an estimated 8,000 deaths and save $2.9 billion from 2014 through 2016.

CDC: Injecting drug users 16 times more likely to contract MRSA

People who inject recreational drugs are 16.3 times more likely to develop invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections than people who do not inject drugs, according to data published today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR).

Experts say focus on surveillance, not genomes for pandemic readiness

Spending public health money on surveillance rather than on broad, expensive genomic surveys of animal diseases is a sounder investment and better way to prepare for the next pandemic or other global health emergency, three infectious disease experts wrote today in Nature.

UK study details 118 cases of high-level antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea

In what appears to be an underreported outbreak, officials with Public Health England (PHE) yesterday in Eurosurveillance detailed 118 laboratory-confirmed cases of high-level azithromycin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, noting that cases emerged among heterosexuals in Leeds but then spread across England and into networks of men who have sex with men (MSM).

Salmonella outbreaks tied to backyard poultry cause 124 cases in 26 states

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevent (CDC) today said it is investigating several Salmonella outbreaks totaling 124 cases in 36 states linked to contact with backyard poultry flocks.

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

Study: Vancomycin alone insufficient for pediatric influenza-MRSA

A small study in Clinical Infectious Diseases has found that coinfection with influenza and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is associated with high mortality in critically ill children, and that mortality was more than five times higher in children who received vancomycin monotherapy, a finding the authors say supports treatment with additional antibiotics in severe cases.

WHO notes 1 more MERS case in Saudi household cluster

Health officials reported a total of 12 MERS-CoV cases in May, according to an overview published today by the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Eastern Mediterranean office. Eleven cases are from Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates recorded one.

Ebola cases drop to 55 as more suspected cases ruled out

After officials received more test results from suspected cases, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) dropped their Ebola case count to 55, including 28 deaths. There are now 38 confirmed cases, 14 probable cases, and 3 suspected cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update.

Study links lower hospital antibiotic use with ASP components

An observational study of Canadian hospitals found that certain structural and strategic components of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are associated with lower antibiotic use, a team of Canadian researchers reported yesterday in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

Idaho announces first plague case since 1992

A child from Elmore County, Idaho, is recovering from plague, the first human case confirmed in that state since 1992.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) said yesterday it is not known if the child contracted plague in Idaho or during a recent visit to Oregon. Both states have reported plague in wildlife.   

DRC investigates 10 more suspected Ebola cases

With intensive efforts under way to identify any potential remaining Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the health ministry yesterday reported 10 more suspected cases, according to the latest update.

Minnesota officials describe CRE caused by uncommon pathogens

Although carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CP-CRE) involving Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, and Enterobacter cause the most mortality and other clinical impact, CRE associated with less common genera may also cause detrimental infections, researchers with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Study finds nurses are overlooked in stewardship programs

Research presented at the 45th annual conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC) suggests that nurses should play a bigger role in antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs).

DRC Ebola total rises to 66 with 11 new suspected cases

The Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC's) ministry of health said 66 cases of Ebola have been reported, after 11 previously suspected case samples tested negative for the virus and 11 new suspected cases were added to the total.

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

Study finds nurses are overlooked in stewardship programs

Research presented at the 45th annual conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC) suggests that nurses should play a bigger role in antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs).

Veggie tray Cyclospora outbreak sickens people in 2 more states

Two more states—Iowa and Michigan—have reported Cyclospora infections linked to Del Monte prepackaged vegetable trays, lifting the number of affected states to four and the illness total to 78, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a Jun 15 announcement.