Eye Infections, Bacterial

RTI International congratulates Vietnam in eliminating trachoma – a painful disease impacting the lives of millions of people around the world RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Oct. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RTI International, a nonprofit research institute and leading international development organization, is pleased to join Vietnam, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in celebrating the elimination of trachoma, a painful disease that can lead to blindness, as a public health problem in Vietnam. Globally, Vietnam is the 21st endemic country to achieve validation of elimination of this neglected tropical disease (NTD). More than 8.3 million people in Vietnam are now free from the risk of trachoma infection. The announcement came at the opening of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, being held in Manila, Philippines. "We applaud Vietnam for achieving this incredible goal, which has been over half a century in the making," said Tim J. Gabel , president and CEO at RTI International. "Solving this health problem is an important achievement in improving the human condition and we are proud to be among the partners that assisted in this effort." Trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide, causes eyelids to scar and eyelashes to turn inwards eventually resulting in blindness if untreated. Surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness practices and environmental improvements (the SAFE strategy) is the WHO endorsed method for eliminating the disease as a public health problem, including the provision of treatment and care for those at risk for the disease. Trachoma control was first initiated in Vietnam in the 1950s; at that time, the prevalence of active trachoma in some communes was as high as 50-90%. In 1999, the Government of Vietnam established a national trachoma program and began mass treatment campaigns with donated azithromycin. USAID began partnering with Vietnam in 2011 to support their efforts to eliminate trachoma. In recent years, USAID's Act to End Neglected Tropical Diseases | East program, through RTI and partner Fred Hollows Foundation, has supported the government to conduct surveys to monitor prevalence of the disease and ensure care has been provided to those impacted by the disease. These efforts and additional technical assistance have supported the Government of Vietnam to formally document their successes to WHO for validation of trachoma elimination as a public health problem. "This achievement would not have been possible without the commitment of the Government of Vietnam to trachoma elimination," says Lisa Rotondo, program director for USAID's Act to End NTDs | East Program at RTI. "The task now will be for Vietnam to continue surveillance for resurgence and to provide care for those already impacted." Additional partners that have contributed to Vietnam's success include the International Trachoma Initiative, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tropical Data, and FHI 360, among others. Over the past 18 years, with support from USAID, RTI has partnered with governments and other countries, including Vietnam, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Cambodia and Nepal, to achieve trachoma elimination as a public health problem. Through the USAID Act | East Program, RTI will continue to support countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas in ending NTDs, such as trachoma. Learn more about RTI's work to control and eliminate NTDs around the globe  Media Contact: Kerry Branon 919-541-7300 [email protected] SOURCE RTI International WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

Paratek Pharmaceuticals has announced positive results from a post-marketing study of Nuzyra (omadacycline), a broad-spectrum antibiotic, in treating moderate to severe community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP). The trial, which included 670 patients, showed that omadacycline met all primary and secondary efficacy endpoints, demonstrating non-inferiority to moxifloxacin. Moxifloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic used to treat various bacterial infections, including respiratory and skin infections, and bacterial conjunctivitis. The recent study for Nuzyra, OPTIC-2, reinforced omadacycline's efficacy and safety, mirroring results from the pivotal phase 3 OPTIC study. Paratek says that both studies contribute to the largest clinical dataset for pneumonia in any antibiotic approved by the FDA in the past decade. High clinical success rates were observed, and omadacycline was generally well-tolerated, with side effects similar to those reported in earlier studies. Nuzyra stands out by being approved for both once-daily oral and intravenous use to treat community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and serious skin infections. Additionally, in 2019, Paratek secured a $304 million BARDA Project BioShield contract to develop Nuzyra against pulmonary anthrax.

WEDNESDAY, July 10, 2024 -- More than two-thirds of children with conjunctivitis have a prescription filled for topical antibiotics within one day of an ambulatory care visit, according to a research letter published online June 27 in JAMA Ophthalmology . Daniel J. Shapiro, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues examined prescription of topical antibiotic treatment and the association of treatment with subsequent health care use among individuals aged 1 to 17 years with ambulatory care encounters who had a conjunctivitis diagnosis. A total of 44,793 ambulatory care encounters were included. The researchers found that after 69 percent of encounters, topical antibiotics were dispensed within one day. Topical antibiotics were dispensed less frequently after visits to eye clinics, for children aged 6 to 11 years, and for viral conjunctivitis (34, 66, and 28 percent, respectively). After 3.2 percent of index encounters, ambulatory care revisits for conjunctivitis occurred within 14 days. After 1.4 percent of index encounters, all-cause revisits with a same-day antibiotic dispensation occurred. No association was seen for topical antibiotic treatment with ambulatory care revisits for conjunctivitis or revisits with same-day topical antibiotic dispensation in a multivariable analysis. Hospitalizations for conjunctivitis and emergency department revisits occurred for 0.03 and 0.12 percent of children, respectively, with no differences seen across exposure groups. "Revisits and new antibiotic dispensations were rare, regardless of initial topical antibiotic treatment, suggesting that not receiving antibiotics may not be associated with additional health care use," the authors write. "Given that antibiotics may not be associated with improved outcomes or change in subsequent health care use and are associated with adverse effects and antibiotic resistance, efforts to reduce overtreatment of acute infectious conjunctivitis are warranted."