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December 31, 2019
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Top 10 most-read Infectious Disease News stories of 2019

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To mark the transition to a new year, we have compiled a list of the top 10 most-read Infectious Disease News stories of 2019 on Healio.com. Please click the links to read the full stories.

Happy New Year from the staff of IDN and Healio.

1. ACIP changes recommendations for HPV, pneumococcal vaccines

In June, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reversed a 2014 recommendation that all adults over age 65 years receive the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Instead, the committee said “shared clinical decision making” should be used to decide which patients receive it. Read more.

2. US sets another record for STDs, CDC says

The resurgence of STDs has not slowed. For the fifth year in a row, a record number of cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were reported in the United States. The continued rise in STDs comes with serious public health consequences, including drug-resistant gonorrhea and infant deaths caused by congenital syphilis. Read more.

3. Clostridioides difficile: What's in a name?

The CDC and others — including Healio — have begun using Clostridioides difficile instead of Clostridium difficile to refer to the bacterium that commonly causes infectious diarrhea. Why? Read more.

4. WHO announces 10 threats to global health in 2019

WHO’s list of the top 10 threats to global health in 2019 included climate change, antimicrobial resistance and vaccine hesitancy. We wrote stories on all of them. Read more.

5. Any exposure to fluconazole during pregnancy increases risk for spontaneous abortions

Researchers reported that any maternal exposure to fluconazole during pregnancy — whether in low or high doses — may increase the risk for spontaneous abortion, and that high-dose fluconazole during the first trimester may increase the risk for cardiac septal closure anomalies. Read more.

6. Gilead says generic Truvada will be available in 2020

Drug maker Gilead Sciences announced in May that the HIV medication Truvada will come off patent a year early in the United States and will be available to patients and providers as a generic starting in 2020. Read more.

7. An ‘unusual’ start to flu season: Influenza B predominates early

The early months of the influenza season saw more patients sick with influenza B than influenza A — an uncommon occurrence. “It’s just a sign to be on the lookout for an atypical year,” said Bernhard L. “Bud” Wiedermann, MD, MA, of Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. Read more.

8. Four things to know about the romaine lettuce outbreak

In November, the CDC announced yet another outbreak of Escherichia coli linked to consuming romaine lettuce. We compiled a list of things to know about the outbreak, including the recommendation that patients with suspected E. coli infections not receive antibiotics until diagnostic testing can be performed. Read more.

9. Oral HIV self-testing kit demonstrates 100% specificity, 99.5% sensitivity

An oral fluid-based HIV self-testing kit demonstrated high diagnostic performance during a study in Ethiopia, and experts suggested that it has the potential to be used alongside the country’s traditional HIV testing services. Read more.

10. 82 cases of rat lungworm disease reported in Hawaii over 10 years

For travelers to Hawaii, an obvious recommendation is to avoid eating uncooked slugs or snails; but in addition, uncooked fruit and vegetables, which may be contaminated with A. cantonensis, should be carefully washed before ingestion.” Read more.