Top stories in infectious disease: FDA strengthens safety warnings for fluoroquinolones, cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to McDonald’s salads

Among the top stories in infectious disease is the FDA strengthening its warnings about the risk for mental health side effects and serious blood sugar disturbances associated with fluoroquinolones and more than 100 cases of cyclosporiasis may belinked to salads from McDonald’s according to health officials in the Midwest.

Other top stories include a winery in Europe experienced a small outbreak of oropharyngeal tularemia in 2016 after grapes had been accidentally pressed with infected rats, new data show it would be more cost-effective to begin vaccinating adults at 55 years of age with Zostavax and begin using Shingrix after 5 years, and two tuberculosis vaccines lacked efficacy against initial Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. – by Jake Scott

Cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to McDonald’s salads sickens more than 100 in Iowa, Illinois

Health officials in Iowa and Illinois said more than 100 cases of cyclosporiasis may be linked to salads made by McDonald’s. Read more.

FDA strengthens safety warnings for fluoroquinolones

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

Grapes pressed with infected mice caused tularemia outbreak at German winery

The consumption of grape must from fruit that had been accidentally pressed with infected mice appeared to be the cause of a small 2016 outbreak of oropharyngeal tularemia at a winery in Germany, investigators reported in The New England Journal of Medicine. Read more.

Current Shingrix vaccination schedule unlikely cost-effective

Last year, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended adults aged 50 years and older be vaccinated with the new recombinant adjuvanted zoster subunit vaccine, Shingrix, over the only other FDA-approved vaccine, Zostavax. The committee also recommended that adults previously vaccinated with Zostavax receive an immediate booster with Shingrix.

New data, however, show it would be more cost-effective to begin vaccinating adults at 55 years of age and offer the booster after 5 years of Zostavax vaccination. Read more.

TB vaccines ineffective against initial infection

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. Read more.