In 3 similar recent studies of different populations, the rates of microcephaly have been similar: 3.4% to 5.8%.
Researchers find that 80% of local health department have communication and referral mechanisms between their maternal and child health programs and agency programs, and 78% have access to electronic lab results.
A report on two babies born in the Brownsville, Tex., area with congenital Zika infections showed that testing on their mothers during pregnancy and lab tests on babies don't always match up. Researchers from Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi, Tex., where both babies were evaluated and treated, described their findings yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Japan's health ministry has given fast-track approval to a new flu antiviral with a different mechanism of action than neuraminidase inhibitors that offers a one-dose treatment option, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
One study hints that infection in children and young adults may affect brain health.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has received early reports of two new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases, both in Kandahar province, GPEI said in its weekly update today.
It's too soon to know if the study applies to people, but West Nile caused fetal brain damage and death in mice.
Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), resigned today after a report that she bought tobacco stocks while leading the agency.
Anne Schuchat, MD, the CDC's principal deputy director who served as interim CDC director before Fitzgerald began her tenure last year, will resume that role, the Wall Street Journal and other news sources reported.
Yesterday the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported a new case of MERS-CoV and announced the death of a previously reported MERS patient.
A 40-year-old Saudi woman from Riyadh is in stable condition after presenting with symptoms of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus). The woman's source of infection is listed as "primary," meaning it's unlikely she contracted the disease from another person.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health (MOH) reported five new cases of MERS-CoV in updated reports released over the weekend.