Infectious Disease Alert 2003-09-01

A Urinary Test for Pneumonia

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.

Immunoglobulin Therapy for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients

Prophylactic administration of immunoglobin failed to demonstrate any benefit among recipients of an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant from HLA-identical sibling donors.

Olive Oil and Fungemia: What’s Cooking?

The yeast Candida versatilis was isolated from 10 blood cultures from neonates drawn over a period of 10 days.

New Targets For Staphylococcal Antibiotics

Drug discovery activities have yielded agents effective against a novel target in staphylococci.

Prognosis of Perinatally Acquired Hepatitis C Virus Infection

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 loss of HCV RNA and normalization of ALT by 30 months of age.

HIV: If Only Chimps Were Strict Vegetarians!

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.

UTI and Bacterial Pods: The Invasion of the Bladder Snatchers*

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.

Linezolid Superior to Vancomycin?

Randomized trial data suggest that linezolid is superior to vancomycin in the treatment of nosocomial MRSA pneumonia.

Relapse of Pneumococcal Pneumonia and Emergence of Quinolone Resistance

Four patients treated with levofloxacin for pneumococcal pneumonia had one or more relapses with levofloxacin-resistant isolates. In 5 of 6 relapses, the infecting strain was identical to the initial levofloxacin-susceptible strain by DNA typing.

Updates

Difficulties in Diagnosing Intestinal TB; Can Human Betaretroviruses Trigger Autoimmune Disease?; Rifampin and Pyrazinamide No Longer Recommended for Latent TB; Meningitis in Children with Cochlear Implants

Clinical Briefs in Primary Care Supplement

Pharmacology Watch: Study Shows Oral IIb/IIIa Receptors Increase Mortality

Another study has shown an increase in mortality associated with the use of an oral IIb/IIIa receptor antagonist.

Infectious Disease Alert – September 1, 2003

September 1, 2003