October 03, 2014
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
CDDEP Director Ramanan Laxminarayan was featured on a panel at the UC San Francisco Science of Global Health: What’s Next conference this week. Coverage of the panel talk, “The age of pandemics: the need for global collective action”, is available from NBC News.
Laxminarayan will also be speaking next Tuesday, October 7, at live online event entitled Track, Treat, Prevent: A Better Battle Against Communicable Diseases, hosted by the TEDMED Great Challenges Program. Sign up for and watch the event here.
The first US diagnosis of an Ebola patient was confirmed by the CDC in Dallas this week; the patient flew to the United States from Liberia and is currently being treated in isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. [NPR]
Nigeria, meanwhile, has experienced success in containing the spread of the Ebola, with the country’s last confirmed case on August 31. [Washington Post]
US farms increased animal antibiotic use 16 percent between 2009 and 2012, according to a new report by the FDA. The report also stated that roughly 70 percent of those antibiotics used are medically important for humans. [The Atlantic]
The North American Enterovirus-D68 outbreak has spread even further in the last week: the respiratory illness is now present in 43 US states and in Canada, and has been linked to four deaths. [CDC, The New York Times]
A hospital in the UK has installed antimicrobial copper bed frames in its rooms, in hopes that the new surfaces will lower rates of hospital-acquired infections. [Boston Standard]
Five infants from the El Paso, Texas hospital that were reported to have been exposed to tuberculosis in the last year have tested positive for the disease, according to the city’s health department. [CNN]
A CDC study released this week found that 17,000 American deaths from overdose each year can be attributed to overprescription of painkillers, which is also linked to heroin overdose rates doubling between 2010 and 2012. [Reuters Health]
An American epidemiologist has developed an analytic tool to help physicians and hospitals appropriately prescribe antibiotics. The product, called iAntibiogram, uses electronic medical records and tracks physician prescribing practices to give feedback on efficient antibiotic use. [Med City News]
Antibiotic use in infants before the age of two is correlated with a higher risk of obesity later in life, according to a study published this week. [CBS News]
A team of international veterinarians has come up with a plan to eliminate rabies in humans worldwide, by vaccinating about 70 percent of the world’s dog population. The plan, which the scientists admit would be costly, could save up to 69,000 lives annually. [NPR]
Want to receive the weekly digest in your inbox? Enter your email address in the “receive updates” box.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
