Respiratory Infections News

The FDA has granted de novo clearance of the first molecular diagnostic test for lower respiratory tract infections, according to the manufacturer of the device.

Theodore C. (Ted) Eickhoff, MD, professor emeritus in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and longtime Chief Medical Editor of Infectious Disease News, died March 24 at age 86.

Researchers estimated that reaching WHO’s No. 1 Sustainable Development Goal of ending extreme poverty and expanding social protection could reduce 84.3% of the world’s TB burden by 2035.

Disinfecting pediatric long-term care facilities with ultraviolet-C can reduce the incidence of respiratory illnesses caused by viral pathogens — including influenza, rhinovirus, enterovirus and human metapneumovirus — by 44% when compared with traditional disinfection methods.

The pertussis vaccine is effective, but its protection decreases over time, and coverage has been incomplete, according to researchers.

The overall death rate from many infectious diseases decreased by nearly 20% in the United States over 35 years, according to researchers.

Condition-specific readmission measures from Medicare may provide an incomplete and inaccurate depiction of hospital quality, according to research published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Although the incidence of tuberculosis is decreasing in the United States, the CDC recently warned that progress toward the elimination of the disease in the country remains slow, and it is unlikely that TB will be eradicated in this century.

The Trump administration’s selection of longtime AIDS researcher Robert R. Redfield, MD, to be the next CDC director drew mixed reactions from experts and officials, including some who question his conduct on a research project several decades ago.

Although measles infection during childhood is not independently linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — or post-bronchodilator airflow obstruction —  the infection can strengthen the association between smoking, current asthma and post-bronchodilator airflow obstruction.