Clinicians' Biosecurity News Archive: 2013
                     

• 12-20-2013: SARS: Beyond Amoy Gardens A research team revisited the Amoy Gardens SARS outbreak to assess whether the airborne spread of SARS extended beyond the housing complex.
• 12-06-2013: Antimicrobial Resistance--A Call to Action A document just published makes a strong case for addressing the problem of antimicrobial resistance now, before it leads to a global public health emergency.
• 11-22-2013: Princeton Meningitis Outbreak A 7-person outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease on the campus of Princeton University highlights some of the persistent difficulties with this pathogen.
• 11-08-2013: Cholera in Mexico The cholera epidemic in Haiti has caused more than 600,000 cases and 8,000 fatalities and is prompting concern about wider spread into the Western Hemisphere.
• 10-25-2013: Fifth Type of Dengue Discovered Now, a 5th strain of Dengue has been discovered, which raises many questions and may make vaccine development even more difficult.
• 10-11-2013: The Value of an ID Specialist ID specialists examine patients, review records and results, think about an illness, delineate diagnoses, focus testing, and prescribe treatment.
• 09-27-2013: The Burden of Coronavirus Besides MERS and SARS, 4 other CoVs infect humans. Two (229E, OC43) have been known as human pathogens for decades; 2 (NL63, HKU1) were discovered post-SARS.
• 09-13-2013: Violent Attacks on Healthcare Workers a Growing Problem The prohibition of violence against healthcare workers has degraded and requires strengthening and enforcement.
• 08-23-2013: Meeting Video: Insights from the Front Lines of the MERS Outbreak Dr. Ziad Memish presented and spoke with Tom Inglesby about his experience with the MERS outbreak in Saudi Arabia.
• 08-09-2013: Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Spotlights Risk of Uncommon Pathogen A multistate outbreak of more than 400 cases of Cyclospora infection has thrust a relatively rare—and seldom tested for—protozoan pathogen into the headlines.
• 07-26-2013: US TB Outbreaks Highlight Investigative and Therapeutic Challenges US tuberculosis (TB) rates continue to decline, but surveillance, control, and treatment remain challenging and expensive.
• 07-12-2013: Blastomycosis Cluster in Wisconsin Blastomycosis is a systemic infectious disease caused by infection with the fungus Blastomyces dermatidis. In 2010, an unusual uptick occurred in Wisconsin.
• 06-20-2013: New Information on MERS Highlights Need for Infection Control and Broad Case Definition Our evolving understanding of MERS-CoV now makes clear that clinicians and public health authorities should not be too rigid with case definitions.
• 05-31-2013: EV71 and Acute Flaccid Paralysis Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is increasingly recognized as a pathogen that could cause severe disease and widespread infection during periodic outbreaks.
• 05-17-2013: Little Clinical Research Conducted During the 2009 Pandemic While many case and reports were published during the pandemic, rigorous research is needed to answer clinical questions during public health emergencies.
• 05-03-2013: Statins for Treatment of Severe Sepsis Results of a recent study provide new data about use of statins for treating patients with severe sepsis, which many patients with severe influenza develop.
• 04-19-2013: Factors Influencing Control of the H7N9 Epidemic The ongoing outbreak of a novel H7N9 avian influenza in eastern China poses a significant threat to public health.
• 04-12-2013: Update on Novel H7N9 Influenza Epidemic The epidemic of novel H7N9 avian influenza in eastern China continues with no sign of abating. As of today, there have been 38 confirmed cases, with 10 deaths.
• 04-05-2013: Novel H7N9 Outbreak in China There have been 14 confirmed human cases of infection with a novel H7N9 influenza A virus reported in eastern China; 6 have died; source not yet confirmed.
• 03-22-2013: Nitazoxanide for Treatment of Drug-resistant Influenza Nitazoxanide was recently the subject of a $44 million BARDA contract for advanced development as a treatment for drug-resistant influenza.
• 03-08-2013: ECMO for Severe Influenza--Description of a Large French Cohort Study A study of the largest cohort of H1N1 patients treated with ECMO provides more evidence by which to judge the efficacy of this therapy.
• 02-22-2013: Influenza Vaccine Efficacy: As Low as 31%? Influenza prevention relies most on annual flu vaccines, which have 60% efficacy rate even when well matched to circulating strains.
• 02-08-2013: Monoclonal Antibodies for Biodefense Center for Biosecurity makes the case for expanding development of mAbs for biodefense because they confer several important advantages over other MCMs.
• 01-25-2013: The D222G Mutation and Severe Influenza During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the D222G mutation was posited to affect disease severity when it was found in isolates from 3 patients in Norway.
• 01-11-2013: Influenza Type C as a Cause of Pediatric Pneumonia More sophisticated respiratory viral testing is now shedding light on the role of influenza type C in causing disease, particularly in children.