Kiso and colleagues in Japan collected serial upper respiratory tract samples from children receiving oseltamivir for treatment of influenza A (H3N2), for isolation of the virus. Mutations in neuraminidase were identified in virus obtained from from 9 of 50 (18%) immunocompetent children treated with oseltamivir. Eight of the 9 contained mutations previously identified as conferring resistance to oseltamivir, while the ninth had a novel mutation.
A 38-year-old man returned to the United States from west Africa, where he had spent the last 4 months in Liberia and Sierra Leone where he owned farms. Two days before his August 2004 return, he developed fever, chills, and severe sore throat, and shortly after his arrival, he was hospitalized with, in addition to these complaints, diarrhea and back pain. Lassa fever was considered, and administration of ribavirin was planned, but the patient died before receiving this antiviral medication. The diagnosis of Lassa fever was confirmed by serum antigen detection, immunohistochemical staining of postmortem liver tissue, virus isolation in cell culture, and genome sequencing.
A retrospective review of 1387 cases of salmonellosis revealed that almost half of cases in children younger than 5 years of age were associated with contact with a reptile.
A novel influenza vaccine plagued by so much controversy the manufacturer almost gave up making it now is considered a good option for many health care workers during this seasons vaccine shortage, public health officials advise.
The loss of roughly half the nations flu vaccine supply for the 2004-2005 season has infection control professionals scrambling to revamp their programs and secure adequate doses for health care workers and high-risk patients.