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Infectious diseases
■ TDR focuses on diseases of poverty.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced its plan to adopt a more expansive
strategy to prevent and control the most
poverty-related infectious diseases. The
WHO’s Special Programme for Research and
Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) will focus
on getting healthcare treatments to poor and
remote areas, as well as fostering research and
leadership where infectious diseases cause
serious health problems. With its new 10-year
strategy, the TDR — responsible over the last
three decades for containing diseases such as
leprosy, onchocerciasis (that causes river blindness), Changas disease, lymphatic filariasis,
and visceral leishmaniasis — will confront the
biggest challenges of the global health community: getting poor people access to primary
health treatments. In areas without doctors or
hospitals, the model being used is based on the
TDR’s community-directed, grassroots delivery
system from the 1990s when ivermectin was
distributed to combat onchocerciasis. This
model is the backbone for continuing research
into how to deliver other essential primary
healthcare to more patients in rural areas. The
TDR’s successful campaigns against emerging
diseases, such as TB-HIV co-infection, will be
one among many new challenges TDR will face
in the next decade.
Conferences
■ Two-year response plan for TB. The
WHO and the Stop TB (tuberculosis) Partnership launched “The Global MDR-TB and
XDR-TB Response Plan 2007-2008” containing
measures to immediately prevent, treat, and
control extensively drug-resistant TB (XDRTB) — resistant to all of the most effective
anti-TB drugs, it infects up to 30,000 people
yearly — and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB)
— non-responsive to standard treatments and
resistant to main first-line drugs, it infects an
estimated 424,000 people yearly. The two-year
plan emphasizes the imminent need to boost
TB control around the globe and to increase
early TB detection. Top priorities focus on
particular investments: developing programs
to treat DR-TB; building capacity in TB diagnostic labs; expanding infection surveillance; and
funding research for new drugs and vaccines.
In addition, the two organizations established
a long-term goal to provide access to drugs
and diagnostic tests to all MDR- and XDR-TB
patients by 2015, possibly saving up to 1.2
million lives.
■ New MRSA stats. According to the
Associated Press, a comprehensive study by
the Association for Professionals in Infection
Control and Epidemiology (APIC) shows that at
least 30,000 U.S. hospital patients may have
the “superbug” methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at any given time. This
figure is approximately 10 times the rate previously estimated by some health officials. The
survey, sent by APIC to its more than 11,000
members, asked them to pick one day between
■ Aug. 29. The AABB hosts an audioconference, “Supplier Qualifications, EquipmentReagents and Vendors” from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. Director Sally Rudumann, PhD,
MT(ASCB) SBB will touch on requirements for vendor qualification, how to develop forms
for documenting the qualification process, and how to select a vendor- qualification process
suitable for reagents, supplies, and product manufacturing. Using a case-study approach, the
conference will provide answers to FAQs and convey tips for effective and efficient vendor
qualification. For more information and to register, visit www.aabb.org.
■ Sept. 7-9. Join the Society for the Advancement of Blood Management (SABM) at its
annual convention at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood. The three-day event
will focus on the newest and most important developments in blood-management and
transfusion strategies, as well as problem-oriented workshops, oral abstract offerings, and
“meet the expert” sessions on topics from pediatric and neonatal case studies, the successes
and pitfalls of opening an anemia clinic, the history and science behind hemodilution, and
critical anemia management. For more information and to register, visit www.sabm.org.
August 2007
■
MLO
Trends
Analysis
Oct. 1 and Nov. 10, 2006, to count cases of
the infection in their hospital or nursing-home
environments. The final results represented
1,237 facilities or, roughly, 21% of U.S. inpatient healthcare facilities, concluding that 46
out of every 1,000 patients had the “superbug.”
Researchers also concluded that about 75% of
patients walked into the hospitals and nursing
homes carrying MRSA, having acquired it in a
previous stay in healthcare facility or out in the
community. Healthcare workers can prevent
the spread of MRSA through hand washing
as well as equipment decontamination, by
wearing gloves and gowns, and by separating
infected people from other patients. For more
information on the APIC study, go to www.apic.
org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home.
U.S. Lyme-disease cases double. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) announced in late June that the number
of Lyme-disease cases has doubled since 1991,
and that is probably an underestimation. The
higher figures, says the CDC, are likely due to
increased disease incidence and increased
detection with the implementation of laboratory-based surveillance. Lyme disease, marked
by a characteristic rash and joint pain, is the
most common illness transmitted by bugs or
animals in the United States — infecting over
21,000 people annually. Caused by a bacteria
called Borrelia burgdorferi and spread by
ticks, Lyme disease, if not treated by antibiotics, can cause long-term effects including
arthritis, heart disease, and nervous-system
damage. In 2002, a Lyme-disease vaccine was
taken off the market; the reason given was the
manufacturer’s poor sales reports. People can
lower their risk of contracting Lyme disease and
other tick-borne illnesses by avoiding infested
areas, using insect repellent, and performing
daily self-checks for ticks. Removing ticks
within 24 hours makes them less likely to
transmit the bacteria.
HIV/AIDS
■ “Natural barrier” to HIV. A recent
HealthDay report says researchers have discovered that cells in the mucosal lining of human
genitals produce a protein that “eats up” invading HIV infection. The protein produced by the
www.mlo-online.com
Bio-Rad Laboratories
Langerhans cells is called Langerin, and could
be instrumental in curtailing transmission of the
virus that is responsible for the AIDS epidemic.
Researchers report that Langerin — one of the
first natural lines of defense against initial HIV
infection — is able to “scavenge” viruses from
the surrounding environment, thereby preventing infection. Because most outside body tissue
has Langerhans cells suggests the human body
has a natural antiviral defense mechanism,
which may support evidence as to why HIV, in
fact, is not very efficient in infecting humans.
It has been a common belief that HIV easily
infects the near-to-surface Langerhans cells
and uses them as “vehicles” to migrate to Tcells; this new discovery has now cast doubt on
that notion. Looking closely at the interaction
of HIV and Langerhans cells, scientists found
that the cells do not become infected by HIV
because they have Langerin on their surfaces.
Langerin captures HIV very efficiently, and
this Langerin-bound HIV is “eaten up” by the
Langerhans cells and destroyed. In essence,
Langerhans cells act like a virus “vacuum
cleaner.” The discovery also might help explain
differences in vulnerability to HIV infection
among people. Because the Langerin gene is
different in some individuals, Langerhans cells
with less functional Langerin cells could be
more susceptible to HIV infection.
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News
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readers through just
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