INFECTIOUS DISEASE
New methods for treating this common nosocomial infection are being implemented.
This semisynthetic aminoglycoside antibiotic is presently in short supply.
Community pharmacists can play an integral role in educating patients
about foot care and in recognizing ulcers that can lead to skin
infections such as cellulitis.
The Healthy People 2020 objectives developed by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services stress the role of preventive services
in the maintenance and improvement of the health of the American
population over the course of the next decade.
The key to successful treatment is early recognition that the infection is caused by a resistant strain of staph.
Available treatments are not always effective and are fraught with potential complications.
A decline in immune function with aging may be viewed as a form of acquired immunodeficiency.
These skin growths are caused by certain subtypes of papillomavirus.
HACEK organisms are most often associated with infective endocarditis, accounting for up to 10% of cases.
In ambulatory care settings, 24.2 and 3.9 million visits to office-based
physicians and hospital outpatient departments, respectively, were made
in 2008 for the treatment of infectious and parasitic diseases.
Because pet-transmitted infections are uncommon, they often go unrecognized.
The pharmacist-directed stewardship program is a milestone in infectious-diseases pharmacy practice.
This common skin infection in children is caused by
Staphylococcus or
Streptococcus bacteria.
Although many patients can be treated with oral antibiotics, infants should be evaluated for IV antibiotic therapy.
Two FDA-approved vaccines are available that protect against the most widespread HPV genotypes.
Lyme disease, also known as
Lyme borreliosis, is the most common vector-transmitted illness in the United States.
It is crucial to select the appropriate antimicrobial agent for the
infection being treated, with newer agents reserved for the most severe
cases.
Pharmacists must keep up with the current literature and address patients' concerns and misconceptions.
Existing guidelines on this type of infectious disease have recently
been revised to concentrate on prevention, diagnosis, and management.
Mononucleosis is a viral infection most often caused by the Epstein-Barr
virus, one of the most common viruses that infect humans.
In 2008, the CDC announced that 56,300 people were newly infected with
HIV in 2006, and that the epidemic has been worse than the predicted
40,000 infections per year.
This common dermatophytic skin infection is usually caused by
Trichophyton rubrum.
Fungal infections can be difficult to diagnosis, prevent, and treat. The
past decade has seen the introduction of a number of medications with a
wider range of action and fewer side effects.
This product can identify individuals whose infection was missed by tuberculin skin testing.
Growing resistance to many forms of treatment make this parasite hard
to eradicate.
This remains a serious disease in developing countries that do not offer
the benefit of routine vaccination.
A liquid version of this influenza medication may be easily prepared using the capsule formulation.
Three of the vaccines against the H1N1 virus are available in injectable form and one isavailable in nasal spray form; all four vaccines are monovalent. The seasonal influenza vaccine for the 2009-2010 season is atrivalent-inactivated vaccine containing A/Brisbane/59/2007 H1N1-like,A/Brisbane 10/2007 H3N2-like/B/Brisbane/60/2008-like antigens.
Quickly identifying pathogens can help improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs.
Malaria affects large populations around the globe and is associated
with serious health outcomes and death among infected individuals.
Infectious disease has plagued humankind throughout history.
Widespread administration of immunizations in the United States have
helped eradicate such diseases as smallpox and poliomyelitis and can
help prevent other serious illnesses and complications.
In the midst of the H1N! scare, we can all be thankful is that pharmacists will continue to mitigate
the fear by their thoughtful and insightful
counseling efforts.
Systemic and topical therapies, both current and in development, are
showing promise for the prevention and management of this growing
health concern.
Long before there were antibiotics, researchers envisioned using viruses to seek out and destroy bacteria.
Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are small DNA viruses that infect epithelial tissue.
S exually transmitted diseases (STDs) ( TABLE 1 ) can be contracted later in life--a fact too often overlooked by seniors and health care providers alike.
Pneumococcal infections cause an estimated 3,000 cases of meningitis, 50,000 cases of bacteremia, and 500,000 cases of pneumonia annually.
Polyomavirus infection is an emerging challengein
kidney-transplant recipients.
Candida is a genus of opportunistic pathogens that affect high-risk patients who are immunosuppressed or critically ill...
Infectious mononucleosis (IM) was first described in 1889 as glandular fever, a clinical illness characterized by fever, fatigue, abdominal discomfort, hepatosplenomegaly (enlargement of both the liver and spleen), and lymphadenopathy...
Scarlet fever is an infectious disease caused by invasion of the upper respiratory tract by the Gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes .
Infectious mononucleosis (IM) was first described in 1889 as glandular fever, a clinical illness characterized by fever, fatigue, abdominal discomfort, hepatosplenomegaly (enlargement of both the liver and spleen), and lymphadenopathy.
Vaccines are medical miracles, saving more lives and preventing more deaths than any other medical advance in the last century.
1 Approximately 750,000 patients develop sepsis each year.
Patients who suffer from certain types of heart conditions are at risk for developing infective endocarditis (IE) after undergoing invasive dental procedures, according to the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Dental Association (ADA).
FDA Modifies Prescribing Information for Contraceptive Skin Patch The FDA issued a notice that it modified the prescribing information for the Ortho Evra Contraceptive Transdermal Patch to include the results of a new epidemiological study that found women who used the birth control patch were at a higher risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) than those who used birth control pills.
Obtaining the knowledge and skills required to perform disease-prevention patient interventions is becoming increasingly more important for pharmacists and other health care professionals.
Antimicrobial stewardship is a marriage of infection control and judicious antimicrobial use whose primary goals are to optimize clinical outcomes and to minimize the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.
Blood Pressure Vaccine Shows Promise Swiss researchers say their work in producing a viable blood pressure vaccine is on the right course.
Pneumonia is an infectious inflammation of the lung by bacteria, viruses, and other organisms.
The American Society of Microbiology and the Soap and Detergent Association studied the washing habits of more than 6,000 people and found that Americans are even less likely to wash their hands after visiting a public bathroom than they were two years ago.
Approximately 39.5 million people worldwide are infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Pharyngitis is an inflammation of the pharynx, the area in the back of the throat. This inflammation causes the symptom of a sore throat. Although most infectious causes of sore throat are due to viruses, about 5% to 10% of pharyngitis cases result from a bacterial infection.
According to a 2007 report released by the National Institutes of Health, urinary tract infections (UTIs) cost Americans approximately $3.5 billion a year, making UTI one of the five most expensive urologic health problems in the United States.
Many Cancers Signal HIV/AIDS More infection-related cancers result from immunodeficiencies than previously thought, according to a meta-analysis reported in Lancet .
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been a predominant pathogen in health care settings for more than 40 years.
Genes May Have Role in Colorectal and Prostate Cancers Several studies suggest there may be a common genetic link to the development of colorectal and prostate cancers.
In the United States, the most common infectious cause of death is pneumonia.
A South African study published in Lancet found that HIV-positive mothers who exclusively breast-fed their babies could likely cut HIV transmission in half.
New Drug to Treat Advanced Breast Cancer The FDA has approved lapatinib (Tykerb, GlaxoSmithKline), a new molecular entity to be used in combination with capectabine (Xeloda, Roche Laboratories), for patients with advanced, metastatic breast cancer that is HER2 positive.
Bacterial skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) collectively refer to several microbial invasions of the skin layers (epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissues), inducing a host response.
Oral lesions afflict children and adults, and the pharmacist may be the first point of contact regarding treatment.
Circumcision Reduces HIV Transmission Two studies in the Lancet bring the number of studies establishing a strong link between circumcision and a reduction in the risk of HIV transmission to three.
Number of New Cancer Patients Expected to Double The number of new cancer patients is expected to more than double in the United States over the next half-century from 1.
Influenza is a major public health menace, infecting 5% to 20% of American residents per year and causing about 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths each year in the United States.
Warnings Issued Regarding Rituxan Safety Concern in New Patient Population The FDA is alerting health care professionals and patients treated with Rituxan (rituximab), manufactured by Genentech, to reports of an emerging risk of a serious side effect.
Data from the 2000 to 2003 National Health Interview Surveys show that 23.2% of the adults 55 and older were in fair or poor health.