Use These Antibiotics for Close Contacts of Invasive Meningococcal Disease, CDC Says
Rifampin, ceftriaxone, or azithromycin are recommended as first-line alternatives to ciprofloxacin prophylaxis for close contacts of people with meningococcal disease in areas where the disease is highly resistant to ciprofloxacin, according to new guidance from the CDC. Health departments should consider using other antibiotics for prophylaxis when, over the course of the past 12 months, […]
Potential ‘Game Changer’ for Leprosy Prevention
A single dose of rifapentine reduced the incidence of leprosy among household contacts of patients with the infectious disease, a cluster-randomized trial out of China found. In an intention-to-treat analysis, the cumulative incidence of leprosy among 7,450 household contacts was 0.09% with an oral dose of rifapentine over 4 years of follow-up, as compared with […]
Does COVID Vaccination Really Lead to Wonky Periods?
Weak associations were observed between vaccination for COVID-19 and healthcare contacts related to menstrual disturbance or bleeding disorders in women before and after menopause, according to a Swedish register-based cohort study. Looking at over 2.5 million women who received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, the strongest association for menstrual disturbance observed was an […]
Symptomatic COVID patients are more contagious, study finds: Study identifies link between case severity and infectiousness
Individuals with COVID-19 are most likely to spread the virus to close contacts two days before the onset of symptoms to three days after symptoms appear, and the risk of transmission is highest when patients had mild or moderate disease severity, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia. The study, […]