Clinicians' Biosecurity News Archive: 2012
                     

• 12-21-2012: A Prospective Study of Influenza Shedding in the Community A new paper from the Robert Koch Institute, published in PLOS ONE, offers important insights into viral shedding of influenza.
• 12-07-2012: Flu Season Starts Early CDC flu data for the week ending Nov. 24, 2012 indicated a rise above the regional baseline in influenza-like illness (ILI).
• 11-23-2012: Center Proposes New Approach for ARDS Care during Pandemics and Beyond Patients with severe lung injury and minimal co-morbid conditions would fare better if quickly transferred to a dedicated center with expertise in managing ARDS
• 11-09-2012: CIDRAP Report Calls for Novel Influenza Vaccine A report by CIDRAP provides a detailed review of the status of influenza vaccine in the US and calls into question the efficacy of currently available vaccines.
• 10-26-2012: Intravenous Zanamivir--Experience with 200 Patients A new study documents details of the clinical experience with 200 patients administered IV zanamivir, which was made available as EIND.
• 10-05-2012: Novel Coronavirus in UK and Saudi Arabia A novel coronavirus has been discovered and linked to 2 severe cases, one of which was fatal, in the UK and Saudi Arabia.
• 09-21-2012: Studying Tularemia in a US Locale Francisella tularensis is endemic in Missouri, where 121 cases (20% of the US total) were documented from 2000 to 2007.
• 09-07-2012: Hantavirus in Yosemite Tourists Eight cases (3 fatal) of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome occurred in tourists exposed to the murine-spread virus at Yosemite this summer.
• 08-24-2012: The Increasing Burden of West Nile Virus More than 500 cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Dallas which prompted the Texas city to declare state of emergency on August 15.
• 08-10-2012: Asymptomatic Rabies The results of a recently published study provide important new insights into the pathophysiology of rabies and point to new directions in research.
• 07-27-2012: Deaths in the Elderly Associated with Several Common Viruses Pneumonia and influenza are often a leading cause of death among the elderly, unbundling that category reveals important pathogen-specific granularity.
• 07-13-2012: Report from CDC’s Unexplained Respiratory Disease Outbreak Working Group Some undiagnosed respiratory illnesses could be caused by pathogens of interest, in which case nascent outbreaks of serious diseases may not be recognized.
• 06-29-2012: Revised Estimate Increases Global H1N1 Mortality Figures by Factor of 15 Previously reported deaths due to lab-confirmed H1N1 during the 2009 pandemic were grossly underestimated because most flu patients were not tested.
• 06-15-2012: Intensive Care Outcomes During the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic A new article by authors from the CDC provides detailed descriptions of ICU care provided to patients during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
• 05-25-2012: Additional Forensic Investigation of 2001 Anthrax Attacks FBI’s conclusion that USAMRIID scientist Dr. Ivins perpetrated the anthrax attacks of 2001 is largely built on an extensive microbial forensics investigation.
• 05-11-2012 H5N1 Transmission in Ferrets Two studies of genetically modified H5N1 influenza viruses have sparked debate about the biosecurity risks of increased mammalian droplet transmissibility.
• 04-27-2012: Sapovirus: An Important Cause of Gastroenteritis Outbreaks A cause of norovirus-negative gastroenteritis outbreaks may be sapovirus. A paper offers evidence of this with results of a study of outbreaks over 7 years.
• 04-13-2012: The Effect of Anti-lethal Toxin Antibodies on Anthrax Mortality Results of a recent study suggest that treatment with antitoxin antibodies may be effective for all cases of anthrax that progress to septic shock.
• 03-30-2012: IOM Issues New Report on Crisis Standards of Care IOM has just released its second report on crisis standards of care for use in disaster situations. The report offers practical guidance for implementation.
• 03-16-2012: Fatal Flu Cluster in Maryland Highlights Complications of MRSA Three deaths and 1 case of severe pneumonia were recently reported in 1 MD family; H3N2 flu confirmed in all 4; MRSA in at least 2.
• 03-02-2012: Rapid Influenza Antigen Tests: Specific But Not Sensitive Results indicate that rapid tests have low sensitivity, but high specificity, which makes them most useful for confirming DX in patients with flu-like symptoms.
• 02-17-2012: Genetic Susceptibility to Anthrax Study suggests that susceptibility to anthrax toxins may be genetic. This sheds light on the relationship between anthrax toxins and human cell receptors.
• 02-03-2012: Influenza B and Severe Disease To better understand the pathology of fatal cases of influenza B, a CDC team analyzed autopsy data from the decade between May 2000 and February 2010.
• 01-20-2012: Totally Drug Resistant Tuberculosis The treatment of tuberculosis (TB), once the leading cause of death from an infectious disease, is now complicated by antimicrobial resistance
• 01-17-2012: Clinicians' Biosecurity Resource App Now Available CBR is a healthcare provider’s guide to clinical features, diagnostic tests, treatments, and infection control measures for potential dangerous biothreats.
• 01-06-2012: Statins and Influenza A study, conducted by Vandermeer and colleagues, provides new evidence of the benefits of statins in treating influenza.