Infectious Disease Alert – August 1, 2014
August 1, 2014
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New Recommendations for HIV Testing
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Association of Public Health Laboratories. Laboratory testing for the diagnosis of HIV infection: updated recommendations. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/HIVtestingAlgorithmRecommendation-Final.pdf -
Acute HIV Infection a Common Cause of Fever in Africa
Among 3602 young adults from coastal Kenya, the overall prevalence of HIV-1 infection was 3.9%. Of 241 patients presenting with fever, 4 patients (1.7%) had acute HIV infection (AHI). 1 of 265 (0.4%) of non-febrile patients had AHI. Malaria was confirmed by PCR in 4 (1.7%) of the febrile patients. -
Abstract & Commentary Mobilizing for Global Health
The Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Childrens Hospital created a global health corps named the Pediatric AIDS Corps in June 2005. Over a period of five years, 128 physicians were employed overseas by the Pediatric AIDS Corps with generally high levels of satisfaction and favorable impact on health. -
Delaying Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy for Cryptococcal Meningitis Improves Survival
HIV-infected patients diagnosed with cryptococcal meningitis who received antiretroviral therapy (ART) 5 weeks after starting antifungal therapy had improved survival at 26 weeks compared to similar patients who received ART at 1-2 weeks (45% vs 30%, respectively, P=0.03). -
Ebola in West Africa — It’s Not Going Away
The current ongoing Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa is the largest ever recorded. -
Antimicrobial Prophylaxis for Children with Vesicoureteral Reflux
Antimicrobial prophylaxis reduces the rate of recurrent urinary tract infection in children with vesicoureteral reflux, but it does not alter the rate of renal scarring. Intestinal flora develop antimicrobial resistance in children receiving prophylaxis. -
The Effect of Birth Month on RSV Hospitilization
Compared to manual surveillance methods, an electronic surveillance tool for catheter-associated urinary tract infections had a high negative predictive value but a low positive predictive value. -
Updates
The escalating presence of XDR TB in South Africa has created a public health crisis, squeezing already scarce public health dollars. While drug resistant TB represents a small percent of the total TB case load in South Africa, the cost of care for those patients soaked up nearly half of the governments entire TB budget for 2010 (about $126 million USD).