Respiratory Infections News

The WHO advisory group that recommends which influenza viruses should be included in seasonal vaccines said it would wait another month, until March 21, to select an H3N2 component for the Northern Hemisphere’s 2019-2020 vaccines “in light of recent changes in the proportions of” circulating viruses.

Repeat immunization with inactivated influenza vaccine appears to reduce children’s antibody responses to influenza strains A(H1N1)pdm09 and B, according to findings published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. The effect of previous-season vaccination on the efficacy of live-attenuated influenza vaccine was less clear, researchers said.

Xellia Pharmaceuticals announced that the FDA has approved its premixed vancomycin injection in a ready-to-use bag.

Adding nitazoxanide to standard of care for the treatment of children and adults with severe acute respiratory infections was safe, but it did not reduce hospital stay, complications like pneumonia, or the shedding of influenza or other respiratory viruses, according to findings from a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Children who have confirmed influenza receive fewer antibiotics in the 10 days after diagnosis and were less likely to use further health care services compared with children who were diagnosed with influenza without a microbiologic confirmation.

The incidence of invasive group B Streptococcus rose among nonpregnant adults between 2008 and 2016, particularly among those with obesity and diabetes, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

IV palivizumab, a monoclonal antibody to respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, did not appear to help or harm infants with RSV-positive bronchiolitis, according to findings from a double-blind, randomized trial.

Parents in Australia who were trained to collect nasal swabs did so nearly 2 days sooner after their children’s symptoms of an acute respiratory infection appeared compared with home visits by health care workers, according to results of a randomized trial published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

Early treatment with oseltamivir was associated with a 30% lower mortality rate compared with later treatment in patients with influenza A(H3N2) during eight recent influenza seasons in Greece, according to study results.

Researchers are still searching for the reasons behind a 2014 outbreak of enterovirus D68, or EV-D68, which affected more than 1,100 people nationwide.