Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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Pertussis booster vaccine (Tdap) recommendations assume that pertussis-specific antibodies in women immunized preconception, during, or after previous pregnancies persist at sufficient levels to protect newborn infants. ⋯ Infants of mothers immunized preconception or in early pregnancy have insufficient pertussis-specific antibodies to protect against infection. Maternal immunization during the third trimester, immunization of other infant contacts, and reimmunization during subsequent pregnancies may be necessary.
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The results from clinical trials testing new direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for chronic hepatitis C were the major focus of interest at the 2012 annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver. Besides triple combinations, in which any one of the new DAAs is given along with peginterferon-α/ribavirin, clinical trials exploring interferon-free oral regimens combining several DAAs attracted major attention. ⋯ Among NS5A inhibitors, the good performance of daclatasvir encourages further clinical development. Finally, intriguing results were released about the role of interleukin 28B (IL-28B) polymorphisms using interferon-free regimens, indirectly supporting the role of innate immunity for clearing HCV definitively.
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Following detection of pandemic influenza A H1N1 (pH1N1) in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, a school district (intervention community, [IC]) closed all public schools for 8 days to reduce transmission. Nearby school districts (control community [CC]) mostly remained open. ⋯ Our study documents a reduction in ARI and ED(flu) visits in the intervention community. Our findings can be used to assess the potential benefit of school closures during pandemics.
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Colistin is increasingly used for the treatment of multidrug-resistant gram-negative infections. However, colistin dosing varies greatly and the optimal regimen is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine if colistin dosing correlates with patient outcomes. ⋯ Higher colistin dose independently predicted microbiological success, which may partially explain the similar association with 7-day mortality. However, higher colistin doses may also precipitate worsening renal function.
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Admission to a room previously occupied by a patient with certain multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) increases the risk of acquisition. Traditional cleaning strategies do not remove all environmental MDROs. We evaluated the environmental and clinical impact of hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) room disinfection. ⋯ HPV decontamination reduced environmental contamination and the risk of acquiring MDROs compared with standard cleaning protocols.