Infectious Disease Alert articles from April 2004

Infectious Disease Alert archives from April 2004

Treatment of neurocysticercosis.(Abstract & Commentary)
April 1, 2004... Synopsis: A 10-day treatment course of albendazole and dexamethasone, for patients with seizures and neurocysticercosis with viable cysts significantly reduced the incidence of subsequent seizure. Source: Garcia HH, et al. A trial of...

Something in common between Candida albicans and staphylococcus aureus: coagulase production.(Abstract & Commentary)
April 1, 2004... Synopsis: Candida albicans and some other Candida species elaborate coagulase and might be confused with Staphylococcus aureus. Source: Rodrigues AG, et al. Expression of plasma coagulase among pathogenic Candida species. J Clin Microbiol....

Mycobacterium avium colonization and disease linked to contaminated hospital water.(Abstract & Commentary)
April 1, 2004... Synopsis: Both clinical disease and sputum colonization due to Mycobacterium avium complex were traced to the potable water system of a large public hospital. Source: Tobin-D'Angelo MJ, et al. Hospital water as a source of Mycobacterium...

Corticosteroids for bronchiolitis in young children.(Abstract & Commentary)
April 1, 2004... Synopsis: A 3-day course of oral prednisolone for treatment of bronchiolitis in children aged 6-35 months decreased the median duration of symptoms and hospitalization and the need for additional asthma medications. Source: Csonka P, et...

ICAAC/IDSA/ASTMH 2003.(Conference Coverage)
April 1, 2004... Viral Hepatitis A case control study found that the risk of HCV transmission to health care workers after percutaneous exposure increases with the volume of blood injected and, probably, with higher liter of HCV in the blood of the source...

CME questions.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... You no longer need to return a Scantron answer sheet to earn credit for the activity. Please review the text, answer the following questions, check your answers against the key, and then review the materials again regarding any questions...

Helicobacter and your gallbladder.(Updates)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Source: Silva CP, et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2003;41:5615-5618. VARIOUS Helicobacter spp. HAVE been associated with hepatobiliary diseases in animals, including dogs, sheep, hamsters, and mice. In humans, H pylori has been isolated from the...

Warning: can gardening be hazardous to your health?(Updates)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Source: ProMED-Mail Post. December 29, 2003; December 30. 2003; and January 3. 2004. www.prolnedmail.org. ADDITIONAL CASES OF AN UNUSUAL species of legionellosis related to exposure to contaminated potting soil continue to be reported in...

Sylvester Shares his Salmonella.(Updates)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Source: ProMED-Mail Post. February 2, 2004. www.promedmail.org. A FEW YEARS AGO, WE REPORTED in this column the occurrence of human infection from E coli 0157 from exposure to a pet dog ted undercooked hamburger meat. The Idaho Humane...

Combination therapy for bacterial endocarditis.(Updates)
April 1, 2004... Source: Le T, Bayer AS. Clin Infect Dis. 2003;36:615-621. THIS SUCCINCT ARTICLE NICELY summarizes the evidenced-based recommendations for combination antimicrobial therapy for infective endocarditis (IE) due to common pathogens, including...

Risk of adenocarcinoma in Barrett's esophagus.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Source: Murray L, et al. BMJ(USA). 2003;3:534-535 ALTHOUGH SURVEILLANCE OF BARRETT'S esophagus (BES) for early detection of esophageal adenocarcinoma (E-CA) has become routine, the cost efficacy of this intervention is only scantily...

Long-Term effect of doxazosin, finasteride, and combination for BPH.(Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Source: McConnell JD, et al. N Engl J Med. 2003;349:2387-2398. BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA (BPH) is commonly treated with alpha blockers such as doxazosin (DOX), alpha reductase inhibitors such as finasteride (FIN), or both. Long-term...

Once daily valacyclovir to reduce Herpes transmission.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Source: Corey L, et al. N Engl J Med. 2004;350(1):11-20. AMONG GENITAL HERPES VIRUS (HSV-2)discordant couples, couples in whom one partner is HSV-2 infected and the other has not been, several strategies have been used to reduce likelihood...

Use of B-type natriuretic peptide in the evaluation and management of Acute Dyspnea.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Source: Mueller C, et al. N Eng J Med. 2004;350:647-654. THE ETIOLOGY OF ACUTE DYSPNEA (DSP) can be diverse, an it is often especially difficult to separate pulmonary from cardiac causes. Recently, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP)--so called...

Association between C-reactive protein and age-related macular degeneration.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Source: Seddon JM, et al. JAMA. 2004;291:704-710. AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (AMD) is an important cause of loss of visual acuity, and because there are few effective treatments, enhanced prevention is paramount. The association...

VZV reactivation in astronauts.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Source: Mehta SM, et al. J Med Virol. 2004;72:174-179. STRESS IS A KNOWN TRIGGER FOR reactivation of herpes viruses. Just the physical and psychological trauma of swapping alpha-male mice between 2 mouse colonies and the resultant battle...

Estrogen found to not affect heart disease, breast cancer.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The NIH has halted the estrogen-alone wing of the Women s Health Initiative (WHI) a year before its scheduled end. The 11,000 postmenopausal women who have had a hysterectomy and were enrolled in the estrogen-alone trial recently received a...

Antibiotics associated with cancer risk.
April 1, 2004... Is antibiotics use associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in women? The question, which was first raised decades ago, has been the subject of much debate, but now a new study suggests that the answer may be yes. Researchers looked...

Topiramate effective against migraine.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Topiramate is an effective agent for migraine prevention, according to a new double-blind study of 483 migraine patients. The drug, which is approved for prevention of seizures, was used in maximal doses of 50, 100, or 200 mg for 18 weeks in...

Statin therapy for heart failure.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Statin therapy has been found to be beneficial for a number of chronic illnesses; now add 2 more to the list. Statins have been found to benefit patients with advanced ischemic and nonischemic heart failure. Researchers from UCLA reviewed the...

FDA actions.(rosuvastatin)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The consumer watchdog group Public Citizen is calling for the FDA to ban AstraZeneca's new statin, rosuvastatin (Crestor), because of the risk of myositis and rhabdomyolysis. The drug, which was introduced to the American market in September,...

Drug approved to target angiogenesis.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... The FDA has approved the first monoclonal antibody that targets tumor angiogenesis. Genentech's bevacizumab (Avastin) is approved for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. The drug works by binding vascular endothelia growth factor,...