Volume 52, Issue 7, 1 April 2011

The risk to develop GBS is similar following CMV or C. jejuni infection. The number of cases has been decreasing over time but displays an annual periodicity. CMV-GBS mostly occurs in young adults and in women aged >50. Sensory defects are frequent and could be related to viral replication.

During 2006, Israeli hospitals faced a clonal outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, threatening the entire hospital system. A centrally-coordinated nationwide intervention, including isolation of hospitalized carriers, dedicated staffing, and professional oversight, succeeded in containing the spread, after local measures failed.

We compared the level of vaccinia immune markers among subjects who did or did not develop clinical take following smallpox revaccination, and found similar levels in both groups. Therefore, during smallpox mass immunization, revaccination success assessment among multiple revaccinees is unnecessary.

Botulism is a rare neurological disease. During 1993–2006, we identified 17 California injection drug users (IDUs) with recurrent wound botulism (WB); most injected black tar heroin subcutaneously. WB can recur among IDUs necessitating timely diagnosis and early botulinum antitoxin administration.

The effect of antibiotic exposure on the yield of biopsy cultures from patients with hematogenous vertebral osteomyelitis was evaluated in a retrospective study. Open (compared to percutaneous) biopsy predicted positive cultures. Receivingpre-biopsy antibiotics did not affect the diagnostic yield.

We assessed cure rates and safety of artemether-lumefantrine in Tanzanian children with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria after supervised and unsupervised intake during extended follow-up periods after initial and repeated treatment. Artemetherlumefantrine was safe and highly efficacious even after unsupervised intake.

During a mass azithromycin campaign for trachoma, all-cause and infectious mortality rates were lower in treated children compared to untreated children. Treated children had a lower mortality rate even when compared only to members of the same household.

A sustained virologic response (SVR) to antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C infection is a clinically meaningful therapeutic endpoint and represents a cure. Achieving SVR engenders amelioration of histological damage and a reduction in critical clinical endpoints like liver-related death.

Availability of new diagnostic tools and global commitment towards universal access to tuberculosis care will accelerate capacity of resource-limited countries to monitor anti-tuberculosis drug resistance. Special surveys will be replaced by routine surveillance of drug resistance linked to patient care.

In this analysis of 5056 HIV-1 infected individuals initiating randomized antiretroviral treatment in clinical trials, abacavircontaining regimens did not appear associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI). Classic cardiovascular disease risk factors were the strongest predictors of MI.

Penicilliosis made up 4.4% of all AIDS admissions and increased approximately 30% in rainy months. In-hospital mortality was 20% and associated with injection drug use, shorter illness, absence of fever or skin lesions, respiratory difficulty, and degree of thrombocytopenia.

We investigated the role of donor cytomegalovirus (CMV) serostatus on reactivation of CMV infection in CMV-infected transplant recipients. Reactivation of CMV infection occurred more frequently in patients receiving a CMV positive graft but was less severe than in patients receiving a CMV-negative graft. These data suggest roles for both virus as well as CMV-specific immunity present in the graft.

The sensitivities of the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage galactomannan (GM) assays in 48 patients with pulmonary aspergilloma were 38% (13 of 34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 22%–56%) and 92% (33 of 36; 95% CI, 78%–98%), respectively. The positivity of serum GM assays was significantly higher in patients with hemoptysis than in those without hemoptysis (52% vs 9%; P 5 .02).

This investigation of tuberculosis (TB) treatment regimens in 6 TB hospitals in China showed that only 18% of patients with new cases and 9% of patients with retreatment cases were prescribed standard TB treatment regimens. Adherence to treatment guidelines needs to be improved in TB hospitals to control multidrug-resistant TB in China.