Infectious Disease

ATLANTA -- Clinicians need to act quickly and appropriately to minimize morbidity and mortality of U.S. patients with malaria, CDC researchers said.

WASHINGTON -- This special report from Stanton M. Paddock, a MedPageToday contributing photographer, presents Ted Bader, M.D., of University of Oklahoma, discussing infection of Hepatitis C in Vietnam veterans.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An increased risk of tongue cancer in men has been associated with chronic peridontitis, independent of smoking status, researchers here reported.

WASHINGTON -- Forget that time-honored advice to diverticulosis patients to shun hard-to-digest foods like nuts and popcorn, said investigators here. Popcorn may actually be beneficial.

WASHINGTON -- The best new liver for a patient with hepatitis C related cirrhosis appears to be one from an HCV-infected donor, researchers reported here.

WASHINGTON -- Satins may improve liver function in patients with chronic hepatitis C, according to a small pilot study that challenges the widely accepted belief that the agents are hepatotoxic.

LONDON -- A single oral dose of vitamin D may give the immune system enough ammunition to fight off tuberculosis for six weeks after exposure, researchers here found.

BETHESDA, Md. -- The bumpy road to an HIV vaccine is leading researchers to try non-traditional avenues and to consider vaccines that -- unlike the classic paradigm -- would offer only partial protection.

CHICAGO -- A protocol for sepsis treatment in the emergency department may improve survival, researchers said here.

HELSINKI, Finland -- When babies born prematurely with a low birth weight become young adults, they are likely to have higher levels of insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and higher blood pressure than those born at term, researchers here reported.

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Tex. -- The source of hard-to-treat infections in U.S. soldiers injured in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan remains a mystery, according to military researchers say.

COLUMBIA, MO -- Prenatal exposure to the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal in Rh immunoglobulin (RhIg) does not increase a child's risk for an autism spectrum disorder, said investigators here.

LYON, FRANCE -- Smoking and alcohol are independent risk factors for head and neck cancer, but a dose-dependent relationship was observed only for smoking, said researchers here.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia should get drugs that cover both typical and atypical pathogens, international researchers have recommended.

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands -- Through age five, children born at full term but with a low birth weight were more likely to have respiratory symptoms, but not asthma, researchers here reported.

LOS ANGELES -- A peptide that protects rhesus monkeys from HIV-1 infection does just the opposite when its structure is reversed, researchers here say.

PERTH, Australia -- Preterm babies given probiotics to pump up beneficial bacteria may be less likely to suffer necrotizing enterocolitis, according to a meta-analysis.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Small peptide segments -- typically only 19 amino acids in length -- govern the switch from a normal protein to a self-perpetuating infectious prion, according to researchers here.

SEATTLE -- The quadrivalent human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine (Gardasil) is nearly 100% effective in preventing disease from two major cancer-causing strains, two industry-sponsored studies reported.

BALTIMORE -- The human papilloma virus -- known to cause a range of anogenital cancers -- is also associated with a dramatically increased risk of some throat cancers, according to researchers here.

HOUSTON -- Patients with hepatitis C virus infection may have a 20% to 30% increased risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, researchers here reported.

BALTIMORE -- For patients with hepatitis C, the likelihood of surviving over a three-year period after a liver transplant has not improved in 10 years, said researchers here.

SEATTLE -- Immunogenicity from the live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine (Zostavax) -- unlike herpes -- is not forever, post-marketing data suggest.

BOSTON -- An investigational orally delivered mucosal vaccine appears to offer significant protection against prion-related infections, at least in mice, investigators reported here.

ATLANTA -- If a flu pandemic materializes, Americans should avoid crowds and close contact, rather than relying on facemasks and respirators, the CDC said today.

LONDON -- More than a third of the HIV-positive gay men in England may be HIV-positive and not know it, according to researchers here.

FLORENCE, Italy -- An ultrasound measurement of liver thickness predicted portal hypertension in patients with hepatitis C-related cirrhosis, researchers here found.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The rate of invasive pneumococcal disease among children with sickle cell disease has fallen by more than 90% since the introduction of a new vaccine, researchers here say.

BOSTON -- Six months of rituximab (Rituxan) for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis lesions appears to reduce active lesions significantly and retard relapses, investigators reported here.

PARIS -- Cystic fibrosis patients may develop bone density deficits in the first years of life regardless of nutritional status or disease severity, researchers here found.