Infectious Disease

GALVESTON, Tex. -- Burn-associated morbidity and mortality in children are driven by an increased hypermetabolic and inflammatory reaction and impaired cardiac function related to burn size.

CHICAGO -- For many older patients, sexual activity doesn't abate but it clearly begins to fade away, found a national survey.

HYATTSVILLE, Md. -- The U.S. death rate fell to a historic low in 2004 and the life expectancy at birth hit a record high, according to the National Center for Vital Statistics here.

AMSTERDAM -- In severe peritonitis, repeat laparotomy done only when the patient's condition demands it cuts down on the number of procedures and medical costs, researchers found.

BOSTON -- Heavy alcohol use appears to speed HIV progression, researchers here said.

NANTES, France -- Geneticists are on the trail of a way to determine which kidney- transplant recipients can be taken off immunosuppressants safely.

ATLANTA -- West Nile virus cases this year are running a little ahead of last year, according to the CDC.

BOSTON -- A cluster of estrogen receptors deep in the brain may hold clues to why women acquire visceral fat at menopause.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has added a boxed warning to the litany of cautions about the use of entacavir (Baraclude), a hepatitis B drug, for certain patients co-infected with HIV.

GHENT, Belgium -- Production of avian influenza vaccine could substantially increase with use of an antigen-sparing strategy that increases levels of neutralizing antibodies, investigators here reported.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Washing hands with antibacterial soap was no more effective at reducing bacteria levels or preventing illness than washing with plain soap, researchers said.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- For microbiologic diagnosis of an infected hip or knee prosthesis, low-energy ultrasound of the device itself may be the preferred approach.

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands -- The incidence of gastric cancer in developed Western nations will decrease by 24% during the next 10 years, investigators have concluded.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The bivalent vaccine that protects against infection with human papillomavirus does not affect HPV clearance in women with pre-existing infections and should not be considered a treatment modality.

PITTSBURGH -- Fatal sepsis in hospitalized pneumonia patients is most likely to occur in the presence of high levels of certain proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, investigators here found.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA has warned consumers against using three brands of red yeast rice, a product marketed as a natural remedy for high cholesterol, because they may contain lovastatin, the active ingredient in Mevacor.

NAPLES, Italy -- Not all probiotics stem acute childhood diarrhea any better than standard oral hydration, researchers here found.

GHENT, Belgium -- Noninvasive serum N-glycan profiling might unmask undiagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma in HBV-infected patients with cirrhosis, investigators here said.

OXFORD, England -- Abstinence-only programs to prevent HIV and pregnancy in high-income countries are ineffective, according to a systematic review of 13 U.S. trials.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Zinc lozenges do nothing to prevent or treat the common cold, a systematic review of studies of the over-the-counter treatment suggested.

BALTIMORE -- Internal medicine residents scored poorly on a 20-question quiz testing their ability to diagnose tuberculosis and choose appropriate treatment, researchers found.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- FDA advisers have recommended approval of the problem-ridden multiple sclerosis drug natalizumab (Tysabri) for treatment of moderate to severe Crohn's disease, but only with extensive safety monitoring.

The authors describe a case of air embolism that developed during a plane flight in a woman who had a congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation. They review the pathophysiological mechanisms, risk factors, clinical features, and treatment of air embolism.

For several days, a 50-year-old man has had copious green stools, vomiting, and fever. His symptoms began shortly after he was discharged from a regional burn center, where he was treated for full-thickness burns that covered 60% of his body surface.

A 39-year-old woman complained of excruciating pain that radiated from a chronic lesion on the left upper lip to the entire left side of the face. She had AIDS but was not receiving antiretroviral therapy.

Dermclinic: A Photo Quiz to Hone Dermatologic Skills

ROCKPORT, Me. -- With two seizures in his medical history, the latest yesterday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., has a greater than 50% risk for a third, and may require antiepileptic drugs, specialists said today.

BOSTON -- New genetic contributors to multiple sclerosis have been uncovered for the first time in 35 years, according to researchers here.

TORONTO -- Donepezil (Aricept) helped stave off fading cognition in patients with severe Alzheimer's but failed to otherwise stem the advance of the disease, researchers found.

SYDNEY -- Treatment with the new protease inhibitor darunavir (Prezista) was able to drive HIV to undetectable levels in 71% of patients compared with 60% for patients taking lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra).