https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/10/news-scan-oct-14-2022
News Scan for Oct 14, 2022
Use of last-resort antibiotics in Europe;
Flu levels rise in US South;
Polio in Africa;
Promising RSV vaccine
Filed Under:
Antimicrobial Stewardship;
Influenza, General;
Polio;
Adult (non-flu) Vaccines
Concerning rise found in last-resort antibiotic use in European hospitals
A study of antibiotic consumption in European hospitals found increasing use of antibiotics reserved for the most difficult-to-treat infections, researchers reported yesterday in Eurosurveillance.
Using data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, researchers from Hungary, Croatia, and Norway investigated hospital-sector antibiotic consumption in the United Kingdom and in European Union/European Economic Activity countries from 2010 to 2018. They focused on the use of antibiotics classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as Reserve group antibiotics, which includes antibiotics and antibiotic classes that are intended as "last-resort" treatments for multidrug-resistant infections.
A total of 23 countries provided data on hospital-sector antibiotic consumption. In 2018, a total of 7,025,162 defined daily doses (DDD) of Reserve antibiotics were consumed in the hospital sector in the 23 reporting countries, for an average of 0.050 DDD per 1,000 inhabitants per day, up from 0.017 DDD per 1,000 inhabitants per day in 2010.
There was considerable variation in consumption of Reserve antibiotics among countries, with higher consumption observed in southern European countries. A significant increase in the consumption of Reserve antibiotics was observed in 15 of the 23 countries, and none of the countries showed a decrease.
Of the antibiotics in the Reserve group, four (tigecycline, colistin, linezolid, and daptomycin) accounted for 91% of the consumption.
"The significantly increasing trends in the consumption of reserve antibiotics in most of countries, raises concerns," the study authors concluded. "The observed findings might reflect the real burden of AMR [antimicrobial resistance] among pathogens or inappropriate use, which would both need to be addressed."
Oct 13 Eurosurveill study
First week of new flu season shows highest rises in the South
Most of the country is experiencing an early increase in flu activity, with southeast and south-central states reporting the highest levels, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today. Its weekly report today is the first for the 2022-23 flu season.
Illness levels are still low in much of the country, but as a whole, outpatient visits for flulike illness last week—which are slowly increasing in all age-groups—rose to 2.6%, just above the national baseline of 2.5%. The CDC has said the flulike illness marker can also reflect the impact of other infections with similar symptoms, such as COVID-19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
At public health labs, 97.6% of respiratory samples that were positive for flu were influenza A, and of subtyped samples, 63.3% were the H3N2 strain.
Three more pediatric flu deaths were reported for last flu season, all of which occurred in the first half of 2022, raising the total for the 2021-22 season to 43. So far, no pediatric flu deaths have been reported in the new flu season.
The CDC said annual flu vaccination is the best way to protect against flu and its serious complications, and it recommends that everyone ages 6 and older to get vaccinated, ideally by the end of October.
Oct 14 CDC FluView update
DRC and Nigeria report vaccine-derived polio cases
Two countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Nigeria, are reporting new polio cases this week, both vaccine-derived types, according to the latest update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
Four cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were reported in the DRC, bringing the number of cases reported in 2022 to 137. Last year, there were 28 cases.
In Nigeria, three new cases of cVDPV2 bring the yearly total to 36. There were 415 cases reported in 2021.
Oct 12 GPEI report
New RSV vaccine effective in adults 60 and older
GSK shared new data on a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine geared toward older adults and said the vaccine was highly effective against severe disease and in older adults with comorbidities in a phase 3 trial.
The vaccine also showed a favorable safety profile, with no major adverse effects recorded among 25,000 participants aged 60 and above in 17 countries.
Efficacy against severe disease was 94.1% (95% confidence interval [CI, 62.4% to 99.9%; 1 of 12,466 vs 17 of 12,494). In participants with pre-existing comorbidities, vaccine efficacy was 94.6% (95% CI, 65.9% to 99.9%; 1 of 4,937 vs 18 of 4,861), with 93.8% (95% CI, 60.2% to 99.9%; 1 of 4,487 vs 16 of 4,487) efficacy in adults aged 70 to 79 years.
"We believe that with the high vaccine efficacy demonstrated in this pivotal trial, our vaccine candidate has the potential to help reduce the significant global burden of RSV-associated disease in older adults, including those at the greatest risk of severe outcomes due to their age or underlying comorbidities," said GSK Chief Scientific Officer Tony Wood, PhD, in a press release. Oct 13 GSK press release
News Scan for Oct 14, 2022
Use of last-resort antibiotics in Europe;
Flu levels rise in US South;
Polio in Africa;
Promising RSV vaccine
Filed Under:
Antimicrobial Stewardship;
Influenza, General;
Polio;
Adult (non-flu) Vaccines
Concerning rise found in last-resort antibiotic use in European hospitals
A study of antibiotic consumption in European hospitals found increasing use of antibiotics reserved for the most difficult-to-treat infections, researchers reported yesterday in Eurosurveillance.
Using data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, researchers from Hungary, Croatia, and Norway investigated hospital-sector antibiotic consumption in the United Kingdom and in European Union/European Economic Activity countries from 2010 to 2018. They focused on the use of antibiotics classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as Reserve group antibiotics, which includes antibiotics and antibiotic classes that are intended as "last-resort" treatments for multidrug-resistant infections.
A total of 23 countries provided data on hospital-sector antibiotic consumption. In 2018, a total of 7,025,162 defined daily doses (DDD) of Reserve antibiotics were consumed in the hospital sector in the 23 reporting countries, for an average of 0.050 DDD per 1,000 inhabitants per day, up from 0.017 DDD per 1,000 inhabitants per day in 2010.
There was considerable variation in consumption of Reserve antibiotics among countries, with higher consumption observed in southern European countries. A significant increase in the consumption of Reserve antibiotics was observed in 15 of the 23 countries, and none of the countries showed a decrease.
Of the antibiotics in the Reserve group, four (tigecycline, colistin, linezolid, and daptomycin) accounted for 91% of the consumption.
"The significantly increasing trends in the consumption of reserve antibiotics in most of countries, raises concerns," the study authors concluded. "The observed findings might reflect the real burden of AMR [antimicrobial resistance] among pathogens or inappropriate use, which would both need to be addressed."
Oct 13 Eurosurveill study
First week of new flu season shows highest rises in the South
Most of the country is experiencing an early increase in flu activity, with southeast and south-central states reporting the highest levels, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today. Its weekly report today is the first for the 2022-23 flu season.
Illness levels are still low in much of the country, but as a whole, outpatient visits for flulike illness last week—which are slowly increasing in all age-groups—rose to 2.6%, just above the national baseline of 2.5%. The CDC has said the flulike illness marker can also reflect the impact of other infections with similar symptoms, such as COVID-19 or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
At public health labs, 97.6% of respiratory samples that were positive for flu were influenza A, and of subtyped samples, 63.3% were the H3N2 strain.
Three more pediatric flu deaths were reported for last flu season, all of which occurred in the first half of 2022, raising the total for the 2021-22 season to 43. So far, no pediatric flu deaths have been reported in the new flu season.
The CDC said annual flu vaccination is the best way to protect against flu and its serious complications, and it recommends that everyone ages 6 and older to get vaccinated, ideally by the end of October.
Oct 14 CDC FluView update
DRC and Nigeria report vaccine-derived polio cases
Two countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Nigeria, are reporting new polio cases this week, both vaccine-derived types, according to the latest update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
Four cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were reported in the DRC, bringing the number of cases reported in 2022 to 137. Last year, there were 28 cases.
In Nigeria, three new cases of cVDPV2 bring the yearly total to 36. There were 415 cases reported in 2021.
Oct 12 GPEI report
New RSV vaccine effective in adults 60 and older
GSK shared new data on a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine geared toward older adults and said the vaccine was highly effective against severe disease and in older adults with comorbidities in a phase 3 trial.
The vaccine also showed a favorable safety profile, with no major adverse effects recorded among 25,000 participants aged 60 and above in 17 countries.
Efficacy against severe disease was 94.1% (95% confidence interval [CI, 62.4% to 99.9%; 1 of 12,466 vs 17 of 12,494). In participants with pre-existing comorbidities, vaccine efficacy was 94.6% (95% CI, 65.9% to 99.9%; 1 of 4,937 vs 18 of 4,861), with 93.8% (95% CI, 60.2% to 99.9%; 1 of 4,487 vs 16 of 4,487) efficacy in adults aged 70 to 79 years.
"We believe that with the high vaccine efficacy demonstrated in this pivotal trial, our vaccine candidate has the potential to help reduce the significant global burden of RSV-associated disease in older adults, including those at the greatest risk of severe outcomes due to their age or underlying comorbidities," said GSK Chief Scientific Officer Tony Wood, PhD, in a press release. Oct 13 GSK press release