WASHINGTON (AP) — New details about the possible effects of the Zika virus on the fetal brain emerged Wednesday as U.S. health officials say mosquito eradication here and abroad is key to protect pregnant women until they can develop a vaccine.
Simple coordination between hospitals, nursing homes and health authorities could slash the number of drug-resistant “superbug” infections and save thousands of US lives, experts said. Hospitals and nursing homes strive to control infections but rarely report to one another when a patient being transferred is carrying antibiotic-resistant bacteria, greatly increasing the risk of spreading infections, said a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. “Antibiotic-resistant infections in health care settings are a growing threat in the United States, killing thousands and thousands of people each year,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden.
A cardiac surgeon at a major Boston hospital died of gunshot wounds on Tuesday evening, hours after he was shot by a man who opened fire inside the medical center and later killed himself, officials said. Dr. Michael Davidson, the director of endovascular cardiac surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital, died as a result of the morning shooting that occurred at the Shapiro Cardiovascular Center, the hospital said in a statement late on Tuesday. The city's Police Commissioner William Evans told reporters that the shooter, also male, had asked for his victim by name before the attack. Brigham & Women's, located in downtown Boston amid a cluster of major healthcare facilities, is a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School.