Clinicians' Biosecurity News Archive: 2011
                 

• 12-16-2011: Transmission of 2009 Pandemic Influenza to Healthcare Workers A recent study reinforces the importance of droplet precautions, PPE, and other prevention measures during a flu pandemic.
• 12-02-2011: Does Asymptomatic H5N1 Influenza Infection Occur? Asymptomatic H5N1 infection may be more common than thought. A new study suggests that standard methods to detect H5 antibodies are not sensitive enough.
• 11-18-2011: Analysis of 21 Years’ Data on Melioidosis Pneumonia Patient Outcomes This analysis of long-term patient outcome data offers insight into clinical presentation and management of melioidosis.
• 11-04-2011: The Bio-Response Report Card: Some Progress, But More Work Needed The newly released “Bio-Response Report Card” was constructed to, “provide a strategic, end-to-end assessment of America’s bio-response capabilities.”
• 10-21-2011: Biosurveillance and Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis The likelihood that a clinical diagnosis of a communicable disease will be accurate is influenced by the prevalence of the disease in the community.
• 10-03-2011: Center for Biosecurity Launches Rad Resilient City Initiative: The Rad Resilient City Preparedness Checklist converts the latest federal guidance and technical reports into clear, actionable steps.
• 09-16-2011: CDC Releases Strategic Plan for Public Health Preparedness On September 9, 2011, the OPHPR at the CDC released A National Strategic Plan for Public Health Preparedness and Response.
• 09-02-2011: Anthrax-like Disease Caused by Bacillus cereus Of the Bacillus species known to cause human disease, only B. anthracis is generally recognized as capable of causing fulminant disease.
• 08-19-2011: Chinese Herbal Therapy Efficacious Against Influenza Maxingshigan-yinqiaosan (MY), was used during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in rural areas where drugs like oseltamivir were scarce.
• 08-05-2011: Invasion of Red Blood Cells by Francisella tularenesis A research team at the University of Pittsburgh has recently demonstrated that F.tularensis has the capacity to invade RBCs in a mouse model.
• 07-22-2011: Can Systems Biology Improve Influenza Immunization Practice? With a systems biology approach, the changes that occur after vaccination can be studied to identify specific alterations that predict response to vaccination.
• 06-24-2011: Does Antiviral Therapy Prevent Lower Respiratory Tract Complications in Influenza Patients? Oseltamivir’s efficacy in shortening the duration of influenza symptoms when administered promptly is widely accepted.
• 06-06-2011: E. coli Infection and Hemolytic-uremic Syndrome WHO announced (5/27/2011) investigation of large outbreak of HUS that began in 2nd week of May 2011; causative agent is uncommon and virulent strain of E. coli.
• 06-03-2011: Influenza-Associated Heart Attacks New evidence of relationship between MI and influenza suggests that patients at high risk for MI should be included in priority groups for influenza vaccination
• 05-20-2011: Redefining Influenza "Pandemic" Applying Potter’s and Jennings’ refined definition of pandemic should serve to capture essential characteristics of pandemics and inform planning.
• 05-06-2011: Absence of Smallpox "Take" May Not Indicate Revaccination Failure This study demonstrates that it is not necessary to recall those without a take, even without of evidence at the vaccination site.
• 04-15-2011: Dialysis in a Disaster Setting? Without access to dialysis, injured patients who might otherwise be able to survive may die from renal failure and hyperkalemia.
• 04-01-2011: Hematopoietic Elements of Acute Radiation Sickness This brief highlights some of the clinical issues that arise in treating those with potentially survivable acute exposures to radiation.
• 03-31-2011: Radiation at Fukushima: Basic Issues and Concepts This brief is intended to help explain and put into context some of the terminology and concepts associated with nuclear radiation.
• 03-18-2011: Distinguishing Bacterial Pneumonia from 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pneumonia Distinguishing which patients with community-acquired pneumonia require antiviral treatment and droplet isolation for influenza is a difficult task.
• 03-03-2011: Social Network Analysis and Whole Genome Sequencing Aid in TB Outbreak Investigation Tuberculosis (TB) outbreak investigation traditionally has been conducted through “shoe-leather epidemiology,”
• 02-18-2011: Immunomodulation in 2009 H1N1 A team of researchers in Spain has published results of a study of the use of several types of immune modulators in patients infected with 2009 H1N1.
• 02-04-2011: Healthcare Worker Mortality During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Researchers from the Australian Army recently published results of its study of mortality among nurses and physicians during the 1918 influenza pandemic.
• 01-21-2011: Airborne Transmission of Prions The assumption that prion diseases spread exclusively by ingestion or direct inoculation has been challenged by results of a study by Haybaeck et al.
• 01-07-2011: Intravenous Immunoglobulin for Pandemic Influenza Australian researchers published their study of the use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) during the 2009 pandemic.