Respiratory Infections News

Researchers found that letting sunlight in through windows can kill bacteria in dust around the same level as ultraviolet light.

Despite recommendations against using in the evaluation of bronchiolitis in infants, nearly one-half of cases diagnosed in American EDs are administered unneeded imaging, according to research published in JAMA.

Although it is suspected that Streptococcus pneumoniae is mainly transmitted through the inhalation of airborne droplets, research published in the European Respiratory Journal suggests that nose picking or rubbing can be sources of colonization.

Tuberculosis killed 1.6 million people in 2017 — more than 4,000 each day. Among its deadly attributes, TB is the leading killer of patients with HIV and the cause of one-third of all deaths related to antimicrobial resistance, according to WHO.

To coincide with a U.N. high-level meeting on tuberculosis, the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center released two reports on TB and human rights, including one that details how migration laws are undermining efforts to fight TB. Infectious Disease News asked O’Neill Institute associates Drew L. Aiken, JD, LLM, and Eric A. Friedman, JD, how the laws are impacting efforts to fight drug-resistant TB.

In China, human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) plummeted to nearly zero during the sixth epidemic of the virus following an “aggressive” campaign to vaccinate chicken and other poultry, experts said.

SAN FRANCISCO — Research presented at IDWeek highlighted the inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents for pediatric respiratory and ear, nose and throat infections. The researchers said that in many cases, first-line antibiotics for these infections are often overlooked in favor of broad-spectrum agents.

Maternal immunization with Tdap during pregnancy can provide neonates with higher levels of pertussis toxin antibodies, which protect them from infection, according to research published in JAMA. Researchers said that infants received the highest concentrations of these antibodies when mothers were vaccinated early in the third trimester.

The CDC has announced that 127 patients are under investigation related to an increase of acute flaccid myelitis cases, or AFM, in 22 states. Of these patients, 62 cases have been confirmed.

SAN FRANCISCO — A respiratory syncytial virus F nanoparticle vaccine was immunogenic in pregnant women and elicited antibodies that were transferred efficiently through the placenta to infants, according to research presented at IDWeek. The results have led to a landmark, ongoing phase 3 study, according to researchers.