Respiratory Infections News

A study that used wastewater signals to identify cases of COVID-19 found that even a small increase in the proportion of people wearing masks at elementary schools in one California county significantly reduced the chance of a case.

SEATTLE — An 8-week boosted regimen of bedaquiline and linezolid was noninferior to standard 24-week treatment for tuberculosis in terms of clinical outcomes, according to the results of a phase 2-3 trial.

An updated analysis published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews has fueled debate about the effectiveness of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

One in 56 infants born healthy in Europe between July 2017 and April 2020 was hospitalized due to respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, according to study results published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Using rapid influenza diagnostic tests for patients presenting with acute respiratory infections may lead clinicians to prescribe fewer unnecessary antibiotics, which could improve patient outcomes and decrease the threat of resistance, researchers found.

Prolonged COVID-19 symptoms, including severe fatigue, were more common among patients infected during the pre-delta period compared with the later delta and omicron periods, researchers found.

Rhinoviruses and enteroviruses accounted for nearly three-quarters of viral detections among children during the COVID-19 pandemic and persisted amid declines in other viruses, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.

Antibiotic prescribing was high among patients with COVID-19, but researchers found that antimicrobial stewardship programs with prospective audit and feedback helped optimize antibiotic treatments among these patients.

There was a sustained decrease in pertussis cases among young infants in the years after maternal Tdap vaccination was introduced in the United States, according to the results of a CDC study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Although roughly 77% of older adults globally have been vaccinated against COVID-19, researchers found wide disparities in vaccination rates based on income levels.