Comparison of the use of administrative data and an active system for surveillance of invasive aspergillosis .

Background: Administrative data, such as International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes, are readily available and are an attractive option for surveillance and quality assessment within a single institution or for interinstitutional comparisons. To understand the usefulness of administrative data for the surveillance of invasive aspergillosis, we compared information obtained from a system based on ICD-9 codes with information obtained from an active, prospective surveillance system, which used more extensive case-finding methods (Transplant Associated Infection Surveillance Network).

Methods: Patients with suspected invasive aspergillosis were identified by aspergillosis-related ICD-9 codes assigned to hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients and solid organ transplant recipients at a single hospital from April 1, 2001, through January 31, 2005.

Fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter species and the withdrawal of fluoroquinolones from use in poultry: a public health success story.

Campylobacter species cause 1.4 million infections each year in the United States. Fluoroquinolones (e.

Increase in nalidixic acid resistance among non-Typhi Salmonella enterica isolates in the United States from 1996 to 2003.

Fluoroquinolones commonly are used to treat adult Salmonella infections. Fluoroquinolone treatment has failed for persons infected with nalidixic acid-resistant Salmonella. From 1996 to 2003, state public health laboratories forwarded 12,252 non-Typhi Salmonella enterica isolates to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for antimicrobial susceptibility testing; 203 (1.

Surveillance for bacterial diarrhea and antimicrobial resistance in rural western Kenya, 1997-2003.

Background: Diarrhea is a major cause of preventable illness in sub-Saharan Africa. Although most cases of bacterial gastroenteritis do not require antimicrobial treatment, antimicrobial use is widespread. We examined the bacterial causes of diarrhea and monitored antimicrobial susceptibilities of isolates through clinic-based surveillance in a rural Kenyan community.

Plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance in non-Typhi serotypes of Salmonella enterica.

Background: Serious infections with Salmonella species are often treated with fluoroquinolones or extended-spectrum beta-lactams. Increasingly recognized in Enterobacteriaceae, plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance is encoded by qnr genes. Here, we report the presence of qnr variants in human isolates of non-Typhi serotypes of Salmonella enterica (hereafter referred to as non-Typhi Salmonella) from the United States National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria.

Reducing diarrhoea in Guatemalan children: randomized controlled trial of flocculant-disinfectant for drinking-water.

Objective: To examine the effect of a new point-of-use treatment for drinking-water, a commercially developed flocculant-disinfectant, on the prevalence of diarrhoea in children.

Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial among 514 rural Guatemalan households, divided into 42 neighbourhood clusters, for 13 weeks, from 4 November 2002 through 31 January 2003. Clusters assigned to water treatment with the flocculant-disinfectant were compared with those using their usual water-handling practices.

Coccidioidomycosis.

Coccidioides, a fungus, is endemic to specific parts of the Western Hemisphere. This article examines the prevalence, pathogenesis and host defense, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of coccidioidomycosis.

Efficacy of amphotericin B or itraconazole in a murine model of central nervous system Aspergillus infection.

Given the greater than 90% lethality of clinical central nervous system (CNS) aspergillosis despite current therapies, there is a need for an animal model to study therapeutic strategies. We previously established a model of CNS aspergillosis by intracerebral infection and report here the results of treatment with the two therapies with the greatest clinical experience, i.e.

Development of a murine model of cerebral aspergillosis.

Central nervous system (CNS) Aspergillus infection has a mortality rate in humans that approaches 95%. Because no animal models are available for studying this infection, we sought to develop a murine model of CNS aspergillosis. Inconsistent data were obtained for nonimmunosuppressed CD-1, C57BL/6, and DBA/2N mice after infection by midline intracranial injection of Aspergillus fumigatus.

Treatment strategies for Aspergillus infections.

Infections caused by Aspergillus species consist of many different disease presentations, ranging from relatively benign asthma in atopic disease to life-threatening systemic invasive infections. The spectrum of disease manifestations is determined by a combination of genetic predisposition, host immune system defects, and virulence of the Aspergillus species. For the purposes of this discussion, we will address three principal entities: invasive aspergillosis, both primary and disseminated, pulmonary aspergilloma, and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.