Reviews of infectious diseases
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Botulism is rare in both developing and developed countries. During 1980 only 89 cases (18 food borne, 68 infant, 2 wound, 1 unspecified) were reported in the United States. Coproexamination is essential for laboratory confirmation of infant botulism. ⋯ Tetanus neonatorum is a major problem in some developing countries. Diagnosis of tetanus is based primarily on clinical findings, but laboratory studies can be helpful, especially in epidemiologic investigations. Human hyperimmune immunoglobulin is now used in the treatment of tetanus.
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From a theoretical and technical point of view, measles can be eradicated from the world. This disease has been eliminated for a period of years from at least one country in the developing world (The Gambia). Experience in the United States indicates that it will be eliminated from that country in the near future. Whether the necessary financial, political, and personnel resources to achieve global eradication can be mobilized in the next several years remains in doubt.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole therapy for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonitis in children.
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ) is effective in both the treatment and the prevention of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonitis. After initial evaluation in an animal model, TMP-SMZ was shown to be as clinically effective as pentamidine isethionate for the treatment of pneumonitis in children with cancer and to have minimal adverse effects. ⋯ Administered prophylactically, TMP-SMZ (5.0 mg of TMP and 25 mg of SMZ per kg of body weight per day) prevented P. carinii infection in high-risk immunocompromised patients. Studies of the unstructured delivery of prophylactic TMP-SMZ have demonstrated the regimen to be feasible and effective, with a favorable benefit-risk ratio for a large number of children with cancer.
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Biography Historical Article
Who introduced typhoid vaccination: Almroth Write or Richard Pfeiffer?
The British pathologist Almroth Wright generally is credited with the initiation of typhoid vaccination in 1896. His claims of priority were challenged as early as 1907 in favor of Richard Pfeiffer, a German bacteriologist and a student of Robert Koch. A review of the original literature of the 1890s and the early 1900s revealed that several groups were working on typhoid vaccine at the same time and that the credit for the initiation of typhoid vaccine studies should be shared by these two great researchers.
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The incidence of lung disease due to mycobacteria other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis (atypical mycobacteria) in Japan was estimated to be 0.9--1.9 per 10(5) population per year in 1971--1979. Although the incidence of lung tuberculosis is steadily decreasing, the incidence of lung disease due to atypical mycobacteria has remained at almost the same level. The number of patients newly infected per year in recent years was calculated to be approximately 2,000. ⋯ The disease due to M. kansasii appeared most frequently in hospitals in the Tokyo and Kanagawa prefectures. Patients with lung tuberculosis had a high risk of lung infection due to M. avium-intracellulare. The incidence of such disease in tuberculous patients was estimated to be 18.7 per 10(5) population per year, a rate that is approximately 10 times that found in the general population.