November 08, 2013
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
Using estimates from a recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a new CDDEP visualization shows the overall costs and the cost per infection for each of the five most common healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in the US. [CDDEP]
A paper in the journal Environmental Microbiology demonstrates the presence of a rare gene that provides resistance to vancomycin, a last-resort drug used to treat HAIs, in wild crows in the US. [Scientific American]
In its new policy paper published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has issued recommendations to help develop quicker and better diagnostic tests, which can improve treatment decisions and help control antibiotic resistance. [CIDRAP]
A new study published in the journal F1000 Research finds that kosher chicken had the highest prevalence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli among the four types conventional, organic, kosher, and raised without antibiotics (RWA) of chicken samples analyzed. This study, which used 213 samples from the New York City metropolitan area, also found similar rates of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in organic and conventional chicken samples, while RWA chicken samples had only slight lower rates. [The New York Times]
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Prevention Initiative implemented in Veterans Affairs hospitals throughout the US resulted in significant declines in MRSA infection rates in those hospitals, according to a study in The American Journal of Infection Control. [The New York Times]
The US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) s recent surveillance summary of malaria shows that the US had the highest number of reported malaria cases in 2011 since 1971 with 1,925 reported malaria cases. [CDC]
New research in the journal PNAS shows that malaria sperm move more freely than previously thought due to a corkscrew motion that helps them find female mates more easily, thereby making the mating easier for the parasite and aiding in the spread of malaria. [BBC]
A review paper published in Environmental Science & Technology explores opportunities and challenges in applying a probiotic approach to fighting opportunistic pathogens in household or hospital tap water. [Infection Control Today]
According to a new study published in the American Journal of Critical Care, improving the quality of the critical care work environment might help reduce the frequency of healthcare-associated infections. [AJCC]
According to the US Census Bureau s supplemental poverty measure, which takes into account the costs for critical goods and services and government benefits to determine the number of people living in poverty, out-of-pocket medical expenses pushed an additional 10.6 million US citizens below the poverty threshold during 2012. [The Atlantic]
Roche, a global Swiss health-care company, has agreed to pay up to $548 million for the rights to an antibiotic named POL7080 that targets Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium which is one of the leading causes of hospital-acquired infections. [Bloomberg]
