Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/02/news-scan-feb-15-2022
News Scan for Feb 15, 2022
Antimicrobial prescribing app for LMICs; H5N6 avian flu in China; Lassa fever spike in Nigeria
Filed Under:
Lassa; Antimicrobial Stewardship; Avian Influenza (Bird Flu); VHF
Pharmacist-developed app aims to improve antimicrobial prescribing
The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) last week announced a new program to improve surveillance and prescribing of antimicrobials in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) .
The Surveillance and Prescribing support for Antimicrobial Stewardship Resource Capacity Building (SPARC) program will re-develop and expand the availability of an antimicrobial prescribing smartphone app, adding updated core prescribing guidance and information on additional good stewardship practices. Veterinary antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship guidance will also be added to the app, which was developed and launched a few years ago by CPA.
"We aim to provide increased support for antimicrobial use surveillance in human health and empower frontline clinicians with improved access to their national standard treatment guidelines as well as internationally recognized antimicrobial stewardship guidelines through the development and rollout of an antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship smartphone app for human and animal health," CPA Technical Program Lead Diane Ashiru-Oredope, PhD, said in a press release.
The program will be funded through the UK Department of Health and Social Care's Fleming Fund. The app will be available in 22 LMICs in Africa and Asia where the Fleming Fund is active.
SPARC also aims to develop workshops and provide practical assistance for up to six countries to carry out a global point-prevalence survey to track antimicrobial use.
Feb 9 CPA press release
H5N6 avian flu infects 2 more people in China
China reported two more human H5N6 avian flu infections, both involving people who had been exposed to poultry before they got sick, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said today in a statement. The illnesses bring the total this year to five.
One of the patients is a 50-year-old man from the city of Baise in Guangxi province, located in southern China near the border with Vietnam. His symptoms began on Jan 12 after he had been exposed to live poultry. He was hospitalized the next day and is listed in critical condition.
The second illness involves a 35-year-old man from Zhenjiang City in Jiangsu province on China's east-central coast. The investigation found that he had visited a live poultry market before his symptoms started on Jan 15. He was admitted to the hospital on Jan 19 and is in critical condition.
China has been reporting sporadic human H5N6 cases since 2014, but last year, it reported a steep rise in infections. Since the first report, the country has reported 67 cases, roughly half of them reported in 2021. The virus is known to circulate in a few Asian nations, including China. However, China and Laos are the only countries that have reported human cases.
Feb 15 CHP statement
Nigeria reports higher-than-normal spike in Lassa fever activity
Though Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria, the country is experiencing a spike in cases that is higher than the normal rise seen during the dry season, which spans December through April, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday.
Between Jan 3 and Jan 30, there were 211 lab-confirmed cases and 40 deaths. Illnesses were reported from 14 of Nigeria's 35 states, but 3 reported 82% of cases: Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi. Five of the infections involved healthcare workers.
The WHO noted that over the same time period in 2021, there were few cases and less geographic spread. It warned that the number of cases will likely rise further until the dry season ends and that the national risk to Nigeria is high.
Nigeria's spike in Lassa fever cases is likely due to a combination of factors, the WHO said. They include gaps in surveillance and response capacity, delays in lab shipments, conversion of Lassa treatment capacity for COVID-19 purposes, and suboptimal infection prevention and control practices.
Lassa fever virus spreads through food and environments contaminated with urine and feces of Mastomys rats that carry the virus. The virus can cause a hemorrhagic disease in humans, and person-to-person spread can occur through contact with an infected patient's body fluids.
Feb 14 WHO statement
News Scan for Feb 15, 2022
Antimicrobial prescribing app for LMICs; H5N6 avian flu in China; Lassa fever spike in Nigeria
Filed Under:
Lassa; Antimicrobial Stewardship; Avian Influenza (Bird Flu); VHF
Pharmacist-developed app aims to improve antimicrobial prescribing
The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) last week announced a new program to improve surveillance and prescribing of antimicrobials in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) .
The Surveillance and Prescribing support for Antimicrobial Stewardship Resource Capacity Building (SPARC) program will re-develop and expand the availability of an antimicrobial prescribing smartphone app, adding updated core prescribing guidance and information on additional good stewardship practices. Veterinary antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship guidance will also be added to the app, which was developed and launched a few years ago by CPA.
"We aim to provide increased support for antimicrobial use surveillance in human health and empower frontline clinicians with improved access to their national standard treatment guidelines as well as internationally recognized antimicrobial stewardship guidelines through the development and rollout of an antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship smartphone app for human and animal health," CPA Technical Program Lead Diane Ashiru-Oredope, PhD, said in a press release.
The program will be funded through the UK Department of Health and Social Care's Fleming Fund. The app will be available in 22 LMICs in Africa and Asia where the Fleming Fund is active.
SPARC also aims to develop workshops and provide practical assistance for up to six countries to carry out a global point-prevalence survey to track antimicrobial use.
Feb 9 CPA press release
H5N6 avian flu infects 2 more people in China
China reported two more human H5N6 avian flu infections, both involving people who had been exposed to poultry before they got sick, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said today in a statement. The illnesses bring the total this year to five.
One of the patients is a 50-year-old man from the city of Baise in Guangxi province, located in southern China near the border with Vietnam. His symptoms began on Jan 12 after he had been exposed to live poultry. He was hospitalized the next day and is listed in critical condition.
The second illness involves a 35-year-old man from Zhenjiang City in Jiangsu province on China's east-central coast. The investigation found that he had visited a live poultry market before his symptoms started on Jan 15. He was admitted to the hospital on Jan 19 and is in critical condition.
China has been reporting sporadic human H5N6 cases since 2014, but last year, it reported a steep rise in infections. Since the first report, the country has reported 67 cases, roughly half of them reported in 2021. The virus is known to circulate in a few Asian nations, including China. However, China and Laos are the only countries that have reported human cases.
Feb 15 CHP statement
Nigeria reports higher-than-normal spike in Lassa fever activity
Though Lassa fever is endemic in Nigeria, the country is experiencing a spike in cases that is higher than the normal rise seen during the dry season, which spans December through April, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday.
Between Jan 3 and Jan 30, there were 211 lab-confirmed cases and 40 deaths. Illnesses were reported from 14 of Nigeria's 35 states, but 3 reported 82% of cases: Ondo, Edo, and Bauchi. Five of the infections involved healthcare workers.
The WHO noted that over the same time period in 2021, there were few cases and less geographic spread. It warned that the number of cases will likely rise further until the dry season ends and that the national risk to Nigeria is high.
Nigeria's spike in Lassa fever cases is likely due to a combination of factors, the WHO said. They include gaps in surveillance and response capacity, delays in lab shipments, conversion of Lassa treatment capacity for COVID-19 purposes, and suboptimal infection prevention and control practices.
Lassa fever virus spreads through food and environments contaminated with urine and feces of Mastomys rats that carry the virus. The virus can cause a hemorrhagic disease in humans, and person-to-person spread can occur through contact with an infected patient's body fluids.
Feb 14 WHO statement
