Infectious Disease Alert – January 1, 2004
January 1, 2004
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In a Community Near You: MRSA
The evolution of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus is an epic saga. Resistance to penicillin was first reported in the 1940s, at a time when the drug still remained in short supply. -
The Vice of VRSA
The results of genetic analysis of a strain of S aureus with high-level resistance to vancomycin suggest that this resistance was the consequence of genetic transfer from a VRE to an MRSA, each present in and on the unfortunate patient who served as the incubator. -
Antiviral Drug Resistance: Implications for Post- Exposure Prophylaxis in Health Care Workers with Occupational HIV Exposure
In a multicenter study of occupational HIV exposures, 38% of source patients had genotype mutations associated with resistance to antiretroviral drugs. Recent antiretroviral treatment history was highly associated with resistance. -
ICAAC/IDSA/ASTMH 2003
The following summary of selected abstracts from 3 meetings will be published in multiple parts. The 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) met in Chicago September 14-17, 2003. -
Updates
An outbreak of tetanus involving 6 (and possibly 7) injection drug users in England and Wales has officials concerned that others may be at risk. Six of the cases occurred during the past 3 weeks and were spread throughout the country, suggesting contamination of some type of drugpossibly heroin. -
Pharmacology Watch: Vioxx Might Control Postoperative Knee Pain
Oral rofecoxib (Vioxx) may have a role in controlling postoperative pain patients undergoing knee surgery. Researchers in Chicago enrolled 70 patients who were undergoing total knee arthroplasty and randomized them to rofecoxib 50 mg the day prior to surgery, 1-2 hours prior to surgery, and for 5 days postoperatively, then 25 mg daily for another 8 days; or matching placebo at the same times. -
Clinical Briefs in Primary Care Supplement