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Biden Administration Announces Pandemic Prevention Partnership With 50 Countries

The AP (4/16, Seitz) reports, “President Joe Biden’s administration will help 50 countries identify and respond to infectious diseases, with the goal of preventing pandemics like the COVID-19 outbreak that suddenly halted normal life around the globe in 2020.” The United States “will offer support in the countries, most of them located in Africa and Asia, to develop better testing, surveillance, communication and preparedness for such outbreaks in those countries.” The plan “will help ‘prevent, detect and effectively respond to biological threats wherever they emerge,’ Biden said in a statement Tuesday.”

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Adherence To Recommended Vaccines Increased Among Children From 2011 To 2021, Study Finds

Infectious Disease Advisor (4/16, Barowski) reports, “Although adherence to recommended vaccines has increased in children aged 19 to 35 months in the United States, a catch-up program may be needed to prevent missed vaccinations and address disparities in vaccination coverage, according to study results published in Vaccine.” According to the study, “from 2011 to 2021, the percentage of children following the recommended vaccination schedule increased from 56.4% to 70.6% (P <.01) according [to] the flexible definition of adherence and from 35.7% to 52.5% (P <.01) according [to] the stringent definition of adherence.”

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Antibiotics Did Not Reduce Severity, Duration Of Coughing Among Patients With Bacterial Infection, Study Finds

HealthDay (4/15, Thompson) reports physicians “sometimes prescribe antibiotics to help treat a cough, but a new study shows the drugs won’t help reduce the severity or duration of coughing – even if a bacterial infection is the culprit.” In a study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, “about 29% of people were prescribed an antibiotic during their initial medical visit, but the drugs had no effect on their cough compared to those who didn’t get a prescription.”

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COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Targeting Omicron XBB.1.5 Variant Elicits Potent Neutralizing Antibody Responses Against Circulating SARS-CoV-2 Variants, Study Finds

Infectious Disease Advisor (4/15, Kuhns) reports, “The COVID-19 XBB.1.5-containing mRNA-1273 booster confers robust and diverse neutralizing antibody (nAb) responses against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, including JN.1, according to study results published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.” These findings “support the strategy of updating COVID-19 vaccines to match antigenically-divergent variants and support the selection of the XBB.1.5-spike sequence for the 2023-2024 vaccine update.”

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Long-Acting ART With Cabotegravir And Rilpivirine Superior To Oral ART Therapy Among Patients With HIV, Data Indicate

Infectious Disease Advisor (4/15, Nye) reports, “Interim results from a randomized trial indicate that long-acting antiretroviral therapy (ART) with cabotegravir and rilpivirine is superior to oral ART among patients with HIV infection who are unable to maintain virologic suppression on daily oral regimens.” In February, “an independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) conducted a preplanned review of interim data and found that long-acting ART with cabotegravir and rilpivirine was superior to daily oral ART.” The results were announced in an NIH press release.

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More Than One In Five Older Adults Hospitalized For RSV Infection Had An Acute Cardiac Event, Study Finds

MedPage Today (4/15, Minerd) reports, “More than one in five older adults hospitalized for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection experienced an acute cardiac event, an observational study found.” Published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the study found that out of “6,248 hospitalized patients 50 or older with laboratory-confirmed RSV infection, 22% experienced an acute cardiac event, most often acute heart failure (16%), reported researchers.”

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Combination Of Sink-Related Infection Prevention Steps Helped Stop Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Outbreak In Japanese Pediatric Ward, Study Finds

Healio (4/15, Feller) says, “Replacing contaminated sinks did not end an outbreak of multidrug-resistant bacteria in a Japanese pediatric ward but other infection prevention measures did, such as forbidding mouth-washing using sink water, researchers reported” in the American Journal of Infection Control. Other measures implemented to stop the outbreak included “hand disinfection after using a sink; restricting items placed near sinks; using disposable tools to clean sinks;” and “disinfecting all sinks with hydrogen peroxide,” among others.

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Humane Society International Warns There Is A High Risk That Diseases Could Jump From Animals To Humans In China Fur Farms

Reuters (4/15, Master) reports, “An investigation of five fur farms in China housing foxes, raccoon dogs and mink found a high risk of diseases developing that could jump from animals to humans, said animal protection group Humane Society International who conducted the study at the end of 2023.” The facilities “in China’s northern Hebei and Liaoning provinces each held between 2,000 and 4,000 animals in intensive conditions, including in close proximity to poultry, HSI said.” The article adds, “Data from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic briefly uploaded to a database by Chinese scientists last year suggested raccoon dogs may also have been involved in coronavirus reaching humans.”

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OIG Report Says CMS Must Improve Medicare Rate-Setting Procedures For Clinical Diagnostic Lab Tests

RevCycle Intelligence (4/12, LaPointe) said, “CMS’ procedures for setting Medicare rates for clinical diagnostic lab tests could improve for future public health emergencies, according to a new report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).” In the report, “OIG said...that, during the COVID-19 public health emergency, current Medicare rate-setting procedures ‘did not allow the [Medicare Administrative Contractors] to set rates that were adequate to cover the cost of conducting COVID-19 viral tests for all laboratories during a time when CMS was working to increase testing capacity.’” The result is that “CMS may have missed opportunities to gather important information that could have enhanced its response to COVID-19 from laboratory associations.”

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Preoperative Antibiotic Therapy Decreased Microbiologic Culture Yield In Patients With Native Joint Septic Arthritis, Study Finds

Healio (4/12, Stulpin) reported, “Preoperative antibiotic exposure led to a significant decrease in microbiologic yield of operative cultures among patients with native joint septic arthritis, researchers found.” Published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, “the study showed that yield significantly decreased among the patients who received preoperative antibiotics, with 68% POC being positive before surgery and 57.1% OC remaining positive after antibiotic exposure (P < .001).”

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WHO Report Says Viral Hepatitis Is The Second-Leading Infectious Cause Of Death Globally

The Washington Post (4/14, Blakemore) says, “More than 6,000 people a day are infected with viral hepatitis – and progress fighting the disease has stalled, a recently released World Health Organization report suggests.” Deaths from the disease, particular hepatitis B, “are on the rise, the report notes, making viral hepatitis the second-leading cause of death among non-covid communicable diseases worldwide. In 2022, the authors write, viral hepatitis deaths increased to 1.3 million around the world, up from 1.1 million in 2019.” Although “new cases declined during that time, the report says the world is ‘off-track’ toward the WHO’s goal of reducing new hepatitis infections by 90 percent and deaths by 65 percent by 2030.”

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Unfavorable Outcomes Due To C. Diff Most Common Among Patients Infected With NAP1/BI/R027 Strain, Study Finds

Infectious Disease Advisor (4/12, Barowski) reported, “In regard to specific strains of Clostridioides difficile, NAP1/BI/R027 is the most frequently detected among patients with unfavorable clinical outcomes, according to study results published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.” In the study, “pooled rates of 30-day attributable mortality were highest in patients infected with NAP1/R027 (10.2%; 95% CI, 6.5-15.5), followed by those infected with R078, R001, and R014 (5.3%, 3.8%, and 1.7%, respectively).”

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Nigeria Begins Rolling Out New Meningitis Vaccine

Reuters (4/13, Adetayo) reported, “Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out the ‘revolutionary’ new Men5CV vaccine against meningitis, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.” The country “is one of the hotspots of the deadly disease in Africa. Last year, a 50% rise in annual cases was reported across 26 African countries regarded as meningitis hyperendemic countries, according to the WHO.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Nigeria’s rollout brings us one step closer to our goal to eliminate meningitis by 2030.”

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Unvaccinated Travelers Returning To US Driving Increase In Measles Outbreaks, CDC Says

The AP (4/11, Shastri) reports, “Measles outbreaks in the U.S. and abroad are raising health experts’ concern about the preventable, once-common childhood virus.” In the US, “measles cases already are nearly double the total for all of last year.” The CDC has “documented 113 cases as of April 5. There have been seven outbreaks and most of U.S. cases – 73% – are linked to those flare-ups.” On Thursday, the CDC “released a report on recent measles case trends, noting that cases in the first three months of this year were 17 times higher than the average number seen in the first three months of the previous three years.” The report pointed to “unvaccinated Americans who got infected in the Middle East and Africa and brought measles back to the U.S.” as a major source of this year’s outbreaks. NBC News (4/11, Bendix) says, “The CDC report called for more widespread vaccination coverage. Around 91% of measles cases recorded in the U.S. since January 2020 were among people who were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status, it said.” The virus “has been considered eliminated in the U.S. since 2000, meaning the disease is no longer constantly present, though there are still occasional outbreaks.”

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No Evidence mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Tied To Fatal Cardiac Arrest, Other Deadly Heart Problems In Young People, CDC Report Finds

NBC News (4/11, Lovelace) says, “There is no evidence that mRNA Covid vaccines cause fatal cardiac arrest or other deadly heart problems in teens and young adults, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Thursday shows.” According to the report, “out of 40 deaths that occurred among people who got an mRNA Covid vaccine, three occurred within” 100 days of being vaccinated. Furthermore, “two of the deaths were attributed to chronic underlying health conditions,” and “the third death was recorded as an ‘undetermined natural cause,’ with toxicology tests returning negative for alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine or other illicit substances.”

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IgG Levels, Maternal And Infant Secretor Status Tied To Rotavirus Vaccine Response, Study Finds

Infectious Disease Advisor (4/11) reports, “Immunoglobulin (Ig) G levels prior to vaccination and maternal and infant secretor status are associated with rotavirus vaccine response, according to findings published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.” According to the study, “factors significantly associated with viral shedding between 4 and 28 days following the first rotavirus vaccine dose were as follows: prevaccination IgG; time since vaccination; concordant nonsecretor status; and concordant nonsecretor vs secretor status.”

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Penicillin Allergy Evaluations Are Safe, Feasible In STI Clinic Settings, Study Finds

Infectious Disease Advisor (4/11) reports, “In patients receiving care for gonorrhea or syphilis at a sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic, a simple questionnaire can identify which patients with reported penicillin allergies are at low risk for allergy evaluation and help determine the safety of treatment with penicillin-class antibiotics.” According to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, “nearly all (99%) patients who underwent penicillin allergy testing reported that the evaluation was helpful, and 95.3% characterized the evaluation as ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ helpful.”

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New Single-Dose Dengue Fever Vaccine Shows Promise In Trial Amid Rising Cases In Latin America

The New York Times (4/11, Nolen) reports, “The outbreak of dengue fever that has unfolded in Latin America over the past three months is staggering in its scale – a million cases in Brazil in a matter of weeks, a huge spike in Argentina, a state of emergency declared in Peru, and now another, in Puerto Rico.” The situation “forewarns of a changing landscape for the disease. The mosquitoes that spread dengue thrive in densely populated cities with weak infrastructure, and in warmer and wetter environments – the type of habitat that is expanding quickly with climate change.” Fortunately, “researchers in Brazil delivered the lone shred of good news in this story with the recent announcement that a clinical trial of a new dengue vaccine, delivered in a single shot, had provided strong protection against the disease.” Those trial results have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Global Cholera Vaccine Stockpile Running Out, But More Production To Begin Soon

The New York Times (4/11, Nolen) reports, “Doses of cholera vaccine are being given to patients as fast as they are produced and the global stockpile has run completely dry, as deadly outbreaks of the disease continue to spread.” However, “three new vaccine makers are setting up production lines and joining the effort to replenish the stockpile. And a fourth company, the only one that currently makes the vaccine, which is given orally, has been working at a pace that experts describe as ‘heroic’ to expand its production.”

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Novel Risk Prediction Tool Effective For Identifying Infants At Increased Risk For Severe RSV Outcomes, Study Finds

Infectious Disease Advisor (4/10) reports, “A novel risk prediction tool was found to be effective for identifying infants at increased risk for severe outcomes due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-related lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), according to findings published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.” In the study, “researchers found that the tool had good predictive accuracy for identifying infants at risk for ICU admission due to severe RSV-related LRTI, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.78. In a sensitivity analysis of high-risk preterm infants (n=49,209), the tool demonstrated similar discriminative performance.”

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Biden Administration Announces Pandemic Prevention Partnership With 50 Countries

Adherence To Recommended Vaccines Increased Among Children From 2011 To 2021, Study Finds

Antibiotics Did Not Reduce Severity, Duration Of Coughing Among Patients With Bacterial Infection, Study Finds

COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Targeting Omicron XBB.1.5 Variant Elicits Potent Neutralizing Antibody Responses Against Circulating SARS-CoV-2 Variants, Study Finds

Long-Acting ART With Cabotegravir And Rilpivirine Superior To Oral ART Therapy Among Patients With HIV, Data Indicate

More Than One In Five Older Adults Hospitalized For RSV Infection Had An Acute Cardiac Event, Study Finds

Combination Of Sink-Related Infection Prevention Steps Helped Stop Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Outbreak In Japanese Pediatric Ward, Study Finds

Humane Society International Warns There Is A High Risk That Diseases Could Jump From Animals To Humans In China Fur Farms

OIG Report Says CMS Must Improve Medicare Rate-Setting Procedures For Clinical Diagnostic Lab Tests

Preoperative Antibiotic Therapy Decreased Microbiologic Culture Yield In Patients With Native Joint Septic Arthritis, Study Finds

WHO Report Says Viral Hepatitis Is The Second-Leading Infectious Cause Of Death Globally

Unfavorable Outcomes Due To C. Diff Most Common Among Patients Infected With NAP1/BI/R027 Strain, Study Finds

Nigeria Begins Rolling Out New Meningitis Vaccine

Unvaccinated Travelers Returning To US Driving Increase In Measles Outbreaks, CDC Says

No Evidence mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Tied To Fatal Cardiac Arrest, Other Deadly Heart Problems In Young People, CDC Report Finds

IgG Levels, Maternal And Infant Secretor Status Tied To Rotavirus Vaccine Response, Study Finds

Penicillin Allergy Evaluations Are Safe, Feasible In STI Clinic Settings, Study Finds

New Single-Dose Dengue Fever Vaccine Shows Promise In Trial Amid Rising Cases In Latin America

Global Cholera Vaccine Stockpile Running Out, But More Production To Begin Soon

Novel Risk Prediction Tool Effective For Identifying Infants At Increased Risk For Severe RSV Outcomes, Study Finds