Infectious Disease Alert 2010-08-01

Malaria Surveillance in the United States

Malaria continues to be a global scourge, with nearly half the world's population living in malaria-endemic areas, 200-500 million annual clinical cases, and nearly a million annual deaths (almost all due to P. falciparum).

Blood Culture-negative Endocarditis: What Can the Laboratory Bring to the Table?

Several years ago, two different publications appeared showing that prolonged incubation of blood cultures beyond the initial five-day protocol for patients with suspected fastidious bacterial endocarditis did not yield significant additional pathogens with today's modern blood-culture media and automated methods.

Ivermectin and Malaria

Ivermectin is a well-known anti-parasitic medication that has been used for years, with little toxicity to humans.

Mitochondrial Toxicity of Ribavirin and HAART Correlates with Virological Response of HCV in HIV/HCV Co-infected Patients

Data for 64 HIV/HCV co-infected patients treated in a prospective study of pegylated IFN alpha + RBV were analyzed. IFN was administered at 180 mcg SQ/week and RBV was dosed at 800 mg daily for patients with HCV genotype 2 or 3 and 1,000-1,200 mg/day for the first 12 weeks in patients with genotype 1 or 4, then reduced to 800 mg/day until completion of therapy.

Improved Immunogenicity of Pneumococcal Vaccine in HIV Patients with Toll-like Receptor Agonist Adjuvant

Breast-feeding Reduces Risk of Infectious Diseases

A prospective, population-based cohort study was conducted from 2002-2006 in the Netherlands of 4,164 children during the first year of life, and included questionnaires and physician-confirmed infections of the upper respiratory tract (URT), lower respiratory tract (LRT), and gastrointestinal tract (GI).

Cryptococcal Infection Has Taken a New Twist

Cryptococcal infection has taken another new twist. For years before the HIV epidemic, infection with C. neoformans mostly occurred in immunosuppressed individuals who also had some defined zoonotic exposure, often to birds or pigeons.

Catching Dengue in Florida

A physician in new York notified relevant county and state public health authorities in August 2009, of a patient from Rochester with suspected dengue, subsequently confirmed by CDC, whose only travel had been to Key West, FL. Confirmation at the CDC included both serum antibody testing and detection of dengue virus serotype 1 in cerebrospinal fluid.

Updates By Carol Kemper, MD, FACP

Since the release of initial CDC guidelines in 2005 for using the Quanti-FERON-TB Gold test, two additional interferon gamma-release assays (IGRAs) have been approved by the FDA, bringing the number of tests for detecting tuberculosis (TB) infection used in the United States to four.

Pharmacology Watch: Aggressive Modification of Cardiovascular Risk Factors

In this issue: Aggressive approach to CVD reduces MI, folic acid and vitamin B12 for CAD, corticosteroids for acute exacerbations of COPD, prescription drug abuse among young adults, and ARBs and cancer risk.

Infectious Disease Alert – August 1, 2010

August 1, 2010