Infectious Disease Alert articles from February 2005

Infectious Disease Alert archives from February 2005

Spinal epidural abscess--is drainage required?(Abstract & Commentary)
February 1, 2005... Synopsis: In this small, retrospective analysis, surgical drainage of epidural abscesses was not associated with improved outcomes, even in patients who presented with neurological deficits. ********** Source: Siddiq F, et al. Medical...

PCR and the diagnosis of occult bacterial infection in hip prostheses.(Abstract & Commentary)
February 1, 2005... Synopsis: Previous studies have suggested that aseptic loosing of joint prostheses may be caused by infection with non culturable bacteria. This study found that PCR testing of operative specimens for bacterial 16s RNA did not identify the...

Congenital HHV6 and HHV7 infections.(Abstract & Commentary)
February 1, 2005... Synopsis: HHV6 DNA was detected in 57 of 5638 (1%) cord blood samples, while HHV7 DNA was detected in none of 2129 cord blood samples. Congenital HHV6 infections were clinically and virologically distinct from postnatal HHV6 infections. ...

Lymphogranuloma venereum outbreak in gay men.(Abstract & Commentary)
February 1, 2005... Synopsis: Health-care providers should be vigilant for LGV, especially among MSM exposed to persons firm Europe, and be prepared to diagnose the disease and provide appropriate treatment to patients and their exposed sex partners. ...

Hamster-Bite fever?(Abstract & Commentary)
February 1, 2005... Synopsis: A child developed tularemia after being bitten by a pet hamster. ********** Source: CDC. Brief Report: Tularemia Associated With a Hamster Bite--Colorado, 2004. MMWR. 2005;53:1202-1203. A COLORADO FAMILY PURCHASED 6...

Rat-Bite Fever.(Abstract & Commentary)
February 1, 2005... Synopsis: Two rapidly fatal cases of rat bite fever due to Streptobacillus moniliformis are described. ********** Source: CDC. Fatal Rat-Bite Fever--Florida and Washington, 2003. MMWR. 2005;53:1198-1202. A 52-YEAR-OLD FEMALE PET...

Probiotics for preventing infectious diarrhea in infants.(Abstract & Commentary)
February 1, 2005... Synopsis: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of infants fed a formula supplemented with probiotics showed a mild reduction in the days and episodes of fever, and the days and episodes of diarrhea, with no effect on respiratory...

Ribavirin For Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome ... it's back to the drawing board.(Abstract & Commentary)
February 1, 2005... Synopsis: Although a definitive answer could not be reached because of small sample size, no evidence of benefit from the treatment of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome with ribavirin was detected. ********** Source: Mertz GJ, et al....

Infectious disease alert welcomes 2 new editors.(Announcement)(Jessica Song and Dean Winslow )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Dr. Jessica Song received her PharmD at the University of California School of Pharmacy after receiving a masters degree in physical chemistry Johns Hopkins University. She performed her residency and fellowship at Hartford Hospital and the...

CME questions.
February 1, 2005... 4. What is the rate of congenital HHV6 infection? a. Rare b. 1% c. 3% d. 5% e. 7% 5. Appropriate treatment regimens for lymphogranuloma infection include (more than one may be correct): a. doxycycline 100 mg BID...

Rev. Deresienski stops communion!(Updates)
February 1, 2005... New York Times, November 28, 2004;18. TWO YEARS AGO, WITH THE ADVENI SARS in the world, Catholic priests in Toronto held mass without communion, fearing the chalice may be a source for transmission for the virus. Now, because of this year's...

Environmental mimics of chemical warfare.(Updates)
February 1, 2005... Claborn DM. Military Medicine 2004; 169:958-961. SYMPTOMS OF CHEMICAL WARFARE are varied, but can include skin rashes and blistering, burns, increased salivation, muscle tremors and weakness, and paralysis. However, a number of other...

Malaria in airline crew members.(Updates)
February 1, 2005... Byrne NJ, et al. J Travel Medicine. 2004;11:359-363. BYRNE ET AL EXAMINED THE RISK of falciparum malaria in airline crew members who lay-over in malaria-endemic areas. Apparently, a number of British airlines are opening new routes to...

Paradoxical effect of high-dose Caspofungin.(Updates)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Stevens DA, et al. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2004;48:3407-3411. CASPOFUNGIN, WHICH IS A NON competitive inhibitor of fungal cell wall glucan synthesis, is fungicidal in vitro against Candida species. Documented in vitro resistance has...

Antioxidant supplements for prevention of gastrointestinal cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
February 1, 2005... Source: Bjelakovic et al. Lancet. 2004;364:1219-1228. CLINICIANS AND PATIENTS HAVE HOPED that antioxidants might prevent cancer. Since oxidant stress may be one of the culprits in gene mutation that leads to carcinogenesis, it was logical...

Imiquimod 5% cream for the treatment of actinic keratosis.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Source: Saeimies RM, et al. J am Acad Dermatol. 2004;51:547-555. RECENT CHANGES IN DERMATOLOGIC nomenclature classify actinic keratosis (AK) as keratinocytic intraepidermal neoplasia, or carcinoma in situ. A variety of treatments provide...

Two 8-month regimens of chemotherapy for treatment of newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Source: Jindani A, et al. Lancet. 2004;364:1244-1251. THE EPIDEMIOLOGIC PRESENCE OF tuberculosis has grown greater to some degree because of the sustained and evolving population of HIV-infected individuals worldwide. Standard therapy (as...

Self-measured home blood pressure in predicting ambulatory hypertension.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Source: Mansoor GA, et al. Am J Hypertens. 2004;17:1017-1022. AMBULATORY BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING (ABPM) provides the best metric of overall blood pressure burden. Several factors have compromised use of ABPM as a primary metric in...

Thyroid status, disability and cognitive function, and survival in old age.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Source: Gussekloo J, et al. JAMA. 2004;292:2591-2599. THERE IS LITTLE DISAGREEMENT about the merit of treating frank hypothyroidism. Because of conflicting data, much less consensus exists about whether subclinical hypothyroidism (ie,...

Inflammatory markers and the risk of coronary heart disease in men and women.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Source: Pai JK, et al N Engl J Med. 2004;351:2599-2610. INFLAMMATORY MARKERS HAVE BEEN consistently associated with coronary artery disease (CAD), the most thoroughly studied of which has been C-reactive protein (CRP). Since interleukin-6...

Statins and the incidence of rhabdomyolysis.
February 1, 2005... The most commonly prescribed statins have a low incidence of rhabdomyolysis, according to the results a new study of more than 250,000 patients. Atorvastatin, pravastatin, and simvastatin were found have very low and virtually indistinguishable...