Infectious Disease Alert – May 1, 2005
May 1, 2005
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The Next Influenza Pandemic: Not If, but When
Avian influenza has created an economic disaster in parts of Asia. While the number of associated identified human infections has, to date, not reached 100 cases, the possibility of a public health disaster looms since the outbreak of avian influenza may be setting the stage for the next human influenza pandemic. -
Infection and Anemia
Anemia of Chronic Disease (ACD) is a common disorder occurring in patients with acute and chronic inflammatory conditions. ACD is associated with infectious diseases, as well as with malignancies and autoimmune disorders. The pathophysiology of ACD involves abnormalities in iron homeostasis, impaired erythropoiesis, and blunted responses to erythropoietin, brought about by mediators of inflammation such as TNF-alpha, interferon-gamma, and interleukins. -
Marburg Virus Infection
In 1967, in marburg, a medieval university town north of Frankfurt, Germany, on the Lahn River, several employees of a Behringwerke AG, a manufacturer of vaccines, were hospitalized at the University Medical Clinic with a severe influenza-like illness. -
Lush Desert in Arizona — A Sign of Trouble Ahead?
The exuberant rainfall in the southwestern United States this year has led to the greening of the deserts, highlighted by spectacular displays of wildflowers. But it may not be just the plant life that has benefited. A number of human pathogens may find the conditions just right. -
CDC Releases New Recommendations for Meningococcal Vaccine
On February 10, 2005, the CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended routine meningococcal immunization of all children between ages 11 and 12, with catch up immunization targeted to teens entering high school and college freshmen living in dormitories. -
TB, BCG, PPD, and Travelers
The interpretation of tuberculin skin tests (tst) is challenging and controversial, especially in the face of previously administered BCG vaccine. In Switzerland, a country where TB infection is not common but where BCG had previously been routinely given, Zysset and colleagues prospectively evaluated 2- step (second test done 8-15 days after the first for possible booster effect) TST results in 5117 hospital employees, in view of potential risk factors for TB infection. -
Efficacy of Oral Cholera Vaccine
This article evaluates a mass immunization program with recombinant cholera-toxin B subunit, killed whole cell (rBS-WC) cholera vaccine in Beira, Mozambique, a city where seroprevalence of HIV infection is 20-30%. -
Updates By Carol A. Kemper
In vitro resistance to daptomycin associated with clinical failure during treatment for MRSA infection has not been well documented. In vitro resistance to daptomycin is uncommon, de novo-resistant clinical isolates have not yet been reported, and the incidence of resistance, occurring during treatment is believed to be very low. The mechanism of resistance is not even known. -
Pharmacology Watch: The FDA Pulls Another COX-2 Inhibitor Off the Market
Is Holding NSAIDs Prior to Surgery Rational?; Low-Dose Aspirin: Men vs Women; FDA Actions -
Clinical Briefs in Primary Care supplement