Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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Invasive group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates. We report the epidemiology and trends of invasive GAS over 8 years of surveillance. ⋯ The burden of invasive GAS infection in the United States remains substantial. Vaccines under development could have a considerable public health impact.
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Ebola virus disease (EVD) in health workers (HWs) has been a major challenge during the 2014-2015 outbreak. We examined factors associated with Ebola virus exposure and mortality in HWs in Kenema District, Sierra Leone. ⋯ The cluster of HW EVD cases in Kenema District is one of the largest ever reported. Most HWs with EVD had potential virus exposure both inside and outside of hospitals. Prevention measures for HWs must address a spectrum of infection risks in both formal and informal care settings as well as in the community.
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Review
Efficient Delivery of Investigational Antibacterial Agents via Sustainable Clinical Trial Networks.
The economics of antibiotics can be improved by infectious diseases-specific clinical trial networks. While developers would still need to implement an independent phase 1 program as well as studies focused on highly resistant pathogens, standardized procedures in a network focused on usual drug resistance phenotype isolates would permit sharing of controls and would predictably generate high-quality pivotal data for product registration while creating cost and time savings in the range of 30%-40%. This would reduce economic barriers to antibiotic development and contribute to public health.
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Review Meta Analysis
Fecal Colonization With Extended-spectrum Beta-lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae and Risk Factors Among Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis.
Gut colonization is a risk factor for infections with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing organisms. We aimed to determine the ESBL class A reservoir among healthy individuals. ⋯ The ESBL colonization rate among healthy individuals is significant worldwide. This should be taken into consideration in infection control and antibiotic management decisions.
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The largest outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outside the Middle East occurred in South Korea in 2015 and resulted in 186 laboratory-confirmed infections, including 36 (19%) deaths. Some hospitals were considered epicenters of infection and voluntarily shut down most of their operations after nearly half of all transmissions occurred in hospital settings. However, the ways that MERS-CoV is transmitted in healthcare settings are not well defined. ⋯ These data provide experimental evidence for extensive viable MERS-CoV contamination of the air and surrounding materials in MERS outbreak units. Thus, our findings call for epidemiologic investigation of the possible scenarios for contact and airborne transmission, and raise concern regarding the adequacy of current infection control procedures.