Infectious Disease

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Afluria was approved today by the FDA as the sixth seasonal influenza vaccine on the U.S. market. Manufactured by Australia's CSL Limited, the company will produce about two million doses for this year's flu season.

SEATTLE -- There is something about farming, nursing, and teaching that seems to predispose those who work at these professions to death from systemic autoimmune diseases, reported investigators here.

MILWAUKEE -- A Clostridium difficile infection sharply increases the risk of death for patients with underlying inflammatory bowel disease, researchers here said.

CHICAGO -- The incidence and economic burden of hospital-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infections have increased significantly in recent years, investigators here have concluded.

ATLANTA -- Children who were given thimerosal-containing vaccines a decade ago showed no causal decline in neuropsychological outcomes by ages seven to 10, CDC researchers here found.

WASHINGTON -- Influenza vaccination may save many fewer older patients' lives than generally claimed, according to researchers here.

ATLANTA -- Influenza vaccination rates have not rebounded after widespread vaccine shortages in the 2004-2005 flu season, CDC investigators said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- In another setback to the effort to create a preventive vaccine against HIV, a key trial has been halted because of a lack of efficacy, according to Merck and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

CHICAGO -- Rubella vaccination reduces the risk of Fuchs heterochromic iridocyclitis (FHI), investigators here reported, providing additional support for a link between rubella virus infection and inflammation.

CHICAGO -- A gene that allows micro-organisms to resist the carbapenem antibiotics -- first seen in New York -- is spreading to the Midwest, a St. Louis researcher said here.

CHICAGO -- Infants vaccinated against pertussis at birth have a powerful immune response that outstrips the immunity seen in babies vaccinated on the normal schedule, a researcher said here.

CHICAGO -- Statins, widely used for their anti-cholesterol properties, also appear to have anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties, researchers said here.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA said bottles of Baby's Bliss Gripe Water, which is marketed as a remedy for "colic, hiccups, and teething," may be contaminated with a parasite that causes severe diarrhea.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has expanded the indications for FluMist, a nasal influenza vaccine, to include children ages two to five.

BETHESDA, Md. -- The etiology of the rare immune system disorder hyper-IgE syndrome, or Job's syndrome, tracks to mutations in a gene involved in signal transduction and transcription activation, investigators here reported.

CHICAGO -- Immunization with Gardasil, a vaccine designed to prevent infection with human papilloma virus types 6, 11, 16, and 18 may also offer women significant protection against so-called "cousins" of those viral strains, reported researchers here.

CHICAGO -- As clinical data accumulates, researchers are gaining confidence in a drug that blocks HIV from entering its target cells.

CHICAGO -- America's day care centers -- long thought to be a kiddy-pool of pathogens -- are safer than ever thanks to new vaccines, researchers said here.

This MedPage Today video features senior staff writer Michael Smith sitting down with Larry Pickering, M.D., an infectious diseases specialist at the CDC, and Janet Englund, M.D., of the University of Washington in Seattle, to discuss America?s day-care centers and how new vaccines attribute to a safer environment.

CHICAGO -- The experimental integrase inhibitor elvitegravir induces a swift reduction in HIV levels but needs an optimized background regimen, researchers emphasized.

CHICAGO -- An antibody that blocks HIV entry to its target T-lymphocytes was found to be well tolerated and effective in the first study to test its activity in humans.

CHICAGO -- When it comes to curing TB quickly, it may be better to be a mouse than a man. Researchers here say a regimen that speeded cures in mice was not much better than standard therapy in people.

LOS ANGELES -- Internet sites that compare surgical care at various hospitals were often inaccessible and frequently displayed inconsistent results, inappropriate quality measures, and out-dated information, researchers reported.

CHICAGO -- In patients newly diagnosed with HIV, the novel protease inhibitor darunavir (Prezista) has been found to be as effective as the standard lopinavir (Kaletra).

CHICAGO -- The investigative integrase inhibitor raltegravir (Isentress) can suppress the viral load to undetectable levels in at least half of HIV patients with virus resistant to three drug classes, researchers said here.

CHICAGO -- A novel surface coating for tampons may cut the risk of menstrual toxic shock syndrome, researchers said here.

CHICAGO -- Americans are even less conscientious about washing up after visiting public washrooms than they were two years ago, according to a study released here.

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Tonsillectomy that leaves a layer of tissue covering the throat muscles may cause fewer complications than traditional tonsillectomy, but a small percentage of patients may need to go back to surgery to finish the job.

Congestive heart failure and cirrhosis are the most common causes of transudative pleural effusions, while pneumonia and malignancy are responsible for the majority of exudative effusions. Plain chest films are valuable in confirming the presence of an effusion, providing clues to the cause, and directing the method of pleural fluid sampling. Thoracentesis is safe and simple, and it is diagnostic in about 75% of cases. Pleural biopsy is indicated for unexplained exudative effusions, most of which are found to result from malignancy or tuberculosis. Medical thoracoscopy, if available, is the procedure of choice for patients with these effusions. Thoracoscopy permits visually directed pleural biopsies and allows for therapeutic intervention at the time of diagnosis, obviating the need for subsequent invasive procedures.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection may be significantly more widespread than previously thought. Investigators analyzed data from more than 1200 county, public, and private health care facilities across the country, including centers for acute care, cancer, cardiac care, pediatric care, rehabilitation, and long-term care.