Infectious Disease Alert articles from May 2004

Infectious Disease Alert archives from May 2004

MRSA carriage among hospital employees and their families.(Abstract & Commentary)(methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus)
May 1, 2004... Synopsis: A total of 6.2% of hospital employees were nasal carriers of MRSA, with the rate highest among workers in long-term care (36%). In 4 of 10 families surveyed, family members were colonized by the same MRSA as the employee. ...

Spectrum of disease associated with human metapneumovirus infection in children.(Abstract & Commentary)
May 1, 2004... Synopsis: Human metapneumovirus was the likely cause of 12% of all lower respiratory tract illnesses among a population of 2009 children studied from 1976 to 2001 presenting with acute respiratory symptoms. Clinical manifestations of...

Animal feed and antibiotic resistance.(Abstract & Commentary)
May 1, 2004... Synopsis: An antibiotic preparation meant for addition to animal feed was found to be contaminated with antibiotic resistance genes. ********** LU AND COLLEAGUES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH Columbia and the University of California...

An outbreak of Clostridium difficile diarrhea associated with gatifloxacin.(Abstract & Commentary)
May 1, 2004... Synopsis: A formulary switch from levofloxacin to gatifloxacin as the preferred quinolone in a long-term care facility was associated with a significant increase in the incidence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD). A...

MRSA with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin.(Abstract & Commentary)(methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus)
May 1, 2004... Synopsis: Receipt of vancomycin antedated isolation of MRSA with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin in 25 patients. ********** HOWDEN AND COLLEAGUES EXAMINED THE CASE histories of 25 patients with infections due to MRSA with reduced...

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)
May 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 question.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... 16. An 11-month-old boy presents with coryza and mild cough. There is no history of fever. Physical examination reveals mild respiratory distress with bilateral wheezing. Chest x-ray shows scattered, diffuse infiltrates. A clinical diagnosis of...

Improved blood donor screening for WNV.(Updates)
May 1, 2004... MOST PERSONS (AROUND 80%) with WNV infection are asymptomatic, despite ongoing viremia for a median of 6.5 days. This group of asymptomatic but viremic individuals represents a risk to the safety of the US blood supply. In addition, some...

Azithromycin failure as prophylaxis or treatment of syphilis.(Updates)
May 1, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO--ALONG WITH several other major cities in Europe, North America, and Australia--has been experiencing a minor epidemic of syphilis, especially in men who have sex with men (MSM). It is not unusual for HIV physicians in my...

United Kingdom cracks down on potential blood donors.(Updates)
May 1, 2004... AS REPORTED IN THIS COLUMN in August 2002, public health experts in the United Kingdom were debating the merits of enhanced screening criteria for blood donations based on a "theoretical" risk of transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy...

Human and feline sporotrichosis in Rio.(Updates)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS, RIO DE Janeiro has been experiencing the largest epidemic of feline and human sporotrichosis ever reported. From 1998 to 2001, 178 culture-proven cases of sporotrichosis occurred in persons living in various...

Atherosclerosis reversed with lipid-lowering drugs.
May 1, 2004... When it comes to treating lipids in patients with heart disease, the mantra may be, The lower the LDL, the better." Data from the multicenter Reversal of Atherosclerosis with Aggressive Lipid Lowering (REVERSAL) trial indicate that aggressive...

Positive alendronate data in osteoporosis.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Does alendronate prevent fractures after 10 years of therapy? According to a new multicenter placebo-controlled trial, the drug is effective and safe over 10 years in women with osteoporosis. Data from the study are from a follow-up of 2...

NSAIDs for myocardial infarction.(Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Nonaspirin NSAIDs, especially ibuprofen and naproxen, may protect against myocardial infarction in patients who are not taking aspirin. Researchers from Pennsylvania conducted a case-control study with cases of first, nonfatal MI identified...

Four-hour window for CAP patients.(community-acquired pneumonia)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Medicare patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) fare better if they receive their first dose of antibiotics within 4 hours of hospitalization, according to new study. The records of nearly 14,000 Medicare patients admitted for CAP,...

FDA actions.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Rofecoxib (Vioxx) has been approved for the treatment of migraine attacks with or without aura in adults. The approval was based on a large study that showed that the single dose of rofecoxib, either 25 or 50 mg, effectively reduced migraine...

Migraine and subclinical brain lesions.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... THE DATA ON THE RELATIONSHIPS between migraine and other vascular events such as stroke have been conflicting, although in some populations (such as young women smokers who suffer migraine with aura) the adverse association is more clear-cut....

Memantine treatment in Alzheimer disease.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... MEMANTINE (MEM) IS THE FIRST clinically available NMDA receptor antagonist with demonstrated clinical efficacy and an acceptable adverse event profile for persons with Alzheimer disease (ALZ). Cholinesterase inhibitors like donepezil (DON)...

Casual postprandial glucose levels in type 2 diabetes management.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... TIGHT CONTROL OF TYPE 2 DIAbetes (DM2) has been proven to reduce microvascular complications. Use of the hemoglobin A1c to assess long-term control is standard, but for modulation of treatment, timed specimens (eg, fasting, 1-2 hours...

Exemestane after Tamoxifen therapy in breast cancer.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... TAMOXIFEN (TAM) IS WELL ESTABlished to reduce, over 5 years, both risk of breast cancer (BCA) recurrence (47%) and mortality (26%) among women who have undergone surgery for BCA and who have estrogen-receptor positive tumors. Exemestane (EXE)...

An analysis of how long patients remain on various antihypertensive therapies.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... THE TERM 'DRUG EFFICACY' IS TECHnically intended to reflect impact of an agent on a designated end point in a study population participating in a clinical trial. 'Drug effectiveness,' on the other hand, refers to the 'real life' effects drug...

Association of endothelial dysfunction with insulin resistance and carotid wall thickening in hypertension.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION (END) IS a fundamental defect in essential hypertension (HTN) and is closely associated with carotid wall thickening (CWT), a consistent marker for early atherosclerotic change. Insulin resistance (IR) is also associated...