Respiratory Infections News

Although most U.S. hospitals had visitor restrictions in place for pediatric facilities, a smaller percentage had staff restriction policies regarding respiratory syncytial virus, according to a set of studies published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

The 2017-2018 influenza season in the United States was one of the most severe in the last decade and kept clinics, EDs and hospitals busy. The CDC recently classified it as a “high-severity” season that resulted in record hospitalization rates. Although vaccination is our first line of defense, it is most effective when it is a good match with the circulating strain. Unfortunately, vaccine efficacy for the 2017-2018 season was approximately 36% overall and only 25% against illness caused by influenza A(H3N2), the predominant strain. Because of low vaccine efficacy and a high number of patients with influenza, many patients sought treatment for their symptoms.

A measles outbreak in New York City spurred by an unvaccinated teenager traveling to London could have been more quickly contained with timely reporting by health care providers, which could have saved public health resources and funding.

A 2012 outbreak of adenovirus that occurred in a United States neonatal ICU was traced to medical instruments used for retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP, exams, according to a recent report in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

In a recent phase 2 trial, an investigational tuberculosis vaccine, H4:IC31, and the bacille Calmette-Guérin, or BCG, vaccine both lacked efficacy against initial Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

The FDA is strengthening warnings about the risk for mental health side effects and serious blood sugar disturbances associated with fluoroquinolones.

Responses to recent outbreaks of measles and mumps in the United States demonstrated the need for infection control strategies at heath care facilities, according to research presented at the annual conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, or APIC.

The CDC has expanded its recommendation of a short-course combination regimen of once-weekly isoniazid and rifapentine for the treatment of latent tuberculosis infection to include children aged 2 to 11 years and patients with HIV/AIDS taking antiretroviral medications.

The Infectious Disease Society of America and the American Society for Microbiology released an updated guide designed to help health care providers use the microbiology laboratory to diagnose infectious diseases.

Pediatric tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies increase the risk of upper respiratory tract diseases and slightly increase the risk for other infectious and allergic diseases, according to research published in JAMA Otolaryngolgy-Head & Neck Surgery.