National surveillance of emergency department visits for outpatient adverse drug events.

Context: Adverse drug events are common and often preventable causes of medical injuries. However, timely, nationally representative information on outpatient adverse drug events is limited.

Objective: To describe the frequency and characteristics of adverse drug events that lead to emergency department visits in the United States.

Chemoprophylaxis with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate provided partial protection against infection with simian human immunodeficiency virus in macaques given multiple virus challenges.

We examined the efficacy of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) in blocking simian human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) infection in Chinese rhesus macaques. Once weekly for 14 weeks or until a macaque became infected, 12 male macaques were inoculated intrarectally with amounts of SHIV(SF162P3) (10 median tissue culture infective doses; 3.8 x 10(5) virus particles) that were approximately 5-fold higher than the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA levels noted in human semen during an acute infection.

Pyrosequencing, a high-throughput method for detecting single nucleotide polymorphisms in the dihydrofolate reductase and dihydropteroate synthetase genes of Plasmodium falciparum.

A pyrosequencing protocol was developed as a rapid and reliable method to identify the mutations of the dhfr and dhps genes of Plasmodium falciparum that are associated with antifolate resistance. The accuracy and specificity of this method were tested using six laboratory-cultured P. falciparum isolates harboring known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genes dhfr (codons 50, 51, 59, 108, and 164) and dhps (codons 436, 437, 540, 581, and 613).

Surveillance for human Salmonella infections in the United States.

Surveillance for human Salmonella infections plays a critical role in understanding and controlling foodborne illness due to Salmonella. Along with its public health partners, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has several surveillance systems that collect information on Salmonella infections in the United States. The National Salmonella Surveillance System, begun in 1962, receives reports of laboratory-confirmed Salmonella infections through state public health laboratories.

Outpatient drug safety: new steps in an old direction.

Iatrogenic injury from adverse drug events (ADEs) is a common and often preventable problem in modern medical practice. Attention to this problem has focused on the inpatient hospital setting and healthcare professionals. However, most medication is prescribed and used outside of hospitals and is managed by patients or lay caregivers in homes or workplaces.

Building PulseNet International: an interconnected system of laboratory networks to facilitate timely public health recognition and response to foodborne disease outbreaks and emerging foodborne diseases.

PulseNet USA, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, began functioning in the United States in 1996 and soon established itself as a critical early warning system for foodborne disease outbreaks, particularly those in which cases may be geographically dispersed. The PulseNet network is now being replicated in different ways in Canada, Europe, the Asia Pacific region, and Latin America. These independent networks work together in PulseNet International allowing public health officials and laboratorians to share molecular epidemiologic information in real-time and enabling rapid recognition and investigation of multi-national foodborne disease outbreaks.

The United States pediatric vaccine stockpile program.

The initial goal of the national vaccine stockpile program was to establish a 6-month supply of all recommended childhood vaccines, to meet national demands if a manufacturing process was interrupted. When the first vaccine stockpiles were created in 1983, the childhood immunization schedule was much less complicated than it is today, and the first stockpiles included only measles-mumps-rubella, poliovirus, and pertussis vaccines, as well as diphtheria and tetanus toxoids. However, today's vaccine needs are much greater, and current stockpiles do not include all recommended childhood vaccines, partially because inclusion of vaccines that are universally recommended, fully implemented, and produced by a single manufacturer has been made a priority.

Progress in diagnosis, treatment and elimination of echinococcosis and cysticercosis.

Here I review the current status of geographical occurrence and public health significance of echinococcosis (Echinococcus spp. infections) and cysticercosis (Taenia solium infection) with special emphasis on the remarkable technologic progress achieved in recent decades that has led to greater understanding of the biology and epidemiology of these cestode infections. The greatest remaining challenges are to apply this knowledge and technology to improved medical management and prevention of these infections.