Infections in HIV-infected travelers: risks and prevention

Article Abstract:

People infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are at increased risk of acquiring infections while travelling. They will be exposed to infectious agents that will be uncommon in their countries of origin, and travel in itself increases the risk of infection with familiar infectious agents. Many of the infections that HIV-infected persons encounter when travelling will have greater adverse effects on them than in healthy patients. Gastrointestinal infections seem to be particularly severe in HIV patients. Among the infectious agents in this category are Shigella, Salmonella, Cholera, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, amoebae, isospora, and poliovirus. Respiratory infections of concern to HIV-infected persons include influenza (because the bacterial infections which complicate it are more severe in HIV-infected patients), measles, tuberculosis, Legionnaire's disease and fungal infections, such as histoplasmosis and coccidiomycosis. HIV patients should avoid sexual contact to avoid spread of their own disease, but also because they themselves suffer more severe disease, particularly syphilis, than do non-HIV-infected persons. Vector-borne diseases are those transmitted to humans through other hosts, often insects. An example is malaria, transmitted by mosquito bite. HIV-infected patients do not suffer disproportionately when infected with malaria. Yellow fever is also transmitted by mosquito, but the vaccine to prevent it is a live vaccine, and these are generally not given to HIV patients. Intestinal parasites have not been reported as causing more severe disease in HIV-infected persons. A schedule of recommended immunizations was developed for HIV-infected persons planning to travel. Antimalarial medications should be given if indicated by the destination. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Usage, Travel, Immunization

---

Effect of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on the course of syphilis and on the response to treatment

Article Abstract:

Evidence has been found for a different disease progression for syphilis in the presence of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, associated with AIDS). It appears that people who are HIV-positive are more likely to develop neurosyphilis (brain involvement); in addition, skin lesions take longer to heal, and blood tests for syphilis take longer to return to normal after antibiotic treatment, in such patients. An extensive review of the medical literature concerning the relationship between the two disorders is presented, drawing on the reference files from the Infectious Disease Section of the Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Other sources, such as experts on syphilis and other databases, were also consulted. Results suggest that the recommended dose levels of benzathine penicillin for treating early syphilis are probably barely sufficient to do the needed job in a person whose immune response functions adequately; in the HIV-infected person, they need to be increased. Involvement of the central nervous system is common in early syphilis, but the presence of HIV infection makes this even more likely. The higher probability of relapse to syphilis in such patients is another reason higher doses of penicillin are recommended. While ceftriaxone is effective against the disease, amoxicillin does not appear as effective as penicillin. The cerebrospinal fluid of people who have HIV infections and syphilis should be evaluated to determine whether central nervous system involvement has occurred; if it has, it is one of the few such disorders associated with AIDS that can be treated. Syphilis in patients with HIV infections demands prompt, aggressive treatment. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Care and treatment, Diagnosis, Physiological aspects, Syphilis, Neurosyphilis

---

An outbreak of Burkholderia (formerly Pseudomonas) cepacia respiratory tract colonization and infection associated with nebulized albuterol therapy

Article Abstract:

Respiratory infections in mechanically ventilated patients may be caused by inadequate infection control techniques and failure of the bacterial inhibitors that are added to multi-use bottles of medication. Researchers investigated an outbreak of Burkholderia (formerly Pseudomonas) infection in 42 ventilated patients at a Houston hospital. DNA analysis revealed that the bacterial strains implicated in the outbreak were related, suggesting they had a common source. Respiratory control personnel failed to follow recommended infection control procedures during a time period when the unit was understaffed. Multi-use bottles of albuterol, a medication used in ventilated patients, are acidified and benzalkonium chloride is added to inhibit bacterial growth. However, analysis of albuterol solutions used showed that benzalkonium concentration had declined to levels permitting bacterial growth. The institution of appropriate infection control procedures ended the outbreak.

Causes of, Contamination, Nebulizers and vaporizers, Nebulizers (Medicine), Vaporizers, Pseudomonas infections

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Lymphocyte activity in the presence of peritoneal fluid from fertile woman and infertile women with and without endometriosis
• Abstracts: Aspirin for prevention of myocardial infarction and stroke. Aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease
• Abstracts: Low fetal risks in pregnancies associated with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Thrombocytopenia at delivery:a prospective survey of 6715 deliveries
• Abstracts: The diagnostic and prognostic value of pretreatment serum creatine kinase BB levels in patients with neuroblastoma
• Abstracts: Vitamin B-12 status in a macrobiotic community. Growth, nutrient retention, and metabolic response of low-birth-weight infants fed supplemented and unsupplemented preterm human milk

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.