Respiratory Infections News

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2020, all ambulatory health care organizations accredited by the Joint Commission that regularly prescribe antimicrobial agents will be required to abide by newly established antimicrobial stewardship requirements.

Medical professionals caring for migrant children and their families in holding at the southern border will not vaccinate them against influenza in preparation for the upcoming influenza season, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, confirmed to Infectious Diseases in Children.

The FDA approved Xenleta, a novel antibiotic to treat adults with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, or CABP.

Herd immunity generated by the introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the United States — first in 2010 for children, then in 2012 for immunocompromised adults, in series with the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine — has driven down the incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease, or IPD, in adults with and without underlying medical conditions, researchers reported.

The Sheraton Atlanta Hotel evacuated guests on July 15 due to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that killed one person and may have infected dozens of others. The hotel has voluntarily remained closed until the source of the outbreak is located, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Testing of 14 patients with acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, showed they had antibodies against enteroviruses, especially EV-D68, in their cerebrospinal fluid at a significantly higher rate than controls, supporting “the plausibility of a link” between enterovirus infection and AFM, researchers reported in mBio.

The FDA has approved pretomanid — the first tuberculosis drug developed by a non-profit organization — as part of a three-drug regimen for the treatment of extensively drug-resistant TB, or XDR-TB, and other resistant forms of the disease.

There has been a sharp decline since 2008 in recommendations for cough and cold medicines for respiratory infections in children, but an increase in recommendations for antihistamines, according to study results published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Physicians were more likely to receive a five-star satisfaction rating on a direct-to-consumer, or DTC, telemedicine platform when they prescribed antibiotics for pediatric respiratory tract infections, or RTIs. Researchers noted that pediatricians were less likely to prescribe antibiotics than other clinicians, yet had higher satisfaction ratings.

An estimated 25% of household tuberculosis case contacts in the Innate Factors and Early Clearance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, or INFECT, study in Indonesia were considered early clearers, and researchers found that protection against M. tuberculosis was strongly associated with bacille Calmette-Guérin, or BCG, vaccination.