MEDSCAPE's Infectious Diseases MedPulse 2-21-02

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MedPulse is a weekly index of key news and features on Medscape's

specialty sites compiled by Medscape's Editors.

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___________________ NEW FEATURE ARTICLES THIS WEEK ____________________

-- MEDSCAPE ORIGINAL ARTICLES --

JOURNAL SCAN - PEDIATRICS, FEBRUARY 2002

Topics include:

- Risk Factors for Candida Colonization of Neonatal ICU Patients

- CMV Infection of Extremely Low-Birth Weight Infants via Breast Milk

- Control of Hepatitis A Through Routine Vaccination of Children

Medscape Pediatrics 4(1) 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424625

UTIs CAUSED BY MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT E COLI CLONAL GROUP

A new study links a previously undescribed, multidrug-resistant E coli

clonal group to a high percentage of UTIs among university coeds in

3 states. Medscape Journal Scan summarizes these findings in an

original summary. It's one of the many articles available in the

UTI-Zone, a clinical Resource Center online at Medscape.

http://www.medscape.com/resource/uti-zone

-- MMWR --

TUBERCULOSIS MORBIDITY AMONG U.S.-BORN AND FOREIGN-BORN POPULATIONS --UNITED STATES, 2000

The decrease among foreign-born persons was less substantial than for those born in the US.

MMWR 51(5) 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424020

PROGRESS TOWARD ELIMINATION OF PERINATAL HIV INFECTION -- MICHIGAN,

1993-2000

Obstetric providers should offer all pregnant women HIV counseling and voluntary testing.

MMWR 51(5) 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424018

-- INFECTIONS in MEDICINE --

NEW ORLEANS CITYWIDE ROUNDS: A PHYSICIAN WITH OSTEOMYELITIS

A 51-year-old male physician, previously healthy, was admitted for evaluation and treatment of an infected wrist.

Infect Med 18(12) 2001

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/421541

HIV RESISTANCE TESTING -- AGAIN

A laboratory kit for HIV genotyping was recently approved by the FDA.

Infect Med 18(12) 2001

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/421534

DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTIOUS VULVOVAGINAL DISEASE

Correct diagnosis is largely contingent on the clinician's ability to do a sophisticated wet mount/KOH analysis.

Infect Med 18(12) 2001

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/421542

AMEBIC LIVER ABSCESS

Read the case report of a 30-year-old male physician who contracted amebiasis in his native India.

Infect Med 18(12) 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/421533

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___________________________________ NEWS ______________________________

-- MALARIA --

LOW DOSES OF NEW ANTIMALARIAL AGENT CURES MALARIA IN ANIMALS

A multinational research team has developed a new antimalarial compound that completely cures monkeys infected with several species of Plasmodium at doses much lower than required by currently used agents.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425569

AID AGENCY URGES USE OF CHINESE ANTIMALARIAL AGENT IN AFRICA

Aid agency Doctors without Borders urged east African countries on Wednesday to abandon ineffective antimalarial drugs in favour of a Chinese plant extract they say could save thousands of lives.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425179

-- VACCINES & IMMUNIZATION --

INDEPENDENT EXPERTS SAY MMR VACCINE IS SAFE

An independent scientific advisory committee which has reviewed the latest research on the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine said on Thursday there is no evidence of a causal link between the controversial vaccine and autism or bowel disease.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425560

BRITAIN TO GO ON OFFENSIVE OVER MMR

Britain said on Sunday it would launch a major publicity blitz to reassure anxious parents about the safety of the MMR vaccine amid fears that a drop in immunisation rates could lead to a serious outbreak of diseases.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425518

REPORT SHOWS NO LINK BETWEEN MMR VACCINE AND AUTISM

As Britain seeks to address growing concerns over the safety of the MMR vaccine, new research findings released on Friday indicate no link between its use and autism.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424259

GOVERNMENT, INDUSTRY DISCUSS STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTING VACCINE SHORTAGES

Vaccine makers and federal officials kicked off a two-day meeting here Monday, aiming to find ways to prevent the periodic manufacturing and distribution glitches that have led to supply shortages for vaccines over the past few years.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425542

S. AUREUS VACCINE CONFERS IMMUNITY IN SEVERELY IMMUNOCOMPROMISED

PATIENTS

A bivalent vaccine against S aureus is safe and immunogenic for approximately 40 weeks in patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis, according to a report in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425539

-- FOODBORNE DISEASE --

UK WATCHDOG LAUNCHES DRIVE TO REDUCE FOOD POISONING

Britain's food watchdog launched a multi-million pound campaign on Tuesday to reduce growing incidents of food poisoning--an illness that struck 5.5 million Britons last year.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425627

-- CHAGAS DISEASE --

CELERA DONATES PROTEASE INHIBITOR TO BE DEVELOPED FOR CHAGAS DISEASE

Celera Genomics unit on Thursday said that the Institute for OneWorld Health (IOWH) and the US NIH are developing its CRA-3316 cysteine protease inhibitor to treat Chagas' Disease.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425577

-- HIV/AIDS --

HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS WHO SEEK INFERTILITY TREATMENT REQUIRE SPECIAL

CARE

HIV-infected patients who want to have genetically related offspring should be advised by physicians to seek care at facilities that can provide the most effective evaluation, treatment and follow-up, according to new recommendations by the Ethics Committee of the American

Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425604

ENDOPHTHALMITIS CAN COMPLICATE GANCICLOVIR IMPLANTATION SURGERY

Eye enucleation was required when a 39-year-old woman developed acute endophthalmitis 1 month after insertion of a ganciclovir implant to treat AIDS-related cytomegaloviral retinitis.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425586

IMMUNE RECONSTITUTION POSSIBLE IN ADVANCED HIV PATIENTS

Patients with advanced HIV infection and extensive nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) experience can have significant immunologic improvement after switching to a potent antiretroviral regimen that suppresses viral replication.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425582

GOOD PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP PROMOTES ANTIRETROVIRAL ADHERENCE

Good relationships between physicians and their patients tend to foster adherence to antiretroviral drug regimens, according to a report in the January issue of AIDS Patient Care and STDs.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425517

DRASTIC ACCELERATION OF HIV PROGRESSION LINKED TO COCAINE USE

Cocaine appears to interact directly with HIV to dramatically increase viral load and lower CD4+ counts, according to in vivo studies using a hybrid human-murine model, reported in The Journal of Infectious Diseases for March 1. Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425490

NON-PROFITS WANT MORE FEDERAL FUNDS FOR HIV MICROBICIDE RESEARCH

A group of non-profit organizations want the US government to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the development of topical microbicides that could help prevent millions of new HIV infections.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425532

AIDS EPIDEMIC IS IGNORED IN RUSSIA, OFFICIAL CLAIMS

AIDS is expected to ravage Russia soon with consequences that may be even more catastrophic than those in Africa, yet the public is barely even aware the epidemic has arrived, Russia's top AIDS official said.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425519

DRIED BLOOD SPOT FOUND USEFUL FOR HIV SCREENING IN REMOTE AREAS

Blood spots collected on filter paper and dried can be used for HIV

testing even when transported and stored under hot and humid conditions, Indian researchers report.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425177

-- OTHER STDs --

INCIDENCE OF CERVICAL PAPILLOMAVIRUS HIGH DURING FIRST SEXUAL

RELATIONSHIP

The risk of infection with cervical human papillomavirus is high in young women during their first sexual experience, UK and Australian researchers report.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425484

MANY CASES OF GONORRHEA, CHLAMYDIA ARE ASYMPTOMATIC AND GO UNDIAGNOSED

Based on a cross-sectional survey of adult Baltimore residents, the number of undiagnosed gonococcal and chlamydial infections is greater than the number of diagnosed cases.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425480

STIS MAY PLAY ROLE IN PROSTATE CANCER DEVELOPMENT

A history of sexually transmitted infection (STI) is associated with the development of prostate cancer, suggesting that such infections may play a causative role.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425194

-- ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE --

BRITISH HOSPITALS HAVE HIGH MRSA INFECTION RATES

British hospitals have one of the highest rates of methicillin-resistant S aureus infection in northern Europe, according to findings released on Friday.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424267

-- OTHER ID NEWS --

NEW JERSEY HEALTH OFFICIALS DETERMINE HOTEL OUTBREAK WAS 'COINCIDENTAL'

An outbreak of flu-like symptoms at a crowded New Jersey hotel killed one woman and left another hospitalized with pneumonia on Monday, but health officials said in most cases the symptoms appeared to be coincidental.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425624

INFECTED GUMS LEAK TOXINS INTO BLOODSTREAM

Individuals with severe periodontal disease may be prone to releasing endotoxins into their bloodstream, which may help explain the link between gum infections and cardiovascular disease, Belgian researchers report.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424292

FDA PROPOSES BLOOD CENTERS SHOULD DEFER RECIPIENTS OF ANIMAL ORGANS, TISSUE

The US FDA issued on Friday a draft guidance document, recommending that the nation's blood collection centers defer recipients of transplanted animal organs and tissues, and those that have had intimate contact with those individuals.

Reuters Health Information 2002

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424263

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