Infectious Disease

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Canadians from coast to coast are remarkably prone to inflammatory bowel disease, possibly the result of a climate that discourages bacterial activity and promotes sterile conditions in childhood.

LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany -- Antibacterial chewing gum to fight cavities? Go spit in the ocean, say skeptical dentists.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Most so-called post-polio syndrome may be the effect of muscle weakness that comes with age rather than an exacerbation of the disease decades later, according to researchers here.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Long-term effects of West Nile virus infection may emerge irrespective of the severity of initial acute symptoms, according to investigators here.

TORONTO -- Human growth hormone appears to reverse some elements of HIV-treatment related lipodystrophy, researchers reported here.

TORONTO -- HIV therapy introduced in Third World countries should focus on antiretroviral regimens designed for long-term success, investigators emphasized here.

TORONTO -- The bleak early days of the AIDS crisis, when clinicians were grabbing at straws, provided lessons for today, said researchers who reviewed the history of the epidemic -- now in its 25th year -- at the 16th International AIDS Conference here.

NANTES, France --The seventh trial of adjuvant Navelbine (vinorelbine)-Platinol (cisplatin) tips the balance toward improved survival in patients with stage IB to IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

TORONTO -- The target of most HIV therapy is the virus itself, but researchers said here that another approach -- blocking cells' entry points and locking the virus out -- is also starting to show promise.

TORONTO -- An extensively drug-resistant virulent strain of tuberculosis (XDR-TB) killed 52 of 53 patients who were co-infected with HIV during an outbreak in a rural South African hospital, researchers reported here.

TORONTO -- An intravaginal ring, similar to those used to deliver contraceptives and hormonal agents, is a promising way to deliver anti-HIV microbicides, investigators reported here.

TORONTO -- An investigational pediatric version of a recently approved HIV drug is safe and well-tolerated at two different doses and appears to be effective, researchers said here.

BOSTON -- Serious side effects and the cost of chemotherapy for younger breast cancer patients are greater than previously estimated, researchers reported.

SYLMAR, Calif. -- Methicillin-resistant bacteria are taking emergency room doctors back a half-century to the pre-penicillin days, when skin infections were lanced and drained.

TORONTO -- The transmission of drug-resistant HIV appears to be stabilizing, at least in Europe, but about 9% of newly infected HIV patients still carry a virus that carries resistance mutations to one of the three main classes of anti-retroviral medications.

TORONTO -- HIV patients are 18 times more likely than the general population to become infected with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and the rate appears to be increasing.

An update on developments in infective endocarditis by addressing a number of questions physicians commonly raise concerning prophylaxis, diagnosis, and management.

SEATTLE -- For children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the multidrug, multidose regimen of home oral chemotherapy may be too complicated for some parents to master, according to a study here.

TORONTO -- HIV-positive patients are at a small but increased risk of cardiovascular disease from antiretroviral therapy, investigators reported here.

TORONTO -- Increased cholesterol and triglycerides in HIV-infected children being treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can be markedly reduced by switching regimens, researchers reported here.

TORONTO -- Even in HIV-infected patients who have tried and failed several drug regimens, the goal should still be to reduce the virus to undetectable levels, according to guidelines presented here.

TORONTO -- Once patients have controlled HIV with a standard drug cocktail, treatment with a "boosted" protease inhibitor may be all they need to keep the virus at bay.

TORONTO -- HIV patients ages 50 and over do a better job controlling the virus but may need more help managing adverse effects and comorbidities.

LOS ANGELES -- Unmarried life may impinge on life expectancy, according to researchers here.

SOUTHAMPTON, England -- Teens appear to have problems using condoms properly, found investigators here.

GENEVA -- The notion of HIV-treatment interruption -- consigned not long ago to the ash heap of failed ideas -- should be revisited, said investigators here.

LONDON -- Improvements in highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) has resulted in lower viral loads and higher immune cell counts but not a decline in mortality or progression to AIDS.

ATLANTA -- Stricter vaccine rules for international travelers might have prevented an outbreak of measles last year in Indiana, CDC public health workers suggested.

LONDON -- Surgery is a possible pathway for a self-sustaining epidemic of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), according to researchers here.

SEATTLE -- The human papillomavirus has a long racial memory. So concluded researchers here, who found that variants of two carcinogenic HPV types tend to linger longer in women whose ancestors came from the same area where the variants first arose.