September 26, 2014
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
Enterovirus-D68, a virus that causes respiratory illness and largely affects children, has now had appearances in 38 states and from coast to coast in the US, according to the CDC. [The New York Times]
The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both released predictions this week about the spread of Ebola in the coming months. The WHO projection anticipates around 20,000 cases through November, while the farther-reaching CDC study predicts a worst-case scenario of 1.4 million cases by mid-January. [NPR]
The US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing last Friday to discuss the ADAPT act, which would accelerate the FDA approval process for new antibiotics. Read more about the hearing on the CDDEP blog.
A patient care tech at a hospital in El Paso, Texas, may have exposed more than 700 infants to tuberculosis in the last year, according to hospital officials. [The Washington Post]
A team of scientists at MIT has designed a new class of antibiotics that attacks specific genes within a bacterial cell. The DNA-based agent, the team says, could potentially be used in preventing antibiotic resistance. [BBC Health]
The Type 2 diabetes rate in the US has stabilized in recent years after nearly two decades of growth, according to a study released this week by the CDC. [Los Angeles Times Health]
A Daily Telegraph investigation in England found that general practitioners in certain areas were prescribing antibiotics at more than twice the rate of others, and that rates actually increased after a government campaign to reduce antibiotic overprescription. [The Daily Telegraph]
Cases of West Nile Virus may be more prevalent in California this year because of the state’s widespread drought, according to California public health officials. They stated that fewer water sources mean that birds and mosquitoes frequently share water and come in close proximity to each other, making the virus easier to spread. [NPR]
A recent study by researchers in Canada found that at least a dozen patients in Alberta in the last three years had infections that were resistant to several types of antibiotics; they stated that new screening procedures are critical to avoid a significant outbreak. [The Calgary Herald]
Two new publications from CDDEP researchers were released this week: a report on antibiotic resistance policies in low- and middle-income countries, and an examination of whether aggressive or moderate antibiotic treatment is best for combating resistance.
CDDEP Director Ramanan Laxminarayan will be speaking at TEDxGateway in November of this year in Mumbai. More information is available from TEDxGateway.
Want to receive the weekly digest in your inbox? Enter your email address in the “receive updates” box.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
