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Recent outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis on land and at sea have occurred and are due to a predominant strain of norovirus, provisionally called Farmington Hills strain. This strain is similar to a common type strain that circulated worldwide in 1995-1997, and it may have characteristics that increase person-to-person transmissibility.
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Fourteen cases of measles occurred among children adopted from China, their family members, and a caretaker during February-March 2001. Internationally adopted children may not be adequately immunized against measles and other routine childhood diseases.
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An excellent review was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases on the fungal infections acquired during recent travel abroad. It informs and updates practitioners about the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of the most common mycoses among travelers, including histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, and penicilliosis.
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Recent cases of hepatitis E in Europe demonstrate that this illness is not limited to developing countries with limited hygiene. An outbreak in Pakistan shows that secondary person-to-person spread is unusual despite primary attack rates of approximately 15% in young adults.
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Doctors tend to prescribe less tamoxifen to the oldest-old and also to those with significant comorbidities (in both age groups) or those unmarried and without living children. With increasing life expectancy currently being observed in these age groups, this study raises the possibility that oncologists may be missing the opportunity to help the oldest breast cancer patients achieve therapeutic benefit from tamoxifen.
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Outcomes following resection of pancreas cancer have improved recently, more than can be accounted for by a drop in procedure-related mortality. This study from the Harvard School of Public Health performed a retrospective analysis of claims-based Medicare data and correlated it with SEER data to identify prognostic factors that may be contributing to this phenomenon.
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In a 5-year retrospective analysis of lung cancer in Asian immigrants living in Boston and seen at the New England Medical Center, more-advanced disease and shorter survival was observed when compared to non-Asian, and age- and gender-matched controls.
