Improper use of the wipes helped spread bacteria from one surface to another rather than killing them, according to a study presented at the American Society for Microbiology annual meeting. WebMD Health News
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), an emerging pathogen, was found in more than one quarter of cases of children hospitalized with acute respiratory tract infections, Italian researchers report. Reuters Health Information
Indonesia has changed its policy on reporting bird flu cases and will only announce the death toll from the disease every six months, the health minister said on Thursday. Reuters Health Information
Public health officials investigating a 2004 pertussis outbreak among newborns in Texas identified the source as a health-care worker employed by the hospital where the patients were born. Reuters Health Information
A virus in an outbreak of bird flu in southern England this week is the same subtype, H7N7, which has led to several other cases in Europe, including one that killed a veterinarian in the Netherlands. Reuters Health Information
A high titer of high-risk HPV (human papillomavirus) and low expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are markers of good response to organ-sparing therapy for advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, according to a research team at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Reuters Health Information
Because of resistance to other antimicrobial agents, fluoroquinolones have become a mainstay of invasive salmonellosis therapy. Reuters Health Information
Since the introduction of the hepatitis A vaccine in the mid-1990s, deaths due to hepatitis A are down 32% overall, researchers report in the May 1 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Reuters Health Information
An inactivated avian influenza H5N1 whole-virus vaccine derived from cell culture induces neutralizing antibodies against diverse strains of the virus in a high percentage of subjects, researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine for June 12. Reuters Health Information
