Distinguishing Acute from Chronic and Resolved Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infections by Measurement of Anti-HCV Immunoglobulin G Avidity Index

Journal of Clinical Microbiology  1 Oct  2007  Vol.45  N.10  p.3400-3403

S. Klimashevskaya,1,2 A. Obriadina,2 T. Ulanova,2 G. Bochkova,2 A. Burkov,2 A. Araujo,1 Susan L. Stramer,3 Leslie H. Tobler,4 Michael P. Busch,4 and Howard A. Fields1*

Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia,1 RPC Diagnostic Systems, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia,2 American Red Cross Scientific Support Office, Gaithersburg, Maryland,3 Blood Systems Research Institute, San Francisco, California4

abstract
http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/45/10/3400

Beyond Viruses: Clinical Profiles and Etiologies Associated with Encephalitis

Clinical Infectious Diseases  2006  Vol.43  p.1565-1577

C. A. Glaser,1 S. Honarmand,1 L. J. Anderson,3 D. P. Schnurr,1 B. Forghani,1 C. K. Cossen,1 F. L. Schuster,1 L. J. Christie,1 and J. H. Tureen2

1Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, California Department of Health Services, Richmond, and 2Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, California; and 3Respiratory and Enteric Viruses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

abstract
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID/journal/issues/v43n12/40366/brief/40366.abstract.html

A Systematic Review of Population-Based Studies of Infective Endocarditis*

Chest  Sept  2007  Vol.132  N.3   p.1025–1035

Imad M. Tleyjeh, MD, MSc; Ahmed Abdel-Latif, MD; Hazim Rahbi, MBChB; Christopher G. Scott, MSc; Kent R. Bailey, PhD; James M. Steckelberg, MD; Walter R. Wilson, MD and Larry M. Baddour, MD

* From the Divisions of Infectious Diseases (Drs. Tleyjeh, Steckelberg, Wilson, and Baddour) and Biostatistics (Mr. Scott and Dr. Bailey), Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Department of Medicine (Dr. Abdel-Latif), Division of Cardiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY; and Leicester Medical School (Dr. Rahbi), University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.

Correspondence to: Imad M. Tleyjeh, MD, MSc, Department of Medicine, King Fahd Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Main Hospital, PO Box 59046, Riyadh, 11525, KSA; e-mail: tleyjeh.imad@mayo.edu

abstract
http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/132/3/1025

Telbivudine (TYZEKA)

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https://www.tyzeka.com/

FDA Approves New Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis B in Adults – October 25, 2006

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Tyzeka (telbivudine) for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis B (HBV), a serious viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause lifelong infection, scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), and eventually liver cancer, liver failure, and death. Tyzeka is a new molecular entity, which is a term used by the FDA to describe a medication containing an active substance that has never before been approved for marketing in any form in the United States.

“In a typical year, an estimated 70,000 Americans become infected with chronic HBV, and some 5,000 of them will die of the complications caused by the disease,” said Dr. Steven Galson, Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Tyzeka offers prescribers another option for treating these patients.”

Tyzeka was studied in a year-long international clinical trial in 1,367 patients with chronic HBV. Three-quarters of the trial participants were male, and all were 16 years of age or older. The trial produced evidence of antiviral effectiveness, including the suppression of hepatitis B virus, and improvement in liver inflammation comparable to Epivir-HBV (lamivudine), one of five other medications approved to treat patients with chronic HBV.

HBV is spread when blood from an infected person enters the body of a person who is not infected, sometimes by sexual contact or blood contamination. Tyzeka is not a cure for hepatitis B, and long-term treatment benefits of this drug are not known. Use of Tyzeka has not been shown to reduce the risk of transmission of HBV to others through sexual contact or blood contamination.

In clinical studies Tyzeka was generally well tolerated, and most reported adverse events were mild to moderate. The most common side effects were elevated CPK (creatinine phosphokinase, an enzyme that is present in muscle tissue and is a marker for breakdown of muscle tissue), upper respiratory tract infection, fatigue, headache, abdominal pain and cough.

Also, after several weeks to months of Tyzeka use, some patients developed symptoms ranging from transient muscle pain to muscle weakness. Those who developed muscle weakness experienced significant improvement in their symptoms when Tyzeka was discontinued.

Patients should only stop Tyzeka after a careful discussion with their doctor. As has happened with other forms of treatment for hepatitis B, some patients who discontinued Tyzeka experienced a sudden and severe worsening of their hepatitis B. Therefore, patients who discontinue Tyzeka should be closely monitored by their doctor for at least several months.

Among drugs in the same class as Tyzeka, some cases of lactic acidosis (too much acid in the body due to buildup of lactic acid) and severe enlargement and accumulation of fat in the liver, including fatal cases, have been reported.

Tyzeka is manufactured by Novartis Pharma Stein AG, Stein, Switzerland and marketed and distributed by Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cambridge, MA. 

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01498.html

Telbivudine Approved in European Union for Hepatitis B Treatment

On April 30, the European Commission approved telbivudine for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in adults. The approval will allow the drug to be sold in all 27 countries in the European Union.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved telbivudine for sale in the U.S. in October 2006. While the drug is marketed in the U.S. as Tyzeka, it will be sold under the brand name Sebivo in Europe. The marketing is a collaborative venture between Idenix Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Pharma AG.

Telbuvudine, a nucleoside analog polymerase inhibitor, is taken orally once daily. Unlike some other anti-HBV agents, studies have shown that it is not active against HIV.

http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_b/news/2007/050407_a.html

Telbivudine (TYZEKA)

Tyzeka is indicated for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B in adult patients with evidence of viral replication and either evidence of persistent elevations in serum aminotransferases (ALT or AST) or histologically active disease.

This indication is based on virologic, serologic, biochemical and histologic responses after one year of treatment in nucleoside-treatment-naïve adult patients with HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B with compensated liver disease.

Already approved in Switzerland, telbivudine will be marketed as Sebivo outside the United States. Applications for approval were filed with the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) and the Chinese health authority in the first quarter of 2006.

FREE Full Text and More informations
http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_b/news/telbivudine.html

Treatment Failure in Community-Acquired Pneumonia*

Chest  Oct  2007  Vol.132  N.4   p.1348–1355

Rosario Menendez, MD and Antoni Torres, MD

* From the Servicio de Neumologia (Dr. Menendez), Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia; and Servei de Pneumologia i Allergia Respiratoria (Dr. Torres), Institut del Tòrax, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.

Correspondence to: Rosario Menendez, MD, Servicio de Neumologia, Hospital Universitario La Fe, Avda. de Campanar 21, 46009 Valencia, Spain; e-mail: rmenend@separ.es

abstract
http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/132/4/1348

Clinical Picture of Pneumocystis jiroveci Pneumonia in Cancer Patients*

Chest  Oct  2007  Vol.132  N.4   p.1305–1310

Guillaume Bollée, MD; Claudine Sarfati, MD; Guillaume Thiéry, MD; Anne Bergeron, MD, PhD; Sandra de Miranda, MD; Jean Menotti, PhD; Nathalie de Castro, MD; Abdellatif Tazi, MD; Benoît Schlemmer, MD and Élie Azoulay, MD, PhD

* From Medical Intensive Care Unit, Assistance Publique, Hôpitaux de Paris, Saint-Louis Teaching Hospital, Paris, France.

Correspondence to: Élie Azoulay, MD, PhD, Service de Réanimation Médicale, Hôpital Saint-Louis et Université, Paris 7, France; e-mail: elie.azoulay@sls.ap-hop-paris.fr

abstract
http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/132/4/1305

Neurosyphilis Presenting as Herpes Simplex Encephalitis

Clinical Infectious Diseases   2001 Vol.32  p.1108-1109

Illya Szilak,1 Francisco Marty, 2 Joseph Helft,2 and Ruy Soeiro3

1Montefiore Medical Center, 2Jacobi Medical Center, and 3Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York

FREE Full Text (CLIC en Download PDF)
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID/journal/issues/v32n7/000566/000566.html