Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy

A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.

A new study from CDDEP researchers Eili Klein, Lova Sun, and Ramanan Laxminarayan published in Clinical Infectious Diseases finds that seasonal changes in antibiotic resistance are linked to antibiotic prescribing patterns. A corresponding visualization is available to download here. [CDDEP]

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds declining rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the U.S. Military Health System over the years 2005-2010, including both hospital- and community-acquired cases. [Controversies in Hospital Infection Prevention]

Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have covered India’s proposed plan to provide essential drugs free of charge in government-run hospitals and clinics. [NYT; WSJ]

The office of Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) released the results of a survey on antibiotics used in meat production, with data collected from over 60 of the U.S.’s largest food suppliers. [Food Safety News]

New research in Dermato-Endocrinology reports that increasing patients’ vitamin D levels can dramatically reduce their susceptibility to hospital-acquired infections. [Infection Control Today]

NPR’s Health Blog writes that the recent FDA approval of rapid tests for bloodstream infections could help physicians prescribe the correct antibiotics. [NPR]

The BBC reports that hospital-acquired infections in Scotland, as measured by the number of cases of Clostridium difficile and MRSA infections, have fallen to the lowest recorded levels due to more funding of preventative measures. [BBC]

A new report published by the International Livestock Research Institute maps the global burden of human-animal infectious diseases, noting regions where efforts to control emerging zoonotic diseases are most needed. [Medical Xpress]

An op-ed in Nature calls for more research, public awareness, and, ultimately, surveillance policies on the use of  antibiotics in farm animals, citing Denmark’s successful control of antibiotic usage in animals as an example to emulate. [Nature]

Wired blog Superbug published a roundup of the recent developments in antibiotic resistance and the meat industry. [Wired]

A meta-regression analysis by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene shows that Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) reduces the risk of contracting malaria by 62%. [The Times of India]

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