Infectious Disease Alert articles from September 2003

Infectious Disease Alert archives from September 2003

A urinary test for pneumonia.(Abstract & Commentary)
September 1, 2003... Synopsis: The rapid immunochromatographic urine test Binax NOW was found to be a valuable, sensitive, and rapid test for diagnosing pneumococcal pneumonia even after antibiotic therapy had been started. Source: Smith MD, et al. Rapid...

Immunoglobulin therapy for hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients.(Abstract & Commentary)
September 1, 2003... Synopsis: Prophylactic administration of immunoglobin failed to demonstrate any benefit among recipients of an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant from HLA-identical sibling donors. Source: Cordonnier C et al. Should...

Olive oil and fungemia: what's cooking?(Abstract & Commentary)
September 1, 2003... Synopsis: The yeast Candida versatilis was isolated from 10 blood cultures from neonates drawn over a period of 10 days. Further investigation revealed that unsterilized olive oil obtained from a local grocery store had been added to promote...

New targets for staphylococcal antibiotics.(Abstract & Commentary)
September 1, 2003... Synopsis: Drug discovery activities have yielded agents effective against a novel target in staphylococci. Source: Choudhry AE, at al. Inhibitors of pantothenate kinase: Novel antibiotics for staphylococcal infections. Antimicrob Agents...

Prognosis of perinatally acquired hepatitis C virus infection.(Abstract & Commentary)
September 1, 2003... Synopsis: A study of children with perinatally acquired hepatitis C infection followed for an average of 4.8 years showed persistent HCV infection in 81%, with liver disease that was mild. HCV genotype 3 was associated with a higher rate of...

HIV: if only chimps were strict vegetarians! *.(Abstract & Commentary)
September 1, 2003... Synopsis: The chimpanzee simian immunodeficiency virus, the virus from which HIV-1 originated, arose as the result of recombination between retroviruses of 2 smaller primates that may serve as a food source for the chimp. Source: Bailes E,...

UTI and bacterial pods: the invasion of the bladder snatchers.(Abstract & Commentary)
September 1, 2003... Synopsis: Experiments suggest that bacteria may persist within bladder epithelial cells in a biofilm contained within pods, thus accounting for bacterial persistence manifested as chronic or recurrent urinary tract infection. Source:...

Linezolid superior to vancomycin?(Abstract & Commentary)
September 1, 2003... Synopsis: Randomized trial data suggest that linezolid is superior to vancomycin in the treatment of nosocomial MRSA pneumonia. Source: Wunderink RG, et al. Linezolid vs vancomycin: Predictors of survival in patients with MRSA nosocomial...

Relapse of pneumococcal pneumonia and emergence of quinolone resistance.(Abstract & Commentary)
September 1, 2003... Synopsis: Four patients treated with levofloxacin for pneumococcal pneumonia had one or more relapses with leuofloxacin-resistant isolates. In 5 of 6 relapses, the infecting strain was identical to the initial levofloxacin-susceptible strain by...

CME questions.
September 1, 2003... 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...

Difficulties in diagnosing intestinal TB.(Updates)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Source: Martinez Tirado P, et al. Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2003;26:351-354. AN ELDERLY MAN WITH UNDER lying myasthenia gravis presented to the hospital with 8 months of progressive weakness and a 30-lb weight loss. He described 2-3 weeks of...

Can human betaretroviruses trigger autoimmune disease?(Updates)
September 1, 2003... Source: Xu L, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2003;100:8454-8459. RESEARCHERS HAVE LONG SUSPECTED a viral trigger in the development of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), an autoimmune disease somewhat related to Sjogren's and associated with...

Rifampin and pyrazinamide no longer recommended for latent TB.(Updates)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Source: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. August 8, 2003. http://www.cdc.gov/ mmwr. FOLLOWING A REVIEW OF HEPATIC injury in patients receiving a 2-month regimen of rifampin and pyrazinamide for latent tuberculosis, the American Thoracic Society...

Meningitis in children with cochlear implants.(Updates)
September 1, 2003... Sources: FDA Public Health Web Notification. Updated July 31, 2003; Reefhuis J, et al. N Engl J Med. 2003; 349:435-445. THE FDA FIRST ISSUED A PUBLIC health advisory in July 2002 regarding a possible association between cochlear implants in...