Clinicians' Biosecurity News Archive: 2014
                     

• 12-19-2014: Preparing for Influenza: An H3N2 Season with a Vaccine Mismatch The predominance of H3N2 this year and the mismatch of the H3N2 component of this year’s vaccine are driving this concern.
• 12-05-2014: Nosocomial Transmission of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) from a US Soldier The case of a US soldier who was fatally infected with CCHF illustrates several important points about caring for hemorrhagic fever patients.
• 11-14-2014:Chagas Disease in the US: An Underestimated Emerging Infectious Disease Threat While many emerging infectious diseases are characterized by rapid, explosive outbreaks, some may be marked by an insidious, unrecognized spread.
• 10-29-2014: Rapid Ebola Test Now Available for Use in Hospitals PCR based test can confirm or rule-out Ebola in symptomatic patients in approximately 1 hour and can be done safely in many hospitals.
• 10-22-2014: Ebola: PPE, Infection Control, and Regionalization of Care This week brought the end of the 21-day observation period of the contacts of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the US.
• 10-10-2014: Containing Marburg in Uganda Understanding how Uganda responds to this Marburg epidemic will be an example of outbreak management principles that are equally applicable to Ebola.
• 09-26-2014: Tularemia Cases in Colorado Recent reports of cases of tularemia in Colorado should prompt clinicians to consider the diagnosis of tularemia in the right context.
• 09-12-2014: Severe Respiratory Illness due to Enterovirus D68 There are many strains of EV, most cause simple colds but a few have been known to cause outbreaks of severe respiratory disease.
• 08-29-2014: Asymptomatic MERS Cases A study found that a small proportion of individuals exposed to MERS cases may become silently infected. This information is key to controlling the outbreak.
• 08-14-2014: Experimental Ebola Treatment Being Used Several healthcare workers infected by Ebola in Africa have been treated with an experimental drug. Should the drug be made more widely available to others?
• 08-01-2014: Harnessing the Power of Convalescents for Severe Viral Infections The use of convalescent serum has sometimes been advocated for the treatment of acute severe viral diseases for which no specific countermeasure exists.
• 07-18-2014: Rescuing Severe ARDS Patients A new study demonstrates long-term survival for most patients who receive rescue therapies for severe ARDS and survive to hospital discharge.
• 07-03-2014: Resurgence of Vaccine-Preventable Childhood Diseases The CDPH reported on an ongoing epidemic of pertussis. A total of 1,100 new cases have been reported in the 2 weeks ending June 24, 2014.
• 06-20-2014: Arenavirus Infections in the Southwest A new report published in Emerging Infectious Diseases confirms earlier studies showing that unsuspected arenavirus infections are occurring in the US Southwest
• 05-30-2014: Novel Heartland Virus Responsible for Two Deaths in the US Heartland virus has been found in 7 people in 3 states. All cases have been males over age 50; most reported tick bites; fever, thrombocytopenia, and leukopenia
• 05-16-2014: Leveraging Social Media in a Sarin Attack A new paper details how mobile phone technology can be used in a setting far removed from traditional health care: the Syrian sarin attacks.
• 05-02-2014: Update on Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Over the past several weeks, the pace of the MERS-CoV epidemic, which had been slow but sustained, has increased dramatically.
• 04-18-2014: Myocardial Infarction and Disasters Results indicate that the overall percentage of hospital admissions for AMI increased 3-fold, from 0.7% of admissions pre-Katrina to 2.4% post-Katrina.
• 04-04-2014: Ebola Outbreak in Guinea Ebola outbreak in Guinea has caused alarm and prompted the closing of national borders to prevent spread of disease.
• 03-21-2014: New Anthrax Guidelines Evidence-based clinical guidance for treatment of anthrax is difficult to derive because clinical data are limited
• 03-07-2014: Mumps Outbreak at Fordham University Several vaccine-preventable diseases are reappearing, seemingly as a result of waning immunity, lax attitudes about vaccination, and importations from abroad.
• 02-21-2014: Another Visit from H1N1 Anecdotes from this year’s flu season include a high number of young adults with severe disease admitted to ICUs.
• 02-07-2014: Organizing Chaos--Hospital Evacuation During Hurricane Sandy A recent study explores immediate effects on hospitals that received evacuated patients and the effects of ongoing patient surge due to closing of 2 hospitals.
• 01-24-2014: Chikungunya--Coming to America: Last month, St. Martin reported cases of chikungunya. Since then, the virus has spread to several other islands, and there are now about 500 cases.
• 01-10-2014: Powassan Encephalitis in Maine As diagnostic testing for unexplained CNS infections increases, the true spread of viruses that cause them may become more apparent.