Infection Control News: Aug 6-10, 2018

In JIP: study evaluated the cost & value of multidisciplinary team to investigate C. difficile cases. Cost was evaluated to be between 42K$ – 84K$ over 2 yrs. Study concluded that those meeting bring limited value in additional learning/quality improvement. Study

Congo health officials link Ebola to 33 deaths. News

Inuk woman ‘begging and pleading’ for help fighting tuberculosis in Nunavut. News

1 in 7 children of Zika-infected moms in U.S. suffer birth defects or other health problems. News

China orders recall from overseas as vaccine scandal churns. News

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health uploaded information on their website. 30 new MERS-COv case were detected. 11 cases are from Najran and were detected in late May and early June. 9 cases were recorded in July. Info

Increase in Echovirus 30 in Europe. E30 is a virus that causes aseptic meningitis outbreaks. Outbreaks occur every 5-6 yr. The transmission route of current infections is unknown. However, they usually transmit through faecal-oral or oral-oral routes. Event

From CIDRAP: Hospital MERS outbreak threat. WHO said the epidemiology of the virus hasn’t changed, but concerns persist about ongoing hospital-related outbreaks. The virus is found in 4 countries: Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. News

Flu activity in southern hemisphere: flu remained elevated in South America & started to decrease in Southern Africa. It remained below seasonal threshold in Australia and New Zealand. Activity appeared to decrease in some countries of tropical America. WHO flu report

Flu vaccine: A study used 17 yrs of data to determine that a close match occurs only 11% to 21% of the time, depending on the strain and vaccine. Study

From CBC: Winnipeg experiencing unparalleled spike in infectious syphilis rates. News

From Hamilton Spectator: What you need to know about hand foot, mouth disease. News

From Hamilton Spectator: West Nile virus ‘well established’ in Niagara. West Nile virus is a risk across the peninsula, not just in Pelham. News

In Globalnews.ca: Should you refrain from drinking out of an aluminum can?

Bacteria and other germs are present on the rim of a can…but it should not refrain you to drink out of aluminium can. News

A new case of ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhea has been found in Alberta. This is the 2nd reported case in Canada since 2017. The CGSTI recommend gentamicin IV or IM with azithromycin PO.
Clinical information about first case here. Recommended treatment here

1 in 7 children > 1 yrs that were born from women with confirmed or potential Zika infection during pregnancy were identified as having a birth defect, neurodevelopment abnormality, or both. Some of these issues were not noticeable at birth. Study

From a retrospective study (2008-2011). a relationship exist between colonization of the gut with ESBLE (extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae) and subsequent VAP related to ESBLE. Study

From International Journal of Epidemiology, a study from Manitoba has found no clinically significant association between early life antibiotics exposure & the risk of autism. Study

What is mathematical modelling and how it could help in preventing infection? Video

Management of chronic hepatitis C: 2018 guideline update from the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver. Guideline