Infectious Disease

Fear of bioterrorism persists because of new reports of biological warfare, including the most recent attack that involved a Russian spy who was poisoned with polonium-210. However, vaccination against potential biological weapons, such as anthrax and smallpox, is controversial because of associated adverse effects.

A painful necrotic lesion, a pruritic rash that recurs after corticosteroid therapy, an ulcer on the tongue-do you recognize the disorders pictured here?

Six months after testing positive for HIV in 10 bands, a 24-year-old homosexual man presented with a macular rash on his palms and soles. He first noticed the lesions 2 weeks earlier; they were not pruritic or painful. He also had a brighter, more inflamed rash in the groin and antecubital fossae that was presumed to be a yeast infection and was treated with fluconazole. He had no other symptoms.

Hidradenitis suppurativa is a chronic acneiform infection of the cutaneous apocrine glands.

ROME -- Simple measures -- such as handwashing with soap and water -- could be the best way to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses that cause illnesses like flu and SARS, a new Cochrane review has found.

MONTREAL -- Viral testing to detect cervical cancer appears to outperform the conventional Pap smear in some respects, researchers here have concluded.

DUNDEE, Scotland -- Early treatment of Bell's palsy with prednisolone significantly increases the chance of a full recovery by three to nine months from facial paralysis, investigators here reported.

SAN FRANCISCO -- HIV-positive African-Americans have a six-fold higher risk for end-stage renal disease than whites with HIV, investigators here reported.

ATLANTA -- Invasive infections of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may be more common than suspected, according to the first nationwide surveillance estimates.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- A strain of pneumococcus resistant to all of the antibiotics approved for use in children has emerged in the wake of widespread use of the heptavalent pneumococcal vaccine, researchers here said.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. -- The FDA has approved raltegravir (Isentress) as part of a combination regiment for treatment for multi-resistant HIV-1 infection in adults, according to an announcement from Merck.

PHILADELPHIA -- Helicobacter pylori infection has been associated with the development of adenomatous polyps of the colon, according to a study reported here.

Take this MedPage Today poll on the accessibility of influenza vaccine.

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- A new picture of adenoviruses and the disease associated with them in the U.S. is emerging from a novel molecular technique, according to researchers here.

NEW YORK -- If standard intravenous antibiotics don't relieve persistent or recurrent memory deficits in Lyme encephalopathy, a 10-day IV course of ceftriaxone (Rocephin) may do so -- but the benefit doesn't last.

BRISBANE, Australia -- Obesity even without reflux disease is associated with six times the risk of developing esophageal adenocarcinoma compared with those of normal weight, researchers here found.

SAN DIEGO -- Rushing the decision to treat suspected pneumonia with antibiotics may lead to unnecessary treatment in a majority of cases, according to a small study reported here.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has alerted physicians to the need for children with cochlear implants to be fully immunized against bacterial meningitis, citing two recent deaths that might have been prevented.

SAN DIEGO -- Rotavirus infection, once considered almost exclusively a pediatric diarrheal disease, affects adults as well, causing substantial morbidity and unnecessary use of procedures and antibiotics, according to results of a study reported here.

PITTSBURGH -- There is strong evidence suggesting -- but not proving -- the existence of a causal link between psychological stress and chronic conditions such as depression, cardiovascular disease, and HIV/AIDS, asserted researchers here.

COPENHAGEN -- If bacteria colonize the throat of a one-month-old infant, the risk of later persistent wheezing and asthma is sharply increased, researchers here found.

SAN DIEGO -- Older patients make up a growing proportion of those infected with hepatitis B, and more of them report multiple sex partners as a risk factor, an investigator from the CDC reported here.

SEATTLE -- Children in the United States get less than half of the medical care recommended for them, investigators here have found.

SAN DIEGO -- Only 30% of hospitalized patients eligible for conversion from intravenous to oral antimicrobials actually do so, according to a study reported here.

SAN DIEGO -- A universal bleach-based cleaning protocol reduced the rate of nosocomial Clostridium difficile infection by two-thirds at a New Orleans hospital, according to a report presented here.

SAN DIEGO -- A potentially deadly form of community-acquired pneumonia linked to adenovirus type 14 has emerged in the Pacific northwest, according to a report presented here.

SAN DIEGO -- A vaccine created from hepatitis B surface antigen linked to an immunostimulant led to more rapid and durable immune responses and greater seroprotection in older patients compared with the conventional vaccine, according to results of a phase III trial reported here.

SAN DIEGO -- Pediatric infectious disease specialists have no consensus about the optimal approach to treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in children, a nationwide survey indicated.

SAN DIEGO -- Older patients with HIV infection have robust responses to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), with no increased risk of metabolic disorders or other adverse effects, according to two studies.

SAN DIEGO -- Adolescents and teenagers with perinatally acquired HIV infection have high rates of neurologic, psychiatric, and cognitive problems that can confound attempts to treat them, investigators reported here.