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HIV/TB Coinfection: Confronting Challenges in Treatment Access
ISSUE: SEPTEMBER, 2010
Haileyesus Getahun, MD, MPH, PhD, TB/HIV team leader with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Stop TB Department, provides a brief historical recap of the medical community’s attempts to address HIV/TB coinfection, assesses current efforts, and discusses what the future may hold for this dual epidemic.
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New Strategies in Antimicrobial Stewardship: Managing Patient Care
ISSUE: SEPTEMBER, 2010
Over the past 25 years, the use of antimicrobial agents has been steadily increasing. This growth can be attributed to the explosion of pharmacologic agents produced by industry in response to a society demanding a rapid cure. Along with this rise in use comes the burden of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). These organisms increase morbidity, mortality, and the overall cost of health care.1 Organisms such as methicil-lin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resis-tant enterococci (VRE), and multidrug-resistant klebsiella are just a few of the ever-growing list of drug-resistant hospital–acquired and community-associated (CA) infections. In 2007, the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and the Soci-ety for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), released updated guidelines demonstrating the increased need for anti-microbial stewardship, along with a comprehensive infection control program in order to improve clinical outcomes, and to stay the flood of rising costs and resistance.
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Managing HIV Infection in Women
ISSUE: SEPTEMBER, 2010
Women and men are different, but how do these differences factor in the management of HIV infection? As the number of infected women has increased, so too has the importance of gender in HIV care. Research studies have provided insights into the ways HIV-infected men and women are alike and how they are different, as well as when care must be tailored to address the needs of women. Additionally, it is evident that the challenges women face in accessing and using HIV care often are different from those confronting men. We review these and other areas to be considered when caring for the woman infected with HIV.
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Recent Developments in Testing and The Changing Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile Infection
ISSUE: SEPTEMBER, 2010
Serious gastrointestinal complications from antibiotics have been well documented since introduction of these agents in the late 1940s. The most common ailment always has been antibiotic-associated diarrhea that is presumed to result from carbohydrate or bile salt malabsorption—a condition that may be alleviated by discontinuing the drug. The most serious complications were presumed to be caused by Staphylococcus aureus with enterocolitis in the first 3 decades of antibiotic use.
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VOLUME 13 • 2010 |
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