Monthly Archives: January 2011

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 and HIV-1

This issue of the Journal continues the dialogue on the interaction between HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Two articles in this issue, one by Kapiga et al., describing a cohort of women in Tanzania, and the other by Cachay et al., describing a cohort of largely men who have sex with men […]

January 28, 2011 – 3:27 pm | By Dan Frost | Posted in Infections | Comments (0)

The Necessity and Quandaries of Dengue Vaccine Development

Dengue is an emerging and reemerging arboviral disease of great global public health importance. Increased transmission and disease outbreaks are being driven by population growth, urbanization, international travel, and unchecked vector populations. Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and parts of the Caribbean experience endemic and hyperendemic dengue virus (DENV) transmission while indigenous transmission is […]

January 27, 2011 – 10:22 am | By Dan Frost | Posted in Infections | Comments (0)

Control of Varicella Disease. Part 2

With this success, however, came a new challenge, as breakthrough varicella disease received increasing attention from both public health officials and the general population. Prelicensure efficacy trials of a single dose of the vaccine had documented virtually 100% effectiveness in preventing moderate to severe varicella disease, and 80%–85% efficacy in the prevention of any varicella […]

January 25, 2011 – 2:31 pm | By Dan Frost | Posted in Diseases | Comments (0)

Control of Varicella Disease

In this issue of the Journal, Shapiro and colleagues present data from a case-controlled study of the effectiveness of 2 doses of varicella vaccine during the first several years after implementation of a routine 2-dose recommended schedule. At 98.3%, the effectiveness of the 2-dose schedule is welcome news indeed. These data validate the calculations of […]

January 20, 2011 – 11:21 am | By Dan Frost | Posted in Diseases | Comments (0)

Antibody approaches

C. difficile toxins may be the ultimate protection strategy against CDI. Both passive immunity with monoclonal antibodies and active vaccines are currently undergoing clinical trials involving humans. The use of 2 intravenously administered monoclonal antibodies directed against toxins A and B when added to standard CDI treatment with vancomycin or metronidazole in a phase 2 […]

January 19, 2011 – 6:16 pm | By Dan Frost | Posted in Infections | Comments (0)

Non‐antimicrobial “Outside the Box” CDI Management. Part 2

More recently, whey protein in immunized cow’s milk, which contains high levels of secretory IgA, has been used clinically for CDI recurrence prevention and CDI primary treatment. Results remain inconclusive, because the CDI recurrence prevention trial (2 weeks of daily anti- C. difficile whey protein after standard CDI therapy) resulted in a recurrence rate of […]

January 11, 2011 – 8:59 am | By Dan Frost | Posted in Infections | Comments (0)