Staphylococcus aureus is an important cause of surgical-site infections. In this randomized trial, eradication of colonization by rapid screening at admission and subsequent decolonization (with intranasal mupirocin and chlorhexidine skin washes) were associated with a decrease in postoperative surgical-site infections.

The skin is a source of infection associated with surgery. In this multicenter, randomized trial, the preoperative application of chlorhexidine–alcohol was found to be a more effective skin preparation than povidone–iodine for preventing incisional infections.

Pregnant women are at increased risk for clinically significant complications associated with influenza infection. This study analyzed data reported for 239 women of reproductive age who were hospitalized with 2009 H1N1 influenza in California between April 23 and August 11, 2009; 94 were pregnant and 8 were postpartum. Intensive care was required in 18 pregnant women and 4 postpartum women, and 8 died. Infection with the 2009 H1N1 virus can cause significant morbidity and mortality in pregnant and postpartum women.

A genomewide association study involving children of Northern European ancestry who had asthma yielded an association with a locus on chromosome 1q31 that was replicated in two additional case–control series, one involving subjects of Northern European ancestry and the other, children of African ancestry. The implicated locus houses DENND1B, which is expressed by natural killer cells and dendritic cells of the immune system.

In the global 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, children are particularly vulnerable to severe disease. During the winter (May through July 2009) in Buenos Aires, the death rate associated with 2009 H1N1 influenza in children was 10 times that associated with seasonal influenza in 2007 (1.1 vs. 0.1 per 100,000 children).