Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

6 INFECTION CONTROL Measles a 'canary in the coal mine' for other infectious disease outbreaks By Mariah Taylor Epidemiologists are warning that the recent rise in measles cases could portend other disease outbreaks, e Washington Post reported Feb. 24. As of Feb. 12, five new measles outbreaks have been reported across the country in 2026, according to the CDC, and there are 910 confirmed measles cases nationwide. State and local health departments have listed hospitals in Oregon, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Utah and South Carolina as potential measles exposure sites. A majority of the cases are among children and unvaccinated individuals. Infectious disease experts told the Post that the U.S. could be on its way to losing measles elimination status, which it has enjoyed since 2000. Measles is considered eliminated in a geographic region when it is no longer circulating naturally. When vaccination rates decline, the most contagious diseases reemerge first, "and that's why we call measles the canary in the coal mine," Katrine Wallace, PhD, an epidemiologist and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, told the Post. "Measles is the most contagious disease that we have, period. So as soon as we start to see measles, we know that the [vaccination] rates in that county or state are starting to drop, and so other diseases will follow on to that, but they just take longer to rip through the communities." e Post highlighted nine diseases with potential for outbreaks in the coming years: pertussis, meningitis, polio, rotavirus, RSV, tetanus, rubella, hepatitis B and diphtheria. n AI's role in combating antibiotic resistance: 4 things to know By Ella Jeffries A ntibiotic resistance is accelerating globally, with more than a million deaths each year and nearly 5 million more linked to resistant infections. More than 39 million deaths are projected to occur as a result of antibiotic-resistant infections between 2025 and 2050. As the crisis intensifies, AI could improve diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant infections, Ara Darzi, a surgeon and director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, said during a presentation, according to an April 16 WIRED report. Here are four notes from the presentation: 1. AI diagnostics could improve speed and accuracy. Tools can exceed 99% accuracy, compared to traditional diagnostics that can take two to three days. 2. Faster treatment is critical for survival. For conditions such as sepsis, each hour of delayed treatment increases mortality risk by 4% to 9%. 3. Resistance rates are high globally. In 2023, one in three infections in southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean were resistant, and one in five infections in Africa were resistant, according to the World Health Organization. 4. Pharmaceutical conflicts of interest may stymie implementation:. Pharma companies profit from high-volume sales, but new antibiotics would need to be reserved to prevent further resistance, creating a disincentive for drug development and access. n A novel C. diff vaccine shows promise By Mariah Taylor N ashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt Health researchers have developed a promising novel vaccine to treat Clostridioides difficile infections. Previous vaccine strategies targeted the bacterium's primary toxins, according to a Feb. 18 system news release. Though this strategy protected against severe infection, it did not reduce the bacterial burden. Vanderbilt's approach is administered to the mucosal lining of the colon and provides long-term protection against illness, death, tissue damage and infection recurrence. Animals with C. diff infections at 60 and 200 days after the final vaccine dose were protected against illness and death. They also cleared both vegetative and spore forms of the infection. The findings were published Feb. 18 in Nature.n

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