Infectious Disease Alert 2010-05-01

Ivermectin for Head Lice

A multicenter, cluster (household)-randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, controlled trial was conducted in 812 patients (¡Ý 15 kg, and ¡Ý 2 years of age) from 376 households at seven study centers in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Israel.

Etiology of Sepsis in Patients Admitted from the ED

A prospective, observational study of patients 18 years of age and older treated with goal-directed therapy of sepsis in the ED was conducted at a large county hospital in North Carolina.

Chlorhexidine-Alcohol Is Superior to Povidone-Iodine for Pre-op Prep

The superiority of a particular surgical-site preparation regimen in preventing surgical-site infection (SSI) has not been determined.

Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Is Effective in HIV-infected Patients

In this study, 496 adults and adolescents in Malawi, with history of recent documented invasive pneumococcal disease, were administered PCV7 or placebo in a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial, and were followed for 798 person-years. Eighty-eight percent of patients were HIV-infected.

Antiretroviral Initiation During or Following Treatment of TB

An open-label, randomized, controlled trial of early vs. delayed initiation of HAART was conducted in 642 patients with active TB and HIV infection in Durban, South Africa.

Changing Pneumococcal Serotypes Causing Disease

Clinical laboratories in Massachusetts are required to submit to the state all isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae cultured from blood, cerebrospinal fluid, or other normally sterile body fluids from children < 18 years of age.

Increasing Herpes Zoster Among Veterans: An Unintended Consequence of the VZV Vaccine?

The Veterans Health Administration maintains a national automated information system (DSS) that contains hospital discharge and outpatient data for the entire system.

Invasive Fungal Infections in Transplant Recipients

There are approximately 16,000 hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) and > 29.000 solid-organ transplants performed in the United States each year.

Updates by Carol A. Kemper, MD, FACP

As recently discussed in Infectious Disease Alert (January 2010), chronic Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been described in solid-organ transplant recipients, and uncommonly in persons with HIV.

Pharmacology Watch: Finding ACCORD in the Management of Type 2 Diabetes?

In this issue: Examining the three arms of the ACCORD trial; and FDA Actions: clopidogrel, dexlansoprazole, and tamsulosin.

Clinical Briefs in Primary Care supplement

Infectious Disease Alert – May 1, 2010

May 1, 2010