Are Americans Fully Protected Against the Zika Virus?
July 1st 2016“We really won’t be able to protect the American people to the extent that we can, from the technology standpoint, without that funding.” states Stephen Redd, MD, director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Knowledge of Latest Diagnostic Tests for TB Lacking in Low-Prevalence Settings
June 30th 2016As the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) continues to decline in low-prevalence settings such as the United States, there is some concern within the infectious disease/public health field that clinicians may not be aware of the latest diagnostic technologies available to screen for the disease.
Elizabethkingia Outbreak Source Remains a Mystery
June 24th 2016During a session at the ASM Microbe 2016 conference on Monday, June 20, 2016, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officer presented data on the investigation of the Elizabethkingia anophelis outbreak that started in Wisconsin and spread to two other states.
CDC Advises Against Use of Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine for the 2016-2017 Flu Season
June 23rd 2016The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has voted against the use of the live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), or “nasal spray,” for the 2016-2017 flu season.
Zika Outbreak in Puerto Rico Poised to Reach Dangerous Proportions
June 20th 2016On June 17, the CDC announced that 1% of all blood donations analyzed in the American territory had tested positive for Zika, and that this could be an indication that the outbreak is poised to reach dangerous proportions.
A Single Strain of Plague Caused Recurrent Outbreaks Over Many Centuries: Yersinia pestis
June 17th 2016A new study has suggested that Yersinia pestis—the causative agent of plague—likely entered Europe only once, and later spread to China where it has become the source of modern plague outbreaks.
Emerging Trends in Tick-borne Diseases in the United States
June 15th 2016In a webinar presented on June 9 by The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Working Group on Lyme and Other Tick-borne Diseases, a panel of speakers discussed trends in tick-borne diseases (TBDs) in the United States.
HCV Cure Rates in HIV Patients, Lower in Real-World than in Clinical Trials
June 14th 2016Hepatitis C virus (HCV) cure when using direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-coinfected patients is lower in real-world settings than when patients are enrolled in clinical trials, a new study has found.
CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing Tool Found to be "Double-edged Sword"
June 13th 2016Researchers at McGill University in Montreal revealed that the gene editing tool known as CRISPR/Cas9, which had previously been shown to hold some promise in removing HIV-infected cells from the human genome, may in fact be a “double-edged sword.”
Treatment for MERS May Be Discovered Through Alpacas
June 10th 2016An international team of researchers may have identified a potential animal model for use in the laboratory as part of efforts to better understand the pathogenesis of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus and, hopefully, find an effective treatment for it: alpacas.
CDC Advises State Departments of Health on Zika Control Efforts
June 10th 2016In an effort to contain the Zika virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is holding a series of teleconferences regarding concerns that were raised during the Zap Zika conference held in early April. The fifth conference in the series discusses Zika epidemiology.