Infectious Disease

For patients who undergo instrumented spinal fusion, the rates of infection are higher among those who receive posterior lumbar interbody fusion compared with those who receive posterior or posterolateral fusion.

Multiple sclerosis patients taking natalizumab are at higher risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) if they are positive for the anti-JC virus antibodies, have been treated with immunosuppressants, and have been treated with natalizumab for longer periods.

Azithromycin treatment is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.

Patients with HIV/AIDS have a significantly increased risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD).

Globally, nearly two million new cancer cases are caused by infectious agents each year.

Children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) have higher rates of hospitalized bacterial infection than children without the condition, and high-dose steroids significantly increase the rate of infection.

Maternal use of the anti-HIV drug tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) does not affect fetal growth but may lead to a delayed effect on infant growth in the first year.

A new meningococcus serogroup B vaccine is strongly immunogenic against multiple strains and well tolerated in healthy adolescents.

The antimicrobial resistance of urinary Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates to ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) increased substantially from 2000 to 2010.

Middle school entry vaccination requirements may increase coverage for adolescent vaccines, but education-only requirements do not appear to have an impact.

Hospitals seem to be paying greater attention to preventing targeted health care-associated infections (HAIs) as a result of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) nonpayment policy.

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) activate a mechanism involving coupling of FAS/FAS ligand to induce T cell apoptosis and immune tolerance.

Approval of the antibiotic Levaquin (levofloxacin) has been expanded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to include plague, a rare but deadly bacterial infection.

Patients with infective endocarditis involving implanted cardiac devices experience high in-hospital and one-year mortality rates, particularly if there is valve involvement.

A text messaging-based intervention increases influenza vaccination compared with usual care in a low-income, urban population, although overall rates of vaccination remain low.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and S. aureus-secreted enterotoxins (SE) are frequently found in patients with atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC), particularly in those with corneal ulceration.

The zoster vaccine is safe and well tolerated in older adults, despite an increased risk of allergic reaction in the days following vaccination.

Cancers associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV) are diagnosed in nearly 11 out of 100,000 men and women in the United States annually, and HPV vaccines play an important role in reducing the incidence of those cancers for which screening is not approved.

The administration of a single 600-mg dose of albendazole to United States-bound refugees prior to departure from Africa and Southeast Asia reduces the prevalence of intestinal nematodes.

In data leaked early from a study to be presented at this week’s European Association for the Study of Liver (EASL) annual meeting, a combination of two new treatments for hepatitis C yielded promising results.