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USPSTF recommends clinicians prescribe PrEP to those at high risk for HIV
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has released a draft recommendation advocating for clinicians to prescribe preexposure prophylaxis to patients at increased risk for HIV.
The recommendation, an A grade, is consistent with the USPSTF’s 2019 ruling on preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use for reducing HIV infection in those who are at higher risk.
Full Access: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
On the Rise, Candida auris Outwits Treatments and Travels Incognito in Health Care Settings
This hardy yeast species can remain viable for at least 2 weeks on plastic surfaces and for months on the skin, and it’s far more likely to resist antifungals than other Candida species are. It’s spread within health care facilities and from one facility to another; and it can travel easily from patient to patient or from a contaminated surface such as a doorknob to a patient. The mortality rate from invasive Candida auris candidiasis—a serious infection in the blood, brain, heart, or other parts of the body—is thought to be as high as 60%.
Full Access: JAMA
Meningococcal B Vaccine Protects Against Gonorrhea
Although the gonorrhea vaccine has long been the subject of research, a retrospective case-control study involving 11 clinics in New Zealand found that receiving the meningococcal B vaccine in childhood provides around 30% protection against Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections. Two retrospective case-control studies that were published in the July 1, 2022, issue of The Lancet confirm that the vaccine is protective.
Full Access: Medscape
SARS-CoV-2 infection and persistence in the human body and brain at autopsy
Complete autopsies on 44 patients who died with COVID-19, with extensive sampling of the central nervous system in 11 of these patients, to map and quantify the distribution, replication and cell-type specificity of SARS-CoV-2 across the human body, including the brain, from acute infection to more than seven months following symptom onset. Researcher detected persistent SARS-CoV-2 RNA in multiple anatomic sites, including throughout the brain, as late as 230 days following symptom onset in one case.
Full Access: Nature