WHO approves first typhoid conjugate vaccine. The World Health Organization (WHO) has prequalified the first conjugate vaccine for typhoid, Bharat Biotech’s Typbar-TCV. The WHO expert group has recommended its routine use in children older than 6 months in countries with a high burden of typhoid fever, or where there is evidence of antibiotic resistance to the Salmonella typhi bacterium that causes typhoid. [WHO statement, Hindustan Times]

Real-time notification of C. diff infections reduces time to therapy. A real-time notification system to alert pharmacists of Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) in patients could reduce the time to effective therapy, according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control. Researchers compared patients treated for CDIs before implementation of a real-time notification system with those treated post-implementation. They found that real-time notification more than halved the time before patients were started on effective antibiotic treatment. Further research is needed to gauge the impact of the notification system on outcomes including hospital length of stay and mortality rates.  [American Journal of Infection Control]

Phillippines probes fourteen deaths in children post immunization with Dengvaxia; fines Sanofi. The Philippines government is reportedly probing the death of fourteen children who were immunized with Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia. Since the program was launched, hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren have been vaccinated, according to news reports. The Philippines fined the pharma giant $2,000; the government had already suspended use of the vaccine. [Inquirer, Reuters, Manila Times]

Phillippines probes fourteen deaths in children post immunization with Dengvaxia; fines Sanofi. The Philippines government is probing the death of fourteen children who were immunized with Sanofi Pasteur’s dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, according to news reports. Since the program was launched, hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren have been vaccinated. The Philippines has fined the pharma giant and the government had already suspended use of the vaccine. [InquirerReutersManila Times]

Advice from complementary practitioners linked to poor vaccine uptake. An Australian survey finds that parents who are influenced by practitioners of complementary medicine are less likely to get their children vaccinated. The study in Vaccine reports that children were much less likely to be vaccinated if they had visited a complementary medicine practitioner in the previous year, and much more likely to have been vaccinated if they had visited a pediatrician within the previous year. [Vaccine]

Flu cases rise in the US. Thirty-six states in the US are now confirming flu cases, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The agency documented a sharp increase in cases of H3N2 flu, a subtype known to be severe in the elderly and in children. [CDC update]

First sexually transmitted Zika case reported. The first case of sexually transmitted Zika has been documented in Los Angeles, US. The case involves a Los Angeles man who travelled to Mexico and had Zika symptoms, and his female partner, who did not travel. The woman developed Zika symptoms after the man returned home. Los Angeles has reported no Zika cases transmitted by local mosquitoes. [LACDPH press release]

Airborne microbe levels higher in complicated surgeries. An air sampling study in operating rooms in Taiwan found that during complex surgeries such as transplants and pediatric surgeries, the air may have higher numbers of microbial colonies; the most frequent pathogen was coagulase-negative staphylococcus. The increase could result from higher numbers of staff participating in complex surgeries. Concentrations of microbes influence surgical-site infection rates, and the authors suggest that hospitals step up air exchanges during complex surgeries. [BMC Infectious Diseases]

Pipeline analysis: Not enough antibiotics in development. Worldwide, too few new antibiotics are in development to treat severe infections, according to pipeline analyses by Pew Charitable Trusts. Of the drugs in development, only one in four antibiotics are new drug classes and only twelve have the potential to treat the most critical Gram-negative infections such as carbapenem-resistant EnterobacteriaceaePseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. [Pew Charitable Trusts pipeline analyses]

Image courtesy: PAHO (CC BY-ND 2.0)