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.
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.
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.
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 challenge
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.