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Bacterial meningitis can be prevented with three vaccines - one for each type of the bactieria that causes the disease.
Baylor College of Medicine (Infettivologia) - Lun, 26 Aprile 2010
http://www.bcm.edu
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Although the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus has caused about 17 000 deaths worldwide so far, the death toll in elderly people has been unexpectedly low. Now, two studies explain why elderly people have some pre-existing immunity to 2009 H1N1.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases (Infettivologia) - Lun, 26 Aprile 2010
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf
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A new online global map could soon help scientists better track and predict outbreaks of infectious diseases like H1N1 much the same way meteorologists can study and forecast the weather.
Scientific American (Infettivologia) - Lun, 19 Aprile 2010
http://www.sciam.com/
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In this issue of JAMA, Boppana and colleagues describe their attempts to validate universal screening methods for congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, the most common congenital viral infection in the United States and many other regions, by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of newborn dried blood spots.
Journal of the American Medical Association (Infettivologia) - Lun, 19 Aprile 2010
http://jama.ama-assn.org/
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The risk of relapse of Clostridium difficile diarrhoea is 20-25% and can be mitigated by co-prescription of monoclonal antibodies directed against C difficile toxins A (CDA1) and B (CDB1).
British Medical Journal (Infettivologia) - Mer, 7 Aprile 2010
http://www.bmjjournals.com
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Antibiotic resistance is pushing gonorrhea toward superbug status.
Medscape (Infettivologia) - Mer, 7 Aprile 2010
http://www.medscape.com
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Men and women seem to differ in the types of travel-related illnesses they experience, according to the results of a new study. The researchers hope that these findings will prompt a change in standard travel medicine practice to include sex-specific interventions and research into differential susceptibility to disease.
The Lancet Infectious Diseases (Infettivologia) - Lun, 29 Marzo 2010
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf
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Following the emergence of the 2009 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic, public health interventions were activated to lessen its potential impact. Computer modelling and simulation can be used to determine the potential effectiveness of the social distancing and antiviral drug therapy interventions that were used at the early stages of the pandemic, providing guidance to public health policy makers as to intervention strategies in future pandemics involving a highly pathogenic influenza strain. Methods: An individual-based model of a real community with a population of approximately 30,000 was used to determine the impact of alternative interventions strategies, including those used in the initial stages of the 2009 pandemic. Different interventions, namely school closure and antiviral strategies, were simulated in isolation and in combination to form different plausible scenarios. We simulated epidemics with reproduction numbers R0 of 1.5, which aligns with estimates in the range 1.4-1.6 determined from the initial outbreak in Mexico. Results: School closure of 1 week was determined to have minimal effect on reducing overall illness attack rate. Antiviral drug treatment of 50% of symptomatic cases reduced the attack rate by 6.5%, from an unmitigated rate of 32.5% to 26%. Treatment of diagnosed individuals combined with additional household prophylaxis reduced the final attack rate to 19%. Further extension of prophylaxis to close contacts (in schools and workplaces) further reduced the overall attack rate to 13% and reduced the peak daily illness rate from 120 to 22 per 10,000 individuals. We determined the size of antiviral stockpile required; the ratio of the required number of antiviral courses to population was 13% for the treatment-only strategy, 25% for treatment and household prophylaxis and 40% for treatment, household and extended prophylaxis. Additional simulations suggest that coupling school closure with the antiviral strategies further reduces epidemic impact. Conclusions: These results suggest that the aggressive use of antiviral drugs together with extended school closure may substantially slow the rate of influenza epidemic development. These strategies are more rigorous than those actually used during the early stages of the relatively mild 2009 pandemic, and are appropriate for future pandemics which have high morbidity and mortality rates.
BioMed Central (Infettivologia) - Lun, 29 Marzo 2010
http://www.biomedcentral.com
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The 2009 pandemic influenza A/H1N1 virus has a predilection for the lower respiratory tract. In some cases, infection results in a pneumonitis and severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, which can be difficult to manage despite advanced ventilatory techniques.
British Medical Journal (Infettivologia) - Lun, 22 Marzo 2010
http://www.bmjjournals.com
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Last year, The Lancet reported that artemisinin-resistant falciparum malaria had been detected on the Thai–Cambodian border.
The Lancet (Infettivologia) - Lun, 22 Marzo 2010
http://www.thelancet.com