Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) strains resistant to the fluoroquinolones and streptomycin but susceptible to second-line injection treatment would not be defined as extensively drug-resistant TB. In a cohort of 174 patients with multidrug-resistant TB, we demonstrated that 12 patients with multidrug-resistant TB strains resistant to the fluoroquinolones and streptomycin had significantly better initial and long-term outcomes, compared with 10 patients with extensively drug-resistant TB.
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The association of anal cancer with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is well established; however, little is known about the epidemiology of anal HPV in healthy women. We investigated patterns of duration and clearance of anal HPV infection in a cohort of healthy women in Hawaii. ⋯ The majority of anal HPV infections resolve in a relatively short time. Although anal HPV is commonly acquired in healthy women, its rapid clearance suggests limited efficacy of HPV testing as an anal cancer screening tool.
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Pneumococcal disease in young children has not been as well characterized in East Africa as it has been in industrialized countries. Although pneumococci are likely to cause substantial mortality and morbidity, universal diagnostic challenges plus the rudimentary nature of public health surveillance make the true epidemiological characteristics of these diseases difficult to ascertain with these methods alone. However, local data are critical to inform the debate on vaccine deployment and assess vaccine impact. ⋯ S. pneumoniae isolates are susceptible to most commonly used antibiotics, with the exception of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and have exhibited no resistance to penicillin. A surveillance network is in place to provide local data on the importance of S. pneumoniae as a cause of both meningitis and bacteremia. Serotypes in the currently available heptavalent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine and related serotypes account for two-thirds of invasive pneumococcal disease among children aged 6-29 months.
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Streptococcus pneumoniae causes a substantial proportion of meningitis cases in the African meningitis belt; however, few reports exist to quantify its burden and characteristics. We conducted population-based and sentinel hospital surveillance of acute bacterial meningitis among persons of all ages in Burkina Faso and Togo in 2002-2006. S. pneumoniae and other organisms were identified by culture, polymerase chain reaction, or detection of antigen in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). ⋯ On the basis of a modest number of isolates from a limited area that includes only meningitis cases, 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine might have only a limited and short-term role. By contrast, the proposed 10- and 13-valent vaccines would cover most of the identified serotypes. To better inform vaccine policy, continued and expanded surveillance is essential to document serotypes associated with pneumonia, changes in serotype distribution across time, and the impact of vaccine after vaccine introduction.