MEDSCAPE's Infectious Diseases MedPulse 11-22-01

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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 --

ANGELS IN OUR MIDST - MAKING A HOME FOR HOMELESS WOMEN

Dr. Roseanna Means addresses the issues facing homeless women in Boston,

including the threat of violence, sexual abuse, and child-care

responsibilities.

Medscape Infectious Diseases, 2001

http://id.medscape.com/45306.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

Other articles in this series:

SUMMER CAMP FOR CHILDREN WITH HEART DISEASE

http://id.medscape.com/43435.rhtml

TAKING HEALTHCARE TO SCHOOL

http://id.medscape.com/42905.rhtml

TRAINING VILLAGERS TO BECOME HEALTHCARE WORKERS

http://www.medscape.com/41703.rhtml

SPECIAL DELIVERY

http://www.medscape.com/40604.rhtml

-- CDC BIOTERRORISM WEBCAST --

CDC RESPONDS: BIOTERRORISM AND THE HEALTHCARE EPIDEMIOLOGY/INFECTION CONTROL TEAM

Archive of the webcast presented on November 16, 2001, an update on

bioterrorism-related anthrax and recommendations for infection control and

prevention.

http://id.medscape.com/govmt/CDC/2001/anthrax/public/webcast-cdc.html

-- MMWR --

INTERIM RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ANTIMICROBIAL PROPHYLAXIS FOR CHILDREN AND BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS AND TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH ANTHRAX

Because of its known safety for infants, amoxicillin is an option for

antimicrobial prophylaxis in breastfeeding mothers when B. anthracis is

known to be penicillin-susceptible and no contraindication to maternal

amoxicillin use is indicated.

MMWR 50(45):1014-1016, 2001. Centers for Disease Control

http://id.medscape.com/45304.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

INVESTIGATION OF BIOTERRORISM-RELATED ANTHRAX, 2001

As of November 14, a total of 22 cases of anthrax has met the CDC case

definition (1); 10 were confirmed inhalational anthrax, and 12 (seven

confirmed and five suspected) were cutaneous anthrax.

MMWR 50(45):1008-1010, 2001. Centers for Disease Control

http://id.medscape.com/45301.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS IN WORKERS AT AN ARCHEOLOGIC SITE ---DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT, UTAH, JUNE--JULY 2001

Health-care providers should consider coccidioidomycosis in the

differential diagnosis for patients with compatible illness who reside in

or recently have traveled to this area.

MMWR 50(45):1005-1008, 2001. Centers for Disease Control

http://id.medscape.com/45300.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

WEEKLY UPDATE: WEST NILE VIRUS ACTIVITY ---UNITED STATES, NOVEMBER 7--13, 2001

During this week, three human cases of WNV encephalitis or meningitis were

reported from New York (two) and Louisiana (one).

MMWR 50(45):1013-1014, 2001. Centers for Disease Control

http://id.medscape.com/45303.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- OTHER JOURNALS --

IDIOPATHIC INTERSTITIAL PNEUMONIAS: THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL TRIGGERS

Idiopathic -- or cryptogenic -- fibrosing alveolitis is defined by a

cluster of clinical, radiological, functional, and pathological features as

well as by the exclusion of a recognized 'cause.'

Sem Resp Crit Care Med 22(4):461-467, 2001.

http://id.medscape.com/45248.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

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___________________________________ NEWS ______________________________

-- ANTHRAX --

SUSPECTED INHALATION ANTHRAX CASE IN CONNECTICUT

An elderly woman in Connecticut is being treated for suspected inhalation

anthrax, Gov. John Rowland said on Tuesday.

http://id.medscape.com/45350.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

SAME SOURCE FOR DASCHLE AND LEAHY ANTHRAX LETTERS

An anthrax-contaminated letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle

and a suspicious letter sent to Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, came from

the same source, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Monday.

http://id.medscape.com/45351.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- SMALLPOX --

US SET TO RETAIN SMALLPOX STOCKS

The Bush administration, reversing a course set two decades ago, has

decided that the world's remaining stocks of smallpox should be retained

until scientists develop new vaccines and treatments for the disease.

http://id.medscape.com/45232.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- BIOTERRORISM --

US ACCUSES IRAQ AND OTHERS OF VIOLATING BIOLOGICAL WEAPON BAN

The US accused Iraq and North Korea of violating a ban on biological

weapons at the start of a conference designed to strengthen an

international treaty outlawing germ warfare.

http://id.medscape.com/45290.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

ONE CHANCE LEFT FOR BIOWEAPONS BAN, UK SCIENTISTS WARN

Britain's national academy of science, the Royal Society, warned on

Thursday that next week's Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) may be the

last chance to reinforce the ban on the use of biological weapons.

http://id.medscape.com/45234.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

USDA: ANIMAL LABS NEED REPAIRS AND MORE SECURITY

Federal animal health laboratories, which house strains of dangerous

diseases such as anthrax, botulism and plague, urgently need repairs, a top

US Department of Agriculture official said on Thursday.

http://id.medscape.com/45239.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- RESPIRATORY TRACT --

RESEARCHERS DEVELOP RISK INDEX FOR PREDICTING POSTOPERATIVE PNEUMONIA

Researchers have developed a risk index for predicting postoperative

pneumonia that could be useful in guiding perioperative respiratory care,

according to a report in the November 20th issue of the Annals of Internal

Medicine.

http://id.medscape.com/45259.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

CLINICIANS SHOULD BE WARY OF UNUSUAL CAUSES OF CAP

Certain epidemiologic clues can alert physicians to unusual causes of

community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and the need to alter empiric therapy

appropriately.

http://id.medscape.com/45275.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

PENICILLIN POTENCY SHOULD BE REVISITED

A substantial proportion of children with group A streptococcal pharyngitis

fail treatment with recommended doses of oral penicillin V and

intramuscular benzathine penicillin G (BPG), according to findings

published in the November issue of Pediatrics.

http://id.medscape.com/45330.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- HEPATITIS --

HCV TREATMENT IN HIV-INFECTED PATIENTS BEST BEFORE IMMUNOSUPPRESSION OCCURS

Treatment of hepatitis C (HCV) in HIV-infected patients is more likely to

succeed if it begins prior to the occurrence of severe immunodepression,

according to researchers in Paris.

http://id.medscape.com/45260.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

HEPATITIS B LINGERS IN LAMIVUDINE-TREATED LIVER TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS

Sensitive assays indicate the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) particles

in liver transplant recipients even after apparently effective treatment

with lamivudine, French researchers report in the November issue of the

Journal of Medical Virology.

http://id.medscape.com/45324.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- HIV/AIDS --

RESISTANT CYTOMEGALOVIRUS LEADS TO RETINITIS PROGRESSION IN AIDS PATIENTS

Ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus (CMV) is associated with progression

of retinitis, infection in the contralateral eye and occasionally

extraocular CMV disease, according to members of the Cytomegalovirus

Retinitis and Viral Resistance Study Group.

http://id.medscape.com/45265.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- OTHER STDs --

MANY US COLLEGE STUDENTS DO NOT USE CONDOMS

Although US college students as a group are at risk for sexually

transmitted infection (STI), most do not use condoms consistently, new

research shows.

http://id.medscape.com/45289.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- TUBERCULOSIS --

HIV INFECTION INCREASES RISK OF TB REINFECTION FOLLOWING CURE

Patients co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are at increased risk

of reinfection after cure, compared with patients who are HIV-seronegative,

according to findings from a study of gold miners in South Africa.

http://id.medscape.com/45278.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- VACCINES --

H. INFLUENZAE VACCINATION BEFORE PREGNANCY PROTECTS SUBSEQUENT OFFSPRING

Infants of mothers immunized against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

with conjugate vaccine before pregnancy show elevated levels of antibody to

the pathogen.

http://id.medscape.com/45270.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

UK DOCTOR CLEARED TO GIVE SEPARATE MMR SHOTS

A British doctor offering the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine in

separate doses will not face misconduct charges, the General Medical

Council (GMC) said on Monday.

http://id.medscape.com/45346.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

MODIFIED SMALLPOX VACCINE TO BE TESTED AS CERVICAL CANCER TREATMENT

A modified version of the smallpox vaccine is being used to fight cervical

cancer, scientists said on Monday.

http://id.medscape.com/45273.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

NEEDLE-FREE TETANUS VACCINATION EFFECTIVE IN MICE

Mice inoculated with an adenovirus-vector tetanus vaccine by the nasal or

epicutaneous route are protected against live Clostridium tetani challenge,

according to a report in the December Journal of Virology.

http://id.medscape.com/45355.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

-- OTHER ID NEWS --

ERADICATION OF H. PYLORI MAY IMPROVE SYMPTOMS OF HEREDITARY SKIN DISORDER

Helicobacter pylori infection is thought to play a causative role in many

dermatologic conditions.

http://id.medscape.com/45224.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

PROBE LAUNCHED IN US INTO KNEE SURGERY DEATHS

The suspicious deaths of three men who underwent knee surgery operations at

two Minnesota hospitals have prompted a statewide medical alert and probe

into the possible causes.

http://id.medscape.com/45274.rhtml?srcmp=id-112101

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