A popular snack product, Veggie Booty, made by Robert’s American Gourmet, has been recalled owing to concerns of its linkage to several recent Salmonella outbreaks in the USA. Since March 2007, Salmonella infections related to Veggie Booty have been reported in 17 US states, with the highest incidence in the states of New York (13 cases) and California (7 cases).
The snack might have been contaminated with the Salmonella strain Wandsworth. Symptoms usually appear within a few days of contact with the bacteria and include fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea (which may be bloody). Infections may become systemic in very young children with a weak immune system, which can be life threatening.
All 52 cases identified so far involved children younger than 10 years. As the majority of Veggie Booty’s consumers are toddlers, the US FDA has warned parents to take extra care and seek medical attention immediately if they spot any sign of illness in their children.
Source: The US FDA (www.fda.gov)
USA: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
The prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a virulent multidrug-resistant bacterium usually associated with hospitalization, has been reported to be at least 46 cases per 1000 patients, which is much higher than estimated previously.
This is the result of a recent survey of 1237 US healthcare facilities, representing approximately 21% of the US healthcare system throughout the country. The survey, carried out by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), also represents a crosssection of different sizes of clinics, ranging from less than 100 to more than 300 beds.
The survey also revealed that out of the 46 MRSA-carrying cases per 1000 patients, 34 were actually infected by the organism and 35 had acquired it before being hospitalized, either from a previous hospitalization or from the community. The majority (77%) of the cases were identified within 2 days of admission.
“APIC’s MRSA survey presents a grim picture,” said William Jarvis, principal investigator of the study and president of Jason and Jarvis Associates, a private healthcare consulting firm. “The findings argue for immediate, aggressive efforts to detect and prevent transmission of MRSA. Because the true magnitude of the total MRSA burden in the US healthcare population is unknown, our objective was to provide the first national estimate of MRSA in US healthcare facilities.”
“Quite simply this survey is a wake-up call for healthcare facilities to save lives by dedicating more resources to infection prevention and control because the transmission of MRSA is preventable,” said Denise Murphy, president of APIC and chief patient safety and quality officer at Barnes-Jewish Hospital (MO, USA). “Some healthcare facilities are aggressively addressing MRSA, but the scope of this public health threat demands commitment and participation from every hospital, at all levels of the facility. Hospitals should commit the resources to conduct a thorough risk assessment of patient populations and implement viable strategies to prevent MRSA and other antimicrobial-resistant infections. These measures could help prevent this epidemic from continuing to spiral upward and out of control.”
Source: The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Washington DC, USA (www.apic.org)
Vietnam: avian influenza
Two new cases of avian influenza in humans have been reported in two northern provinces of Vietnam. These are the first human cases in Vietnam since November 2005.
A large number of influenza outbreaks in poultry have been reported in May and June 2007 in many areas of Vietnam. Despite efforts from the government and local authorities to isolate and control affected areas, handling and consuming diseased chicken occur sporadically.
Both recently identified human cases of avian influenza have been confirmed by the Vietnamese National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and the WHO H5 Reference Laboratory at the US CDC. Both infected men became infected when slaughtering chickens, were hospitalized after developing symptoms but were discharged subsequently. No other close relatives of the two men were infected and no epidemiological link was found between the two cases.
Source: The WHO (www.who.int)