Infectious Diseases News

• SGLT2 Inhibitors Begin to Show Potential in Rheumatology Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors are not approved to treat gout, lupus, or lupus nephritis, but clinicians are uncovering signs of benefits in these conditions.
  MDedge News, January 08, 2024
• Alert FDA Gives Nod to Berdazimer Gel for Molluscum Contagiosum The topical treatment is expected to be commercially available in the second half of 2024.
  Medscape Medical News, January 05, 2024
• Long COVID Has Caused Thousands of US Deaths: New CDC Data Fresh estimates from the CDC show a growing death tally from long COVID —– with numbers expected to increase as diagnostic expertise improves.
  Medscape Medical News, January 03, 2024
• Record-breaking Doctors' Strike Piles Pressure on England's Health Service Junior doctors in England started a six-day walkout over pay on Wednesday, the longest strike in the 75-year history of the state-run National Health Service (NHS), which...
  Reuters Health Information, January 02, 2024
• H pylori Infection Linked With Increased Alzheimer's Risk Data suggested that clinically apparent Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with an 11% increase in risk, but an expert urges caution in interpreting the findings.
  Medscape Medical News, January 02, 2024
• Drugmakers Set to Raise US Prices on 500 Drugs in January Drugmakers including Pfizer, Sanofi and Takeda Pharmaceutical plan to raise prices in the United States on more than 500 drugs in early January, according to data analyzed...
  Reuters Health Information, December 29, 2023
• Amoxicillin Short Course Effective for Febrile UTIs Children treated with oral antibiotics for 5 days showed similar UTI recurrence rates at 30 days posttreatment to those who received the standard 10-day course.
  Medscape Medical News, December 29, 2023
• Hospital Adverse Events Rise Post Private Equity Acquisition However, in-hospital mortality rates were not significantly different at private equity hospitals compared with control hospitals.
  Medscape Medical News, December 29, 2023
• H pylori Infection Linked to Increased Alzheimer's Risk Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with a moderately increased risk for Alzheimer's disease, new research suggests.
  Medscape Medical News, December 28, 2023
• HCW May Regain Use of Hand After Nerve Transfer From Amputated Leg A man may regain the use of his hand, left paralyzed by a severe road accident, thanks to a pioneering nerve transfer operation from his partly amputated leg, doctors in...
  Reuters Health Information, December 27, 2023
• Long COVID: New Info on Who Is Most Likely to Get It Fresh research and clinical anecdotes have given experts a much clearer picture of which patients are most likely to develop long COVID.
  Medscape Medical News, December 27, 2023
• Abortion Battles Shift to Medical Emergencies, Travel The legal landscape surrounding abortion has been roiled by uncertainty since the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which had...
  Reuters Health Information, December 27, 2023
• CDC Says JN.1 Variant Accounts for 39%-50% Of COVID Cases in US The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that COVID subvariant JN.1 accounts for 39% to 50% of cases in the United States as of Dec. 23,...
  Reuters Health Information, December 22, 2023
• Monoclonal Antibodies: A New Treatment for Long COVID? A small study generated impressive results.
  Medscape Medical News, December 22, 2023
• New Research Aims to Unravel Both ME/CFS and Long COVID A 2-day research conference sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health highlighted research that points to mechanisms that suggest potentially "druggable" pathways.
  Medscape Medical News, December 21, 2023
• COVID Strain JN.1 Is Now a 'Variant of Interest,' WHO Says JN.1 was previously grouped with its relative, BA.2.86, but has increased so much in the past 4 weeks that the WHO moved it to standalone status.
  WebMD Health News, December 21, 2023
• Obesity Associated With More Severe MIS-C Outcomes Clinicians should consider obesity as a comorbid factor at the clinical presentation of children with MIS-C, according to researchers.
  Medscape Medical News, December 20, 2023
• We Know Healthy Gut Fights Infection. New Study Reveals How First-of-its-kind study could pave the way for microbiome-based treatments for infectious disease.
  Medscape Medical News, December 20, 2023
• More Evidence Suggests That 'Long Flu' Is a Thing You may have never heard of it, but you may have had it. More evidence points to "long flu" being a real phenomenon.
  WebMD Health News, December 20, 2023
• Where Is the 'Microbiome Revolution' Headed Next? Famed microbiome researcher Dr Martin J. Blaser shares what he sees as the most promising applications, and the rigorous clinical trials needed to realize them.
  Medscape Medical News, December 19, 2023
• Top 10 Fictional Docs on Streaming TV Both tried-and-true and out-of-the-ordinary holiday gift ideas are offered to those seeking a great present for a physician.
  Medscape News Slideshows, December 15, 2023
• WHO 'Very Worried' About Spread of Mpox in DRC The World Health Organization is 'very worried' about the spread of a severe form of mpox that has killed nearly 600 people, mainly children, in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year, a senior official said. 
  Reuters Health Information, December 08, 2023
• New $1 Billion Plan for African Vaccine Manufacturing Up to $1 billion will be available to boost African vaccine manufacturing as part of a new scheme set up by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the global health organization said on Thursday.
  Reuters Health Information, December 07, 2023
• CDC Issues Health Alert for Subtype of Mpox Virus in Congo The CDC issued a health alert on Thursday to notify clinicians and health departments about a deadly type of the mpox virus spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  Reuters Health Information, December 07, 2023
• US Sets Policy to Seize Patents If Drug Price Deemed Too High The Biden Administration has announced it is setting new policy that will allow it to seize patents for medicines developed with government funding if it believes their prices are too high.
  Reuters Health Information, December 07, 2023
• COP28 Focus on Health Draws $777 Million to Fight Tropical Disease The UAE and several charities at the UN climate summit have offered $777 million in financing for eradicating neglected tropical diseases that are expected to worsen as temperatures climb.
  Reuters Health Information, December 03, 2023
• France on 'High' Alert for Bird Flu After New Cases Detected France raised the risk level of bird flu to 'high' from 'moderate' on Tuesday after new cases of the disease were detected, forcing poultry farms to keep birds indoors to stem the spread of the highly contagious virus.
  Reuters Health Information, December 05, 2023
• Stigma, Regulatory Barriers Delay Mpox Response in DRC Vaccines and treatments that could help tackle an mpox epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo are lying unused outside the country despite a high death rate.
  Reuters Health Information, December 05, 2023
• How the New Outbreak in China Is Hitting Clinics Elsewhere A rise in respiratory illnesses in China, clusters of pneumonia in children, and resistance to common antibiotics have specialists on alert looking for changes locally.
  Medscape Medical News, December 04, 2023
• How Climate Change Is Making the World Sick Heat stress. Lung damage from wildfire smoke. These are just a few of the ways that public health has been impacted and compounded by climate change - a focus for the first time at COP28.
  Reuters Health Information, December 03, 2023
• EMA Committee Recommends Label Update for Some Decongestants The European Medicines Agency's safety committee on Friday recommended changes to product information for all medicines that contain the ingredient pseudoephedrine to address safety concerns related to neurological and heart-related side effects.
  Reuters Health Information, December 01, 2023
• COVID-19 Shrinks Life Expectancy in S. Korea Babies born in South Korea last year are expected to live 82.7 years, down from 83.6 years in 2021, the statistics agency said on Friday, after life expectancy fell in 2022 for the first time since 1970.
  Reuters Health Information, December 01, 2023
• COVID Vaccines Lower Risk of Serious Illness in Kids Two doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine reduced hospitalizations and emergency department visits by 40%.
  Medscape Medical News, December 01, 2023
• COVID Vaccines Likely Reversed Premature Birth Trend Researchers suggest this provides further evidence of benefit of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination before or during pregnancy.
  Medscape Medical News, December 01, 2023
• World at Risk of Losing Malaria Fight as Cases Rise: Report The world is in danger of losing the fight against malaria, as cases of the disease rose by around 5 million year-on-year in 2022, exceeding global targets to contain it, a WHO report showed.
  Reuters Health Information, November 30, 2023
• Patients Exposed to HIV, Hepatitis at Salem Hospital At least 450 patients at Mass General Brigham, Salem Hospital, near Boston are at risk of HIV and hepatitis infection, according to a lawsuit claiming negligent intravenous medication administration.
  Medscape Medical News, December 01, 2023
• Long-Acting PrEP in Europe's Fight Against HIV Europe's advances in HIV prevention strategies, including PrEP and long-acting retrovirals, bring hope amidst persistent access challenges and disparities.
  Medscape Medical News, December 01, 2023
• Mystery Illness Affecting Dogs Across the United States A mystery respiratory illness has stricken dogs in at least 14 states, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, which is asking vets to report cases while laboratories race to isolate the pathogen.
  Reuters Health Information, November 29, 2023
• UK Expands HIV Screening Programme Singer Elton John addressed British lawmakers on Wednesday as the government announced plans to expand an HIV testing programme as part of its aim to end new transmissions of the virus in England by 2030.
  Reuters Health Information, November 29, 2023
• TCT 2023 Transapical Valve Replacement Relieves Mitral Regurgitation Transapical mitral valve replacement by catheter eliminated mitral regurgitation and improved hemodynamics in a frail high-risk population, results of the SUMMIT trial show.
  Medscape Medical News, November 30, 2023