The largest US outbreak so far of bacteria producing the enzyme NDM (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase), which confers resistance to most antibiotics, has been linked to a Chicago area hospital, according to the Chicago Sun-Times and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The contamination was traced to endoscopic equipment.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a travel health notice because of recent cases of chikungunya on the Caribbean island of St. Martin, the agency said today in a news release.
Supplies of tuberculin skin test antigen solutions are expected to return to normal in January, following shortages that health providers have been experiencing since 2012, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in the latest issue of Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report (MMWR).
The biggest push to vaccinate children in seven Middle Eastern countries against polio starts this week, with a goal of reaching 23 million kids in Syria and neighboring nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today. The campaign aims to reach all children under age 5 over the next few months, whether they live at home or in displaced populations.
Testing has confirmed that a fourth undergraduate student has been infected in a meningococcal disease outbreak involving the less common serogroup B at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), according to a Dec 2 statement from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department (SBCPHD). All four students were sickened within 3 weeks in November.
Princeton University will offer a vaccine that includes the outbreak strain starting Dec 9.
The agency's alert follows meningitis outbreaks at two colleges involving a strain not found in the vaccine.
Texas health officials last week confirmed 18 dengue cases in the southern part of the state, 7 of which are believed to be locally acquired and not contracted during travel to a dengue-endemic area, Scientific American reported yesterday.
A 31-year-old Indonesian woman from near Jakarta has died of H5N1 avian flu, the country's health ministry said today, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Her case is Indonesia's third this year, all fatal.
A federal advisory group today approved a measure to include a new meningococcal vaccine option for youngsters ages 2 months and older at risk for meningitis infection.