Infectious Disease Alert – September 1, 2011
September 1, 2011
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Special Feature: Fidaxomicin: Cost Considerations for the Treatment of Clostridium difficile Infection
Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a serious medical condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Thirty-day mortality rates associated with CDI have been estimated to be anywhere from 6.0% to 32.5%, with higher mortality rates observed in older patients. -
Abstract & Commentary: Bladder Cancer Associated with HPV Infection
The association of HPV infection and bladder cancer has been a topic of discussion for the last decade, but has not surfaced because of important other outcomes of HPV infection. HPV is increasing in its prevalence globally and its chronic nature raises many issues in and around the genital tract. -
Abstract & Commentary: Prevention of HIV Infection in Serodiscordant Couples with Early Antiretroviral Therapy
A total of 1,763 HIV-1 serodiscordant couples in nine countries with the infected partner having CD4+ counts of 350-500/mL were randomized 1:1 to early (immediate) vs. delayed (CD4+ had declined to ¡Ü 250/mL or after development of an AIDS-related illness) antiretroviral therapy of the infected partner. -
Special Feature: The Newest Technology Coming (Soon?) to a Lab Near You: MALDI-TOF MS and PCR ESI-MS
It took polymerase chain reaction at least 30 years (by my reckoning) to evolve from its inception as a promising method for laboratory detection of infectious agents in patient samples to its widespread utilization in diagnostic clinical microbiology laboratories. -
Abstract & Commentary: Interferon-ã Release Assays: Utility and Limitations
Herrera and colleagues reviewed the use of interferon-ã release assays (IGRAs) for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). -
Updates by Carol A. Kemper, MD, FACP
Unless you were bent on becoming a forensic entomologist as a kid, there is nothing worse than pulling back a bed sheet and finding ... maggots. Every so many years, I find an ICU patient, typically sedated and intubated, with fly larvae crawling out of some orifice or wound. -
Pharmacology Watch: ACEIs and ARBs Help Patients with Aortic Stenosis
In this issue: ACEI/ARB therapy for AS; safety alert issued for dronedarone; statins and cancer risk; nesiritide and heart failure; and FDA actions. -
Clinical Briefs in Primary Care supplement