TB & Outbreaks Week articles from July 2001

TB & Outbreaks Week archives from July 2001

IS6110-5' Probe Useful Epidemiological Tool For Identifying Clusters.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - The IS6110 left-hand probe (IS6110-5') should be promoted from its status as a backup test for identifying clusters of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to a...

PCR-ELISA Identifies Rifampin Resistance Accurately And Quickly.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Testing Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates for rifampin resistance with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) delivers...

Proof Of Naturally Acquired Immunity Offers Hope For Vaccine.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Infection with the third-largest parasitic killer worldwide, amebiasis, appears to generate natural immunity and thus there is hope for vaccine development,...

Virus Found To Carry Antibiotic Against E. coli.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A report on the antibiotic action of the small virus, which is called Q Beta, was reported in Science. The research was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Health's general medicine institute....

Antibiotic-Resistant Streptococcus On The Rise.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antibiotic resistance rates for Streptococcus pneumoniae infections have been on the rise over the past five years, increasing as much as 10% to 16% in the case of some commonly prescribed...

African Children Hold Clue To Immunity.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Some children in Africa who show a level of immunity to malaria may provide a clue in the development of an effective vaccine against the disease. A group of researchers from the University of...

Mucosal Vaccine Generates Immune Response On Par With Live Formulation.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A nasally administered vaccine against Shigella flexneri, the most common cause of dysentery, shows promise against the pathogen in humans and warrants...

Peritoneal TB Rare But Potentially Fatal Finding In Dialysis Patients.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) for chronic renal failure occasionally develop peritoneal tuberculosis, and their...

Alliance Builds Medical Training Facility.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new alliance of African and Western infectious disease experts, the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care and Prevention in Africa, will soon break ground on the first large-scale HIV/AIDS clinic in...

Study Finds Wide Variation Of Antibiotic Use In Europe.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The type and frequency of antibiotic use varies greatly throughout Europe, according to authors of a research letter in a recent issue of the Lancet. The use of antibiotics has not been...

Rotavirus Worsens Disease Burden In Gastroenteritis.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Children with community-acquired gastroenteritis who test positive for rotavirus infection are more likely to suffer severe disease than those without...

hCF Auto-Antibodies Protects Against Disease Progression.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A unique cytokine is critical to the pathogenesis of dengue fever, and patients who exhibit auto-antibodies to it appear to be protected from progression to...

Vibrational Spectroscopy Is Convenient, Quick Typing Method.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Economical and convenient typing of Enterococcus species is a high priority, thanks to their emergence as a leading cause of nosocomial outbreaks, and now...

Outbreak Of Calicivirus Infection Mistakenly Attributed to Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli O157:H7.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- On February 21-22, 2000, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) was notified by a university student health center of two suspected cases of Escherichia coli O157:H7. At a local hospital...

Pipe Filter Distribution Project In Sudan Prevents Ingestion Of Contaminated Water.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Carter Center, along with its partners, Health and Development International (HDI), Hydro Polymers of Norsk Hydro, and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), has begun to blanket Sudan with nine million...

Four Fatalities Reported From Hemorrhagic Fever In Kosovo.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Four people have died and more then 20 others have been hospitalized in an outbreak of Crimea Congo hemorrhagic fever in Kosovo, health officials said. The blood disease, related to the Ebola...

DNA Vaccine Protects Mice Against Highly Mutational Influenza.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A vaccine that includes plasmid (pME18S-M) containing M1 and M2 genes of influenza A/PR/8/34 offers 70%-80% protection against lethal challenge with...

Spraying Livestock May Help Fight Disease In South Asia.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New research suggests that sponging down cattle with insecticide instead of spraying it in homes is 80% cheaper and could save lives when sudden malaria epidemics hit south Asia and some parts of...

Oral Viridans Group Streptococci Protect Newborns From MRSA.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Newborns who are colonized with oral viridans group streptococci at birth or soon after appear to be significantly less likely to acquire...

Potassium Tellurite Test Rapidly Reveals MAC Susceptibility.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Potassium tellurite testing can quickly show whether a particular case of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is susceptible to treatment with the antibiotic...

Antibiotics May Provide Short-Term Improvement.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Treatment of children with otitis media with effusion (OME), (or persistent fluid accumulation in the middle ear following an ear infection) with steroids alone or in combination with antibiotics...

Mouse Survival Prolonged With Dendritic Cell Vaccine.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Mice immunized with Pseudomonas aeruginosa-pulsed dendritic cells (DC) survive significantly longer after pulmonary infection with P. aeruginosa than...

Former MRSA Patients Should Be Routinely Screened On Readmission.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can last well beyond hospital discharge and into the next readmission. That's why...

Meningococcal Disease Spread By Infected Man On Airplane.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A case of air-travel-associated meningococcal disease prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue guidelines for the management of persons potentially exposed to...

Independent Strains Cause Most TB Cases In Norway.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Most cases of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Norway, an area of extremely low endemicity, are reactivated infections rather than new infections,...

Paramedics Offer Reliable Skin Testing To Fellow Public Safety Personnel.
July 3, 2001... 2001 JUL 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Paramedics can be trained to administer and interpret Mantoux skin tests accurately, allowing convenient epidemiological surveillance of fellow public...

Blood Test Enables Accurate Detection Of Early-Stage Infection.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new, rapid blood test for tuberculosis, which can accurately identify infection at an early stage, could enable doctors to reliably identify people who are infected before they have actually...

Short-Term Use Of Thioridazine May Boost Efficacy Of First-Line Drugs.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - An antipsychotic drug shows in vitro activity against both susceptible and drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and may prove useful as an...

Quicker DNA Restriction Method Accurately Types Some Clostridium Strains.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A new pulsed-field gel electrophoresis method is comparable to the standard method for typing some Clostridium strains and has a quicker turnaround time,...

Community Vaccination Can Be Cost Effective.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Polysaccharide vaccination against serogroup C Neisseria meningitidis may be cost effective under certain conditions, but public health policy makers...

Vaccination With Jeryl-Lynn Strain Works Better For Young Children.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Children younger than five who are vaccinated with the Rubini strain are at significantly greater risk of suffering illness during mumps outbreaks than...

Genetic Influences Determine Some Responses To TB Antigens.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A study of twins in West Africa has clarified the role of genetics in immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens. A. Jepson and colleagues...

Sparfloxacin Regimen Offers Hope For Multidrug-Resistant TB.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A two-year treatment regimen that includes sparfloxacin looks promising for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis patients with multidrug resistance,...

Immunosuppression May Cause Risk Of Death From Pneumonia.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Alcoholics are among those considered most at risk of dying from bacterial pneumonia. Alcohol consumption suppresses the release of cytokine interleukin-17 (IL-17) in response to bacterial...

Neutrophil Inhibitory Factor Limits Parasite Fecundity.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Vaccination of hamsters with neutrophil inhibitory factor (NIF), a protein isolated from hookworms of the genus Ancylostoma, does not reduce hookworm...

Vaccination Rates In Canadian Long-Term Care Facilities Remain Suboptimal.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Although vaccination rates against influenza and pneumococcal pneumonia in Canadian nursing homes have improved over the past decade, they remain below...

Selenium Deficiency Associated With "Jekyll to Hyde" Virus Mutation.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Once again, a relatively benign virus has mutated into a nasty pathogen in laboratory mice that were raised on a diet deficient in selenium, a potent antioxidant. This time the mutations...

VerticalNews Launch Uses NewsRx Artificial Intelligence Technology.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NewsRx, the leading provider of life science databases and daily and weekly health news, has leveraged its technology platform to create a new media company, VerticalNews. VerticalNews'...

Important Pathogens And Cures Belong To Little-Known Group Of Fungi.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers studying medicinal, pharmacological, antibiotic, carcinogenic, and food-production agents would do well to study an often-overlooked group of fungi that once had - but then lost - the...

Bulk Medicine-Buying Program Works For TB, Could Do Same For AIDS Drugs.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A World Health Organization program that buys tuberculosis medicines in bulk at competitive prices is working well - with reductions of over 30% - and could serve as a model to help reduce costs...

Better Physician Counseling Could Lead to Improved Vaccine Coverage.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - If physicians regularly offered education and counseling about the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV), their elderly patients would be more likely...

Triple-Drug Regimen Is Effective Treatment.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer -- Men with prostatic tuberculosis respond well to a triple-drug regimen and can be successfully monitored with long-term follow-up and transrectal prostate...

Lifelong Re-Infection Has Previously-Unrecognized Consequences.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and parainfluenza virus - the chief causes of hospitalization for respiratory illness in young children - may be even more menacing than previously believed. ...

Age, Serotypes Determine Infectiousness.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Both bacterial virulence factors and host factors figure into the selection of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes causing invasive infection, say...

Anti-TB Drugs Not Found To Be Teratogenic.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Women who take antituberculosis drugs such as isoniazid during pregnancy are not at greater risk of delivering a child with congenital abnormalities, say...

Antimicrobial Peptides May Be Critical To Host Defense Against MDR TB.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - An antibacterial peptide from porcine leucocytes shows potent in vitro activity against both drug-susceptible and multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis...

Rifampin-Loaded Microspheres Effective Alone Or Combined With Isoniazid.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Rifampin-loaded microspheres can significantly reduce colony-forming units (CFUs) in the lungs of tuberculosis-infected mice and works even better when...

Mediastinoscopy Beats Bronchoscopy For Diagnosis.
July 10, 2001... 2001 JUL 10 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Bronchoscopy has a limited utility for diagnosing isolated tuberculous mediastinal lymphadenopathy and patients would be better served by mediastinoscopy,...

Vascular Lesions Significant Source Of Hemorrhaging.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Necrosis of arteries and veins in anthrax victims is the most likely source of large hemorrhages during outbreaks of human inhalational anthrax, according...

MRSA Clone Persists For Five Years In Burns Unit.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolate that was present in a burns unit in 1992 persisted and became the predominant clone in 1997,...

Coinfection With B. Burgdorferi, C. Trachomatis Seen In Oligoarthritis.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Some patients with unexplained arthritis have coinfection with Borrelia burgdorferi and Chlamydia trachomatis in their synovial fluid, but it is unclear...

Short-Course, High-Dose Antibiotic Therapy May Reduce Risk Of Carrying Drug-Resistant Strep.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Higher-dose antibiotic therapy administered over a short period appears to reduce the risk of carriage of drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae following treatment for respiratory tract...

Researchers Describe Diagnostic, Treatment Options for Peritoneal TB.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Laparoscopy and biopsy are necessary to diagnose peritoneal tuberculosis in most cases, say researchers working in the United States. K. Demir and...

Revaccination Effective In Rare Cases of Hib Vaccine Failure.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Although the conjugated Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine is highly effective against invasive Hib in children, vaccine failures occasionally...

Travellers Face Health Threat From Ticks At Home And Abroad.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ticks picked up in the United Kingdom may constitute a health risk because of their potential to carry infectious diseases, in addition to ticks and other parasites acquired overseas, tropical...

Researchers Identify Critical Regulatory Gene.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Controlling a tuberculosis infection requires an interplay of a distinct set of genes and immune system cells. Researchers are showing for the first time that the absence of one of those genes,...

New mAb Vaccine Protects Mice From Human C. Trachomatis Strain.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A new report in Vaccine heralds the arrival of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) vaccine that protects mice against challenge with a human urogenital strain of...

V. Cholerae O139 Antigen Induces Immune Responses In Mice.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - The 31-kDa antigen of Vibrio cholerae 0139 can induce protective humoral and cellular immune responses in mice and may one day have an application in...

New Management Guidelines Released.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The single most important decision a physician can make during the course of treatment for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the selection of the initial site of care, according to the newly...

Plasma Nitrate Level Indication of Infectiousness.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - High levels of plasma nitrate in children with diarrhea suggest an infection rather than a chronic condition, say researchers working at the National...

Asian Tiger Mosquitoes Reach California.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A type of mosquito known to carry disease in Asia has been introduced into Southern California, arriving in shipments of an increasingly popular plant called "lucky bamboo." There have been no...

Northern Vietnam Drinking Water Contains Dangerous Arsenic Levels.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The drinking water in parts of northern Vietnam is contaminated with arsenic levels 50 times higher than Vietnamese standards, according to a report published in the July 1, 2001, issue of...

Long-term Care Facilities Should Do More To Encourage Staff Vaccination.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Influenza vaccine coverage is not what it should be among staff at long-term care facilities in Alberta, Canada, and such facilities should take measures...

Burundi To Try Different Drugs In Fight Against Disease.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Trying to fight three million cases of malaria a year in a population of 6.5 million people is a struggle. Health officials said that alternative anti-malarial drugs should be used in Burundi...

Moxifloxacin Beats Other Fluoroquinolones Against M. Fortuitum.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - The fluoroquinolone antibiotic moxifloxacin is more potent than the other fluoroquinolone agents against a model Mycobacterium pathogen, according to a new...

New Probe Goes Head To Head With Culture In Screening Sensitivity.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - A new DNA assay for the rapid detection of mycobacteria offers similar accuracy to culture and better sensitivity than smear, according to a report in the...

Immunity After DTaP-HBV Vaccine Comparable With Natural Infection.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Children who receive the combination vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and hepatitis B (DTaP-HBV) develop protection against pertussis that...

Findings For Bovine Trichomoniasis Vaccine May Be Applicable To Humans.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Both systemic and local immunization of cows with an antigen to bovine trichomoniasis protected them from trichomonads and be useful against other sexually...

Day-Care Workers Should Be Periodically Tested For TB.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Epidemiologists tracking an outbreak of tuberculosis at a day care center in Spain suggest periodic surveillance of adults who work with young children is...

Locating Former Inmates Critical For Adequate Research Follow-Up.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Researchers working with San Francisco City and County Jail inmates have identified strategies for locating study subjects after their release from jail....

Experts Gather To Talk About Fighting Mosquito-Borne Disease In U.S.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- With the West Nile virus marching west faster and farther than expected, health experts from around the U.S. met the week of June 22, 2001, at the Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, to come up...

Radiant Heat Reduces Staphylococcus Aureus In Wounds.
July 24, 2001... 2001 JUL 24 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers, using an animal model of wound therapy in which local radiant heat is delivered by a noncontact bandage, found that the heat did not accelerate bacterial growth. In fact, bacterial...