Here is a look at some important infectious disease news reported across the globe:
Monkey fever claims 6 lives in Karnataka’s Shivamogga
At least six people have died due to Monkey fever or Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) in Karnataka’s Shivamogga this week. Several cases of Kyasanur Forest Disease have emerged in the district.
Election Chaos Is Making History’s Second-Largest Ebola Outbreak Worse
Citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo, site of an expanding Ebola outbreak, are set to hear the results of their long-delayed presidential election on Sunday. Violence and instability in the lead-up to the Dec. 30 voting has already interrupted efforts to rein in what is the second-largest Ebola outbreak ever.
Woman tests positive for hepatitis B after New Jersey surgery center alerts thousands of potential exposure
A New York woman has tested positive for hepatitis B after undergoing surgery at a facility in New Jersey that recently warned more than 3,000 patients that they may have been exposed to HIV and hepatitis as a result of “deficiencies in infection control” at the center.
Multicenter Trial Supports Use of Topical Antibiotics in NICU Babies
A team of doctors led by Karen L. Kotloff, MD, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD), has performed a clinical trial involving multiple hospitals that tested the effectiveness of applying a topical antibiotic known as mupirocin for prevention of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) infection in babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Notes from the Field: Mycobacteria chimaera Infections Associated with Heater-Cooler Unit Use During Cardiopulmonary Bypass Surgery — Los Angeles County, 2012–2016
In December 2016, hospital A in Los Angeles County, California, reported two Mycobacterium avium complex infections, later identified as Mycobacterium chimaera, in patients with a recent history (<5 years) of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.
Acute Flaccid Myelitis Associated with Enterovirus D68 in Children, Argentina, 2016
We report a cluster of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) cases in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2016. AFM was defined as acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showing lesions predominantly affecting the gray matter of the spinal cord.
