Top stories in infectious disease: FDA says pregnant women should not receive Prezcobix, asymptomatic C. difficile carriers critical source of nosocomial transmission

Among the top stories in infectious disease is a FDA announcement that darunavir/cobicistat — which is marketed as Prezcobix (Janssen) in the United States —should not be given to pregnant women with HIV. Another top story includes the findingsthat showed asymptomatic C. difficile carriers were a critical source of nosocomial transmission, underscoring their important role in transmission.

Other top stories include data that showed public and private health insurers continue to deny coverage for highly effective direct-acting antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus infections, and studies that indicateall-oral direct-acting antiviral regimens delivered within a multidisciplinary care model are safe and effective in treating hepatitis C in people who inject drugs and that scarlet fever has surged and continued to occur at an increased incidence in China since 2011.

FDA says Prezcobix should not be given to pregnant women

Darunavir/cobicistat — marketed as Prezcobix (Janssen) in the United States — should not be given to pregnant women with HIV because of substantially lower exposures of the two medications during pregnancy, the FDA said. Read more.

Asymptomatic C. difficile carriers critical source of nosocomial transmission

Approximately 19% of health care-related Clostridium difficile cases at a Veterans Affairs hospital and affiliated long-term care facility, or LTCF, were linked to residents with LTCF-associated C. difficile infection or asymptomatic C. difficile carriage, according to recently published findings. Most came from asymptomatic carriers, underscoring their important role in transmission, researchers said. Read more.

Insurance denials for HCV therapy increase in US

Despite the availability of highly effective direct-acting antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus infection, both public and private health insurers in the United States continue to deny coverage for the drugs at increasingly high rates, according to a study publishedin Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Read more.

All-oral direct-acting antiviral agents regimens safe, effective in treating people who inject drugs

All-oral direct-acting antiviral regimens delivered within a multidisciplinary care model are safe and effective in treating hepatitis C virus infection in people who inject drugs, according study findings published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Read more.

Scarlet fever has surged in China since 2011

In 2011, scarlet fever began to surge in China and continued to occur at an increased incidence for 6 consecutive years, according to findings published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Read more.