Los Angeles County To Require Reports on Bacterial Illness from Providers To Track Antibiotic Resistance
Los Angeles County in October will begin to require physicians and hospitals to report cases of invasive pneumococcal disease -- an "aggressive bacterial illness" -- to county health officials to help track the level of antibiotic resistance to the disease, the Los Angeles Times reports. About 25% of cases of invasive pneumococcal disease are resistant to penicillin, and county health officials have raised concerns that the disease, which can be fatal, may develop resistance to other treatments. The county will add the disease, which causes meningitis and blood infections, to a list of more than 80 conditions -- such as AIDS, measles and anthrax -- that providers in the county must report to health officials, the Times reports. Last week, the county launched a public health campaign to educate residents about the risks of antibiotic use as a treatment for colds and flu (Ornstein, Los Angeles Times, 9/24).
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