Urgent Updates | September 29, 2022 EXCESS ANTIBIOTICS AT DISCHARGE, MRSA BACTEREMIA IN COVID PATIENTSA study conducted at Johns Hopkins Hospital found that three-quarters of patients evaluated were prescribed excess antibiotics at discharge, and durations were frequently longer than recommended, researchers reported last week in the American Journal of Infection Control. During the study period, 196
TWO CASES OF MONKEYPOX-ASSOCIATED ENCEPHALOMYELITIS — COLORADO AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, JULY–AUGUST 2022Two patients had confirmed systemic MPXV infections with encephalomyelitis appearing within 5 and 9 days of illness onset. The underlying pathology behind this is unclear but might represent either MPXV invasion of the CNS or a parainfectious autoimmune process triggered by systemic
EVUSHELD TREATMENT TIMING SETPeople eligible for COVID-19 preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with the monoclonal antibody combination of tixagevimab and cilgavimab (Evusheld) should be treated every 6 months to maintain protection against infection, according to the recently revised Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers.Full access: JAMA OVER HALF OF KNOWN HUMAN PATHOGENIC DISEASES CAN BE AGGRAVATED BY CLIMATE
NIRMATRELVIR USE AND SEVERE COVID-19 OUTCOMES DURING THE OMICRON SURGEAccording to this study published In NJEM, the antiviral drug Paxlovid appears to reduce the risk of dying from COVID-19 by 79% and decrease hospitalizations by 73% in at-risk patients who are ages 65 and older. Among patients 65 years of age or older, the rates
ROCHE GETS U.S. APPROVAL FOR FLU DRUG FOR CHILDREN AGED 5 AND OVER U.S. Food and Drugs Administration approved Xofluza drug to treat influenza in children aged five years and older. The medicine has been approved to treat acute uncomplicated influenza in otherwise healthy children who have shown symptoms for no more than 48 hours.
MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY REDUCES ASTHMA ATTACKS IN URBAN YOUTH A monoclonal antibody, mepolizumab, decreased asthma attacks by 27% in Black and Hispanic children and adolescents who have a form of severe asthma, are prone to asthma attacks and live in low-income urban neighborhoods (this population has been underrepresented in previous clinical trials of asthma therapeutics). The
BACTERIA THAT CAUSES RARE DISEASE MELIOIDOSIS DISCOVERED IN U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLESThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified for the first time in domestic environmental samples the bacteria that causes a rare and serious disease called melioidosis. The bacteria, Burkholderia pseudomallei or B. pseudomallei, was identified through sampling of soil and water in the Gulf Coast region
ELI LILLY TO MAKE COVID-19 ANTIBODY DRUG COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE FROM AUGUSTEli Lilly plans to make its COVID-19 antibody drug commercially available to U.S. states as well as hospitals and other healthcare providers in August. The drug, bebtelovimab, had received authorization in the United States in February for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 among adults and
MONKEYPOX VIRUS INFECTION IN HUMANS ACROSS 16 COUNTRIES — APRIL–JUNE 2022In this case series, 95% of the persons with monkeypox presented with a rash (with 64% having <10 lesions), 73% had anogenital lesions, and 41% had mucosal lesions (with 54 having a single genital lesion). Monkeypox virus DNA was detected in 29 of the 32
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECLARES GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY OVER MONKEYPOX OUTBREAKThe rapidly spreading monkeypox outbreak represents a global health emergency – the World Health Organization’s highest level of alert. The WHO label – a “public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)” – is designed to trigger a coordinated international response and could unlock funding to collaborate
