No $$ for Vaccines; Yellow Fever in the Other Congo; Intranasal Flu Vax Promising

— News and commentary from the world of infectious diseases

MedicalToday

The in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with 132 cases, including 101 confirmed cases, and 92 deaths as of September 10, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO also announced (the DRC's next-door neighbor), with a retrospective search uncovering 69 suspected cases meeting clinical criteria for the disease in the affected area.

A study in JAMA found that piperacillin-tazobactam when compared with meropenem in patients with bloodstream infections caused by ceftriaxone-resistant Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Researchers writing in Nature continued to in the hope of developing a vaccine against HIV.

However, another study argued that new vaccines against HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis are owing to current funding levels. (FiercePharma)

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals' hepatitis B treatment candidate, ARO-HBV, was even at the lowest doses, according to interim results from a phase II trial. (Seeking Alpha)

Altimmune claimed positive phase IIa results for its NasoVAX, : well tolerated, and "resulted in 100% seroprotection at the two highest dose levels and elicited influenza neutralizing antibodies" similar to that of a licensed inactivated influenza vaccine.

An investigation of uncovered a host of problems -- including lapses in infection control procedures, initial misdiagnoses, and that most organisms were resistant to fluconazole. (Emerging Infectious Diseases)

The NIH announced enrollment for a phase I trial of an investigational new malaria treatment, , which is expected to be completed by June 2019.

New research exposes how Zika virus macrophages. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science)

Quidel Corporation's Sofia 2 Lyme Fluorescent Immunoassay to detect IgM and IgG antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi (which causes ) from whole blood specimens, received 510(k) clearance and permission for point-of-care use. (Marketwatch)