Respiratory Infections News

Three days of antibiotic therapy was noninferior to 8 days of therapy for patients with moderately severe community-acquired pneumonia, according to a study published in The Lancet.

The use of portable air cleaners could reduce indoor exposure to SARS-CoV-2 aerosols, newly reported study findings suggest.

Data from two preprint studies showed that Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose COVID-19 vaccine generates “strong, persistent activity” against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including the rapidly spreading delta variant, the company reported.

An intervention that was administered just before patients visited their family practitioner significantly reduced their expectations about receiving antibiotics for an upper respiratory tract infection, trial data show.

“Fear of personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages creating panic ... Hoarding and possible theft of PPE ... adding to crisis.”

Patients with the alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2 do not carry more virus in their upper respiratory tract despite increased transmissibility, according to data presented at the World Microbe Forum.

Because SARS-CoV-2 is most contagious before symptom onset, universal use of N95 respirators by health care providers in regions with high community infection rates could decrease nosocomial transmission, researchers argued.

Black patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had higher rates of hospital mortality and discharge to hospice compared with white patients, according to a study in JAMA Open Network.

Anthony S. Fauci, MD, said 20% of new COVID-19 cases in the United States stem from the delta variant, which will become the dominant strain in the country within weeks.

Researchers from South Korea screened common gut bacteria for activity against SARS-CoV-2 and found a bacterium that produces compounds that inhibit the coronavirus, according to new findings presented at the virtual World Microbe Forum.