Infectious Disease Alert articles from March 2004

Infectious Disease Alert archives from March 2004

New perspectives on CVC catheter infections.(Special Feature)(central venous access devices)
March 1, 2004... MANY QUESTIONS CONTINUE TO CIRCLE AROUND THE USE OF central venous access devices (CVC). What are the demographics of their use and the practices of their insertion? How dangerous are they? What location in the hospital is central venous...

Restaurant-associated Pontiac fever--will that be chills and fever to go?(Abstract & Commentary)
March 1, 2004... Synopsis: Shortly after patronizing a restaurant, 117 individuals developed an illness characterized by fever, myalgia, chills, and headache. Respiratory symptoms were present in fewer than half. Legionella anisa was found to be the cause of...

Flatus--a rapid diagnostic tool?(Abstract & Commentary)
March 1, 2004... Synopsis: Volatile organic compounds from fecal samples appear to have good sensitivity and specificity for many enteric pathogens and could lend to rapid diagnostic testing. ********** FROM THE BRISTOL ROYAL INFIRMARY IN THE UNITED...

ICAAC/IDSA/ASTMH 2003.(Conference Coverage)(Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy)(Infectious Disease Society of America )(American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene )
March 1, 2004... The following summary of selected abstracts from 3 meetings will be published in multiple parts. The 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) met in Chicago September 14-17, 2003. The Infectious Disease...

CME questions.
March 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...

I smell a rat--smelling TB?(Updates)(rats to detect tuberculosis)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... THE WORLD BANK IS FUNDING A novel project to train 30 giant pouched rats to sniff out tuberculosis (TB) in respiratory specimens in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rats have been previously successfully trained to target landmines, and a similar...

Aerosolized E coli 0157 at a County Fair.(Updates)
March 1, 2004... AEROSOLIZATION OF E coli 0157 is a novel concept, never previously considered until recently when a series of 3 outbreaks possibly caused by exposure to contaminated buildings (or air space) occurred--at the University of Wisconsin, the Lane...

Fatal illness strikes traveler.(Updates)
March 1, 2004... How QUICKLY CAN YOU GUESS this case? A 63-year-old previously healthy man traveled to Haiti for one week in October 2003, to help build a church in a more rural area. On the final day of his trip, he developed a sore throat. Two days later,...

VZV reactivation in astronauts.(Updates)(Varicella-zoster virus)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... 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 for new alpha-male-dom has been shown to trigger reactivation...

Sinus and allergy health partnership releases new guidelines for treatment of bacterial rhinosinusitis.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... New guidelines for the treatment of bacterial rhinosinusitis were published in the January supplement of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery by the Sinus and Allergy Health Partnership. The goal of the guidelines is to reduce the use of...

Steroids not linked to risk of fractures.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Long-term use of inhaled steroids for the treatment of respiratory diseases or nasal steroids for the treatment of allergic rhinitis are not associated with an increased risk of fractures if they are used in normal doses, according to a study...

ADT puts men at risk for osteoporosis.(androgen deprivation therapy)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Men treated for prostate cancer with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) are at risk for osteoporosis and fractures, according to a new study. One year of ADT resulted in 2-8% bone loss in the lumbar spine and 1.8-6.5% bone loss in the femoral...

Study shows valsartan may improve sexual function in postmenopausal women.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A new study suggests that valsartan may improve sexual function in hypertensive postmenopausal women. Researchers randomized 120 postmenopausal women aged 51-55 with mild-to-moderate hypertension to valsartan 80 mg daily or atenolol 50 mg daily...

New direct-to-consumer pharma advertising rules considered.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Anyone who watched the Super Bowl can verify that direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription pharmaceuticals is big business. Now the FDA is considering tighter restrictions on the content of these ads, requiring pharmaceutical companies to...

FDA actions.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals has received FDA approval to market tiotropium bromide inhalation powder (Spiriva) for the treatment of COPD. Tiotropium, a once-daily anticholinergic agent, is indicated for the long-term maintenance...

Prevention of cardiovascular events with aspirin and vitamin in type 2 diabetics.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... POOLED DATA (N = 50,000) ON PRIMARY prevention of cardiovascular disease with aspirin (ASA) indicates as much as 28% reduction in coronary heart disease, albeit no demonstrable effects upon total mortality or stroke. Recent data from the...

Cinnamon improves glucose and lipids of type 2 diabetics.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... THERE IS A STRONG CONNECTION between diet and diabetes, but "best diet" remains elusive. Choosing foods with favorable glycemic index (lesser rate of rise of glucose) has been shown to positively effect diabetic control. Some spices, for...

Depression care on pain and functional outcomes among adults with arthritis.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... ARTHRITIS IS THE MOST COMMONPLACE cause of disability in the United States, with as many as one-third of persons older than age 65 manifesting osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. It is not uncommon for this same population to suffer comorbid...

Efficacy and safety of low-dose aspirin in polycythemia vera.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... THE INCREASED RED CELL MASS diagnostic of polycythemia vera (PCV) results in blood hyperviscosity, which is associated with increased thrombotic events. Initial enthusiasm for the concept of ASA thromboprophylaxis in PCV was dampened by a 1986...

Coronary artery calcium score plus framingham score for risk prediction.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... THE FRAMINGHAM RISK SCORE (FRS) is a commonly recommended tool for estimating risk of coronary events (CHD) in asymptomatic persons (asymptomatic for CHD, that is). It provides an assessment of the likelihood of experiencing a CHD event in the...

Intra-articular hyaluronic acid in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... THE USE OF HYALURONIC ACID (HUA) injection in human subjects began in 1997, following a history of similar treatment in veterinary medicine. HUA is a constituent of normal synovial fluid, and has been conceptualized as a 'joint lubricant.'...