On April 15 and April 17, a novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus was identified in two epidemiologically unlinked patients in the United States. The same strain of the virus was identified in Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere. This report describes all confirmed cases in the United States through May 5 and delineates the associated clinical syndrome and key virology.

Influenza is known to infect several different hosts, including humans, birds, and pigs. The influenza genome is structured in a way that allows for rapid recombination between strains across host species. In this report, 11 sporadic episodes of human infection from novel swine-associated influenza viruses are documented and the associated clinical illness and virologic characteristics are described.

Invasive group B streptococcal disease is a leading cause of illness in the first week of life. Universal culture-based screening in the third trimester of pregnancy was recommended in the United States in 2002. This study shows that this policy has been associated with a decrease in the incidence of group B streptococcal disease. Populations that may benefit from additional preventive measures are identified.

This report describes a man with repeated severe bacterial pulmonary infections, bronchiectasis, pulmonary fibrosis, warts, and a cerebral abscess. He was homozygous for a variant of the FCN3 gene, which encodes ficolin-3, a member of the lectin pathway of complement activation that binds surface molecules on bacteria and acetylated compounds and is involved in sequestration and removal of dying cells. A lack of ficolin-3 may cause immunodeficiency disease. Ficolin-3 could not be detected in the patient's serum.