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A fourth pathogen, Rickettsia parkeri, has been identified as a newly identified cause of rickettsial spotted fever in the United States.
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Mystery Lung Nodule in BakerCase Closed; Frequency of CJD in Asymptomatic Britons; Prepared Infant Formula a Risk; Does Mefloquine Pose an Unacceptable Risk to US Soldiers?; Adherence with HIV Vaccination Guidelines Poor
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The following is a summary of selected abstracts from 3 meetings. The 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) met in Chicago September 14-17, 2003. The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) met in San Diego October 9-12, 2003. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene met in Philadelphia December 3-7, 2003.
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In what may be a harbinger of a changing host preference, it was found that over one-half of cases of malaria in an area of Malaysian Borneo were caused by Plasmodium knowlesi, monkey pathogen. Such cases are likely to go unrecognized because of the great difficulty in distinguishing this organism from Plasmodium malariae by microscopy.
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Ninety-three percent of sputum isolates from a single long-term care facility were resistant to quinolones. Epidemiologic study showed an association with prior receipt of levofloxacin. Strains were closely related by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis, indicating patient to patient spread of a resistant clone.
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Aspirin possesses potent activity against the formation of biofilms formed by Candida albicans and could be useful in combination for managing biofilm-associated infections.
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Melioidosis is endemic in parts of Australia that may be visited by tourists. Allen Cheng reported that, as of March 20, 15 patients with melioidosis had been seen at the Royal Darwin Hospital during the 2003-2004 rainy season. The Royal Darwin is the referral center for the Top End region of the Northern Territory of Australia.
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Interferon a-n1 (Wellferon), interferon a-n3 (Alferon), and interferon b-1b (Betaferon) were each found to have in vitro activity against a strain of the SARS coronavirus.
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