Infectious Disease Alert – January 1, 2021

January 1, 2021

• Treatment of COVID-19 Patients with Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir, or Interferon Beta-1a

  None of the four drugs studied was superior to placebo.

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• Duration of Viable SARS-CoV-2 Shedding in Immunocompromised COVID-19 Patients

  Significantly immunocompromised patients with COVID-19 may shed cultivatable virus for as long as two months or more after symptom onset.

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• Elevated Procalcitonin Is Associated with Increased Mortality in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

  A single-center, prospective, observational study found that an elevated procalcitonin level was associated with an increased risk of death in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

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• Childhood Diseases Associated with Antibiotic Exposure During Infancy

  A population-based cohort study showed that exposure to antibiotics during the first two years of life is associated with increased rates of subsequently developing asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, celiac disease, and obesity.

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• Medical Tourism — Infectious Complications

  Infections are a potential complication associated with medical tourism — something that both patients and clinicians must consider.

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• Ceftriaxone-Resistant Gonorrhea Has Arrived in the United States

  A man in Las Vegas with gonorrhea was infected with the first ceftriaxone-resistant strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae identified in the United States.

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• Managing Appendicitis Medically

  A multicenter, randomized trial showed that 10 days of antibiotics results in comparable outcomes as surgery. Three in 10 patients treated with antibiotics required surgery within 90 days.

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• HPV Vaccination Reduces the Risk of Invasive Cervical Cancer

  In this retrospective cohort study of women in Sweden, receipt of human papillomavirus vaccination prior to age 17 years was associated with an 88% decrease in cervical cancer, and vaccination at ages 17 to 30 years was associated with a 53% decrease in cervical cancer.

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