Category Archives: pandemic

CDC reports first US cases of drug-resistant Candida auris | CIDRAP

In today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), investigators describe seven C auris cases that occurred from May 2013 to June 2016. The cases involve patients at hospitals in four states—New York, Maryland, Illinois, and New Jersey—who had been hospitalized with serious underlying medical conditions. The other six cases are still under investigation.The announcement comes 3 months after the agency warned US healthcare facilities about the emergence of the serious fungal infection, which was first identified in the ear of a Japanese patient in 2009 and since then has been identified in patients in several other countries. The CDC received the case reports after that clinical alert was issued.In the countries where it has previously been identified, C auris has most commonly caused healthcare-associated infections such as bloodstream infections, wound infections, and ear infections and has been associated with high mortality. CDC investigators report that 5 of the US patients had bloodstream infections, 1 had a urine infection, and 1 had an ear infection. The median time from hospital admission to detection of the infection was 18 days.Four of the patients died, but it is unclear if their deaths were caused by the C auris infection.”This is a serious global health threat for which we want to rigorously prepare for in the United States,” Tom Chiller, MD, MPHTM, deputy chief of the Mycotic Diseases Branch at the CDC, told CIDRAP News.

Source: CDC reports first US cases of drug-resistant Candida auris | CIDRAP

CDC probes rise in AFM cases as Washington reports cluster | CIDRAP (As current polio is close to eradication – is the virus trying to find new pathways to fulfilling its “purpose?”)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating a national increase in acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) this year, with a surge in recent months, a pattern that may be linked to a recent cluster of suspected cases in Washington state.Though this year’s cases of AFM—marked by sudden onset of limb weakness associated with spinal cord inflammation—haven’t reached levels seen in 2014 when the condition first appeared on the national radar with 120 cases reported, the CDC said it is worried about the recent uptick.No common cause identifiedIn an update on its AFM page yesterday, the CDC said as of Sep 30, 89 AFM cases have been confirmed in 33 states, mostly in children. The rise in cases from across the country began in August, and the CDC said it has been actively investigating the illness since then.For comparison, in 2015 the agency received reports of 21 confirmed AFM cases from 16 states.

Source: CDC probes rise in AFM cases as Washington reports cluster | CIDRAP

CDC chief: Antibiotic resistance ‘scary’ threat to modern medicine | CIDRAP

An estimated 700,000 people around the world die each year from drug-resistant strains of common bacterial infections, HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. And a 2014 report from the UK’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance projected that if rising AMR is not addressed, the annual death toll could reach 10 million by the year 2050.Frieden said that antibiotic resistance threatens to turn back the clock to a pre-antibiotic era in which pneumonia and urinary tract infections are potentially fatal conditions. But beyond that, it also endangers the more than 600,000 cancer patients who get chemotherapy each year and rely on antibiotics to protect them from potentially deadly infections. “We presume that we can treat them, but that may not always be the case,” Frieden said.

Source: CDC chief: Antibiotic resistance ‘scary’ threat to modern medicine | CIDRAP

HIV ′Patient Zero′ cleared of causing epidemic in US | News | DW.COM | 27.10.2016

Genetic testing on 1970s blood samples has shown that Gaetan Dugas, long vilified as an originator of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, was not the man responsible for spreading the deadly disease.A study published in the journal Nature put together the genetic sequence of the HIV virus from archived blood samples of gay and bisexual men who were participating in a hepatitis B study at the time. Researchers then traced the genetic changes of the virus among men in New York and San Francisco. They found the HIV virus came from the Caribbean to New York City around 1970, starting the North American epidemic.University of Arizona evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey led the study. “The outbreaks in California that caused people to ring alarm bells and led to the discovery of AIDS were really just offshoots of the earlier outbreak that we see in New York City,” said Worobey.

Source: HIV ′Patient Zero′ cleared of causing epidemic in US | News | DW.COM | 27.10.2016

Study finds wrong antibiotics often given for common infections | CIDRAP

Convenience and perception

Although the study does not explore the reasons providers are so frequently veering from the recommended treatments, both Hicks and Hyun have some ideas.Hicks said the simplest explanation may be the convenience factor. For example, azithromycin is a once-a-day drug, while some of the first-line drugs need to be taken twice or even three times a day. But Hicks believes there’s also a perception, shared by both provider and patient, that broader may be better, and that using drugs that cover more bacteria makes it less likely that something could be missed.Hyun suggests there’s also a social dynamic going between patients and doctors, where patient expectations—and how doctors perceive those expectations—are playing a role in antibiotic prescribing. “Physicians and providers feel, a lot of the time, that patients walk into their office with a certain level of expectation for antibiotics,” Hyun said.And that, along with the patient’s previous experience, can have an impact on antibiotic selection. So if a patient has previously received a broad-spectrum antibiotic and it worked well, they’ll probably ask for that same antibiotic again. “That can influence the prescriber,” Hyun said.

Source: Study finds wrong antibiotics often given for common infections | CIDRAP

CDC report: STDs reached all-time high in 2015 | CIDRAP – As with TB, you do not take STDs for granted because men forget too easy and have too high a delusion rating.

“Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are curable, but the new numbers make it clear that many Americans are not getting the preventive services they need,” Donnica Smalls, MA, a health communications specialist with the CDC, told CIDRAP News. “We know that this is the second year in a row that all three reportable STDs have increased substantially.”Researchers called the trends “alarming,” especially because young people ages 15 to 24 were the most likely to report new gonorrhea (50% of all infections) and chlamydia (65%) infections in 2015.”We have reached a decisive moment for the nation,” said Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, in a CDC press release. “STD rates are rising, and many of the country’s systems for preventing STDs have eroded. We must mobilize, rebuild and expand services—or the human and economic burden will continue to grow.”

Source: CDC report: STDs reached all-time high in 2015 | CIDRAP

CDC highlights high-risk Zika areas in South Florida | CIDRAP – not going away – wait till next spring for a major outbreak in the Gulf States

Almost 900 US pregnant women infectedIt its weekly Zika case update today the CDC said infections have been reported in 21 more pregnant women in the continental United States, putting the total at 899. The US territories reported 121 more illnesses in pregnant women, boosting its total to 1,927, most of them from Puerto Rico.The number of Zika-affected pregnancies in the states remained at 25 live births and 5 pregnancy losses, and the CDC has not yet posted the latest totals from the territories.For Zika-infected travelers, 71 more cases were reported from US states, bringing the total to 3,878. The CDC subtracted 1 sexual transmission case from its total, putting that number at 32, and added 1 more Zika-related Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) case, making 14 so far.US territories reported 1,443 more local infections, boosting the total to 27,314 illnesses so far, about 99% in hard-hit Puerto Rico. The number of GBS complications held steady at 40.

Source: CDC highlights high-risk Zika areas in South Florida | CIDRAP

Zika virus found in Florida blood bank, mosquitoes | CIDRAP

Despite increased surveillance, spraying, and testing, Florida is still experiencing signs of widening Zika virus transmission, based on positive blood bank samples and detection of another positive mosquito pool.Also, Public Health England found Asian Tiger mosquito eggs in southeast England, a first for that country.Pool, blood bank detectionsAccording to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, an eighth pool of mosquitoes has tested positive for Zika virus in Miami Beach, one of two active transmission zones in Miami-Dade County. The positive sample was from a trap located at 1236 Drexel Ave in Miami Beach.Despite testing 5,400 mosquito samples across the state, all eight positive traps have come from Miami Beach. According to an online statement, the department said “Miami-Dade County’s Mosquito Control team will continue to conduct inspections to reduce mosquito breeding and perform spray treatments as necessary in a minimum of 200-yard radius around the trap location.”In addition to the positive mosquito pool, a Seattle Times story yesterday confirmed that Zika virus had been found in a few units of donated blood in Florida. The Food and Drug Administration confirmed this discovery but did not say how many units had been detected.In July, blood donations stopped in Broward and Miami-Dade counties until Zika testing began. Earlier this year, it was estimated that 1% of all blood donations in Puerto Rico were positive for Zika virus, and many have suggested that a similar trend will be seen in Florida.In August, FDA officials urged at-risk states (Florida, Texas) to begin testing blood bank donations for Zika virus.

Source: Zika virus found in Florida blood bank, mosquitoes | CIDRAP

Inside Donald Trump’s echo chamber of conspiracies, grievances and vitriol – The Washington Post

In the presidential campaign’s home stretch, Donald Trump is fully inhabiting his own echo chamber. The Republican nominee has turned inward, increasingly isolated from the country’s mainstream and leaders of his own party, and determined to rouse his most fervent supporters with dire warnings that their populist movement could fall prey to dark and collusive forces.This is a campaign right out of Breitbart, the incendiary conservative website run until recently by Stephen K. Bannon, now the Trump campaign’s chief executive — and it is an act of retaliation.A turbulent few weeks punctuated by allegations of sexual harassment have left Trump trailing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in nearly every swing state. Trump’s gamble is that igniting his army of working-class whites could do more to put him in contention than any sort of broad, tempered appeal to undecided voters.The execution has been volatile. Since announcing last week that “the shackles have been taken off me,” Trump, bolstered by allies on talk radio and social media, has been creating an alternate reality — one full of innuendo about Clinton, tirades about the unfair news media and prophecies of Trump’s imminent triumph.Donald Trump’s long list of conspiracy theories Play Video2:52Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump believes there’s a global conspiracy to stop him from becoming president – but it’s not the first time he’s pushed unfounded theories. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)The candidate once omnipresent across the “mainstream media” these days largely limits his interviews to the safe harbor of the opinion shows on Fox News, and most of them are with Sean Hannity, a Trump supporter and informal counselor.[Trump says groping allegations are part of a global conspiracy to help Clinton]Many Republicans see the Trump campaign’s latest incarnation as a mirror into the psyche of their party’s restive base: pulsating with grievance and vitriol, unmoored from conservative orthodoxy, and deeply suspicious of the fast-changing culture and the consequences of globalization.

Source: Inside Donald Trump’s echo chamber of conspiracies, grievances and vitriol – The Washington Post