http://www.medscape.com/infectiousdiseaseshome

http://www.medscape.com/cmecenterdirectory

LABORATORY-ACQUIRED MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE --- UNITED STATES, 2000 N. meningitidis isolates should be handled with minimum risk of exposure to aerosols or droplets. MMWR 51(7) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429344?srcmp=id-030802

CONGENITAL MALARIA AS A RESULT OF PLASMODIUM MALARIAE --- NORTH CAROLINA, 2000 Suspect malaria when treating an infant with fever if the mother has traveled or lived in a malarious area. MMWR 51(8) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429342?srcmp=id-030802

RASHES AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN --- 14 STATES, OCTOBER 4, 2001--FEBRUARY 27, 2002 Further investigation is needed to determine whether a common etiology for these rashes exists. MMWR 51(8) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429341?srcmp=id-030802

COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE BACTEREMIA: GLOBAL DIFFERENCES IN CLINICAL PATTERNS A distinctive form of K. pneumoniae infection, often causing liver abscess, occurs almost exclusively in Taiwan. Emerg Infect Dis 8(2) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424782?srcmp=id-030802

The case search demonstrated widespread disease and gross underreporting. Emerg Infect Dis 8(2) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424783?srcmp=id-030802

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF BURKHOLDERIA CEPACIA COMPLEX IN PATIENTS WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS, CANADA B. cepacia strains from genomovar III are the most transmissible. Emerg Infect Dis 8(2) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424797?srcmp=id-030802

VECTOR INTERACTIONS AND MOLECULAR ADAPTATIONS OF LYME DISEASE AND RELAPSING FEVER SPIROCHETES ASSOCIATED WITH TRANSMISSION BY TICKS B burgdorferi and B hermsii change their outer surface during their alternating infections in ticks and mammals. Emerg Infect Dis 8(2) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424731?srcmp=id-030802

SURVEILLANCE FOR UNEXPLAINED DEATHS AND CRITICAL ILLNESSES DUE TO POSSIBLY INFECTIOUS CAUSES, USA, 1995-1998 Of obvious concern is the large proportion that remain unexplained after extensive laboratory testing. Emerg Infect Dis 8(2) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424740?srcmp=id-030802

MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA BLOODSTREAM INFECTIONS: ANALYSIS OF TRENDS IN PREVALENCE AND EPIDEMIOLOGY Multidrug resistance is statistically associated with HIV infection. Emerg Infect Dis 8(2) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424806?srcmp=id-030802

Culture has irreplaceable advantages for studying emerging bacterial diseases. Emerg Infect Dis 8(2) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424737?srcmp=id-030802

Some gram-negative bacteria resistant to all available antimicrobial agents including carbapenems have emerged. Emerg Infect Dis 8(2) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424738?srcmp=id-030802

MOTILITY OF MINUTE INTESTINAL FLUKE, HAPLORCHINAE SPP, METACERCARIAE IN FISH DISHES PREPARED BY DIFFERENT UNCOOKED METHODS Public health education might help millions avoid infection from uncooked fish in dishes prepared traditionally. Medscape General Medicine 4(1) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429092?srcmp=id-030802

Highlights include the role of TIPS in prevention of variceal rebleeding and combined interferon/amantadine for HCV. Medscape Gastroenterology 4(1) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429059?srcmp=id-030802

An HIV-positive woman presented with a history of fever, headache, and neck stiffness on awakening the day before. Infect Med 19(1) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/423490?srcmp=id-030802

MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIAE AS A CAUSE OF MENINGOENCEPHALITIS IN AN 8-YEAR-OLD BOY The outcome of M pneumoniae-induced neurologic disease is highly variable, ranging from full recovery to death. Infect Med 19(1) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/423486?srcmp=id-030802

Review recent findings on drug resistance, opportunistic infections, adherence and directly observed therapy, and more. AIDS Read 12(1) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/423535?srcmp=id-030802

CRISIS AND RECOVERY: LESSONS IN READINESS - ON BIOTERRORISM'S FRONT LINES Kaiser Permanente's Mid-Atlantic States members are among the first to be targeted for anthrax. Healthplan 43(1) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/424399?srcmp=id-030802

SUMMARY OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPLY CHAIN The US medical disaster-response system rose to the occasion after recent events but there is much room for improvement. Am J Health-Syst Pharm 59(3) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425000?srcmp=id-030802

ASHP STATEMENT ON THE ROLE OF HEALTH-SYSTEM PHARMACISTS IN COUNTERTERRORISM Hospital and health-system pharmacists must assertively exercise their responsibilities to counter terrorist acts. Am J Health-Syst Pharm 59(3) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/425002?srcmp=id-030802

Telithromycin is the first of this new class to undergo extensive clinical evaluation, and the results are promising. Pharmacotherapy 22(1s) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/423227?srcmp=id-030802

PANEL DISCUSSION: MAXIMIZING OUTCOMES IN RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS IN THE AGE OF RESISTANCE Read a panel discussion about ketolides, telithromycin, and more. Pharmacotherapy 22(1s) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/423229?srcmp=id-030802

OPTIMIZING ECONOMIC OUTCOMES IN ACUTE EXACERBATIONS OF CHRONIC BRONCHITIS Treatment of community-acquired respiratory tract infections constitutes a huge socioeconomic burden. Pharmacotherapy 22(1s) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/423226?srcmp=id-030802

THE EMERGING ROLE OF ATYPICAL PATHOGENS IN COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA The macrolides, fluoroquinolones, and in some instances, the tetracyclines, are logical first-line treatment choices. Pharmacotherapy 22(1s) 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/423225?srcmp=id-030802

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

(CDC) has collected data on tularemia, the zoonotic disease caused by the coccobacillus Francisella tularensis. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429709?srcmp=id-030802

INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE CONCLUDES ANTHRAX VACCINE SAFE, BUT INADEQUATE While the current US anthrax vaccine appears safe and effective, government agencies and private companies should speed efforts to develop easier-to-use vaccines, an expert panel concluded in a report issued Wednesday. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429632?srcmp=id-030802

No clear pattern of illnesses are discernible from an analysis of a US database of persons vaccinated with the anthrax vaccine, but researchers cautioned attendees of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology meeting here this week that a much larger sample needs to be collected before the existence of any vaccine-related syndrome can be ruled out. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429711?srcmp=id-030802

The recent inhalational anthrax outbreak in the US could have been twice as large if thousands of exposed individuals had not received a 60-day prophylactic antibiotic regimen, according to a report published in the March 8th issue of Science. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429695?srcmp=id-030802

FRENCH AGENCY SEEKS SAFEGUARDS ON SHEEP INTESTINES TO REDUCE BSE RISK France's food safety agency AFSSA on Wednesday renewed its call to toughen safeguards on sheep and goat products due to the theoretical risk of these animals acquiring bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and passing it to humans. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429633?srcmp=id-030802

The Japanese government said on Friday it would accept a court-brokered settlement of lawsuits filed against it by victims of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, bringing to an end a 5-year legal battle. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429391?srcmp=id-030802

H. PYLORI DRUG RESISTANCE A GROWING PROBLEM IN GERMANY Indiscriminate use of antibiotics to fight Helicobacter pylori is encouraging the spread of drug-resistant strains. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429645?srcmp=id-030802

PNEUMOCOCCAL RESISTANCE IN CHILDREN CONTINUES TO RISE Antibiotic resistance among pneumococcal isolates recovered from children with invasive infections has progressively increased in the US, results of a 6-year surveillance study indicate. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429639?srcmp=id-030802

LEVOFLOXACIN-RESISTANT PNEUMOCOCCAL PNEUMONIA SEEMS TO BE EMERGING Canadian researchers writing in the March 7th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine describe four cases of pneumococcal pneumonia in which levofloxacin treatment failed. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429620?srcmp=id-030802

HEPATITIS B LINKED TO CAROTID ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN THE JAPANESE POPULATION Results of a population-based study by Japanese researchers reported in the March 5th issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association ties chronic hepatitis B infection to the pathogenesis of carotid atherosclerosis. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429713?srcmp=id-030802

US health advisers voted unanimously on Wednesday to add protection against a type B influenza strain, originally found in Australia, to next season's flu vaccine. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429697?srcmp=id-030802

LOWER VACCINE RESPONSE PERSISTS IN EXTREMELY PREMATURE INFANTS Former extremely preterm infants have lower antibody titers to many vaccine antigens at 7 years than children born at full term, according to a report in the March issue of Pediatrics. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429596?srcmp=id-030802

An attenuated virus vaccine against West Nile virus (WN) is efficacious and safe when inoculated into mice, according to a report in the March 5th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429517?srcmp=id-030802

rates increased in nearly two thirds of US cities that had the highest gonorrhea rates, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, announced on Tuesday at an STD prevention meeting in San Diego, California. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429573?srcmp=id-030802

NONOXYNOL-9 GEL INEFFECTIVE AGAINST SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS Although nonoxynol-9 gel has been proposed as a vaginal antimicrobial, results of a new study reported in the March 6th issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, show that use of nonoxynol-9 gel does not protect against urogenital gonococcal or chlamydial infection. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429583?srcmp=id-030802

FATTY ACID SYNTHESIS OF MALARIA PARASITE HOLDS KEY TO NEW ANTIMALARIALS Inhibitors of fatty acid synthesis of the malarial parasite may hold a key to the development of new antimalarials, Indian researchers suggest. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429567?srcmp=id-030802

RECALLED BRONCHOSCOPE MAY HAVE CAUSED PNEUMONIA-RELATED DEATHS A recalled bronchoscope that was used at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore may have exposed more than 400 patients to pathogenic bacteria, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429560?srcmp=id-030802

A human respiratory virus very similar to the laryngotracheitis virus found in turkeys has been identified in Australian children by a Queensland multicentre team. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429513?srcmp=id-030802

Compared with 1991, more Americans in 1999 believed that HIV is spread by casual contact, and growing numbers blame people with the infection for their illness, according to a report in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429637?srcmp=id-030802

DELAY IN THREE-DRUG HAART DOES NOT ADVERSELY AFFECT HIV RESPONSE IN CHILDREN Treating HIV-positive children with triple drug highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) after first starting them on two antiretrovirals does not seem to affect the reduction in viral load. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429730?srcmp=id-030802

Former South African President Nelson Mandela warned on Thursday that people would die 'in scores every day' if the government continued to block access to key AIDS-related drugs. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429694?srcmp=id-030802

Nelson Mandela said on Sunday he supported South Africa's AIDS research policy, but proposed giving people a choice to take antiretroviral drugs if they were not prepared to wait for the government's study results. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429500?srcmp=id-030802

Charities called on Wednesday for Britain to take a lead in the fight against Africa's HIV/AIDS epidemic, starting with a huge increase in spending. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429698?srcmp=id-030802

The European Union (EU) on Tuesday proposed easing World Trade Organisation (WTO) patent protection rules to allow poor countries battling health crises like HIV/AIDS to get low-cost drugs from abroad. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429591?srcmp=id-030802

TRIMETHOPRIM-SULFAMETHOXAZOLE MAY ALTER HIV-ASSOCIATED BACTEREMIA In certain HIV-infected patients, prophylaxis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) reduces the prevalence of susceptible bacteria, but SXT-resistant isolates appear to be more common, researchers report in the February issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429578?srcmp=id-030802

MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT HIV PERSISTS DESPITE LOWER REPLICATIVE FITNESS Despite having lower replicative competence than wild-type virus, multidrug-resistant (MDR) HIV generated during primary HIV infection can establish persistent infections as the dominant quasispecies, according to a report in the February Journal of Virology. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429571?srcmp=id-030802

CO-CHAIRS, MEMBERS APPOINTED TO PRESIDENTIAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HIV/AIDS Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has appointed Dr. Louis W. Sullivan and Dr. Thomas Coburn to serve as co-chairs of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429367?srcmp=id-030802

US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson awarded $597 million on Monday to 51 urban communities hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to an HHS statement. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429493?srcmp=id-030802

SV40, a potent oncogenic virus, has been linked to a variety of human neoplasms such as mesotheliomas and brain and bone tumors. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429714?srcmp=id-030802

PANCREATIC ISLET CELL ANTIVIRAL DEFENSES INFLUENCE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO DIABETES Antiviral defenses expressed by pancreatic islet cells are required to prevent diabetes after infection with coxsackievirus B4, according to a March 4th report in the Advance Online Publication of Nature Immunology. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429516?srcmp=id-030802

FORMER US PRESIDENT URGES SUDAN CEASEFIRE TO ERADICATE WORM DISEASE Former US president Jimmy Carter urged the warring parties in Sudan on Monday to declare a nationwide cease-fire to back a project to eradicate Guinea worm disease. Reuters Health Information 2002 http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/429501?srcmp=id-030802

Or click here: http://www.medscape.com/cmecenterdirectory

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/413700

<http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/413379>

Unsubscribe or subscribe to MedPulse: http://www.medscape.com/profile (<A HREF="http://www.medscape.com/profile">Edit Your Profile</A>).

Forgot your login info?: http://www.medscape.com/password

Need additional support?: http://www.medscape.com/help/tech

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.