Zika virus continues to spread
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported this week that a dozen cases of Zika virus have been confirmed in the United States, is expanding its advisory that pregnant women should avoid travel to countries currently seeing high rates of infection. The agency's initial list contained 14 countries, but the CDC on Friday added eight more -- in South America, the Caribbean and Polynesia -- as places where the reach of the...
Mutations create challenges for typing Influenza A viruses
From BCCDC: Today the Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network (SPSN) published a paper in Eurosurveillance, entitled “Mutations acquired during cell culture isolation may affect antigenic characterization of influenza A(H3N2) clade 3C.2a viruses”. The paper is available in full here (open access). We thought you would be interested in the findings, although like influenza itself, they are complicated. We have summarized the key findings below but please consult the full paper for details...
Emerging Respiratory Virus Update: Avian flu, novel influenza, and MERS-CoV
From BCCDC: MAIN MESSAGES Human infections with avian influenza of various novel subtypes (H7N9, H5N6, H9N2, H5N1) have been reported from China recently, notably H7N9 for which a fourth wave of human cases is currently underway. As previously emphasized, avian influenza viruses, like humanized strains, show winter seasonality. Prior human infections with avian influenza H7N9 and H5N1 that were imported to Canada happened at around this time of year, underscoring the need...
Summary of Assessment of Public Health Risk to Canada Associated with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
From the Public Health Agency of Canada, updated January 15, 2016 The risk assessment is reviewed on a regular basis and updated as required. Risk Assessment The public health risk posed by MERS-CoV to Canada is considered low based on available information at this time. The risk may change as new information arises. MERS-CoV is considered a zoonotic virus that can lead to secondary infections among people. Many community-acquired infections are thought to be associated with...
Expanded Evidence for Frozen FMT for C. difficile Infection
A new study, published in the current edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), presents expanded evidence for frozen fecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridium difficile infection. You can access the article here, or through your library account....
Rats carry MRSA and C.difficile
With Vancouver and the Lower Mainland plagued with a scourge of rats, new research from UBC suggests there may be grave consequences if the rodents' risk to human health continues to be underestimated. The UBC team studied the feces of rats caught at an Abbotsford poultry farm, and discovered that not only was every specimen carrying a strain of avian E.coli, more than a quarter of the vermin carried multi-drug resistant strains...
Reminder: the 4 moments for hand hygiene
Do your staff know the four moments for hand hygiene? .This may be easier to remember as "Clean your hands before and after contact with the patient or patient environment." Two important points: 1. Although the provincial hand hygiene compliance rate is an impressive 88% after patient/environment contact, the before rate is only 78% - which is below the target rate of 80%. Remind your staff, cleaning their hands BEFORE contact with the patient or patient...