Biomedical subjects

W C Levine

Publications and source records attributed to W C Levine.

39 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1991

Epidemiology of nontyphoidal Salmonella bacteremia during the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic.

To assess the impact of the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic on nontyphoidal Salmonella septicemia and to identify risk factors for this infection, national laboratory-based Salmonella surveillance data and AIDS case reports were analyzed. Among 25- to 49-year-old men in states with a high incidence of AIDS, the proportion of Salmonella isolates reported from blood increased from 2.8% in 1978-1982 to 14.2% in 1983-1987, with substantial increases for serotypes enteritidis and typhimurium. Of adolescents and adults reported with AIDS from September 1987 through March 1990, 337 (0.48%) had recurrent Salmonella septicemia, with higher proportions among those who resided in the Northeast (0.86%), had a history of intravenous drug use (0.79%), or were black (0.74%) or Hispanic (0.57%). These data suggest that the risk of Salmonella septicemia in persons with AIDS is affected by geographic prevalence of Salmonella species, host characteristics, and invasiveness of infecting strains.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Waterborne disease outbreaks, 1986-1988.

From 1986 to 1988, 24 states and Puerto Rico reported 50 outbreaks of illness due to water that people intended to drink, affecting 25,846 persons. The protozoal parasite Giardia lamblia was the agent most commonly implicated in outbreaks, as it has been for the last 10 years; many of these outbreaks were associated with ingestion of chlorinated but unfiltered surface water. Shigella sonnei was the most commonly implicated bacterial pathogen; in outbreaks caused by this pathogen, water supplies were found to be contaminated with human waste. Cryptosporidium contamination of a chlorinated, filtered public water supply caused the largest outbreak during this period, affecting an estimated 13,000 persons. A large multistate outbreak caused by commercially produced ice made from contaminated well water caused illness with Norwalk-like virus among an estimated 5,000 persons. The first reported outbreak of chronic diarrhea of unknown cause associated with drinking untreated well water occurred in 1987. Twenty-six outbreaks due to recreational water use were also reported, including outbreaks of Pseudomonas dermatitis associated with the use of hot tubs or whirlpools, and swimming-associated shigellosis, giardiasis, and viral illness. Although the total number of reported water-related outbreaks has been declining in recent years, the few large outbreaks due to Cryptosporidium, Norwalk-like agent, Shigella sonnei, and Giardia lamblia caused more cases of illness in 1987 than have been reported to the Water-Related Disease Outbreak Surveillance System for any other year since CDC and the Environmental Protection Agency began tabulating these data in 1971.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Development of sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines, 1993. New methods, recommendations, and research priorities. STD Treatment Guidelines Project Team and Consultants.

To develop the 1993 Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines, experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed the literature on sexually transmitted disease treatment, assembled tables of evidence, and listed key questions on therapeutic outcome: microbiologic cure, alleviation of symptoms, and prevention of sequelae and transmission. At a meeting with external experts, evidence was systematically assessed and guidelines developed. Quality of evidence for microbiologic cure was generally good for gonorrhea and chlamydia, poor for syphilis, and fair for most other diseases. Evidence on preventing sequelae and transmission was limited. The Guidelines include new recommendations for single-dose oral therapy of gonorrhea (cefixime, ciprofloxacin, and ofloxacin), chlamydia (azithromycin), and chancroid (azithromycin); outpatient therapy of pelvic inflammatory disease (ofloxacin and either clindamycin or metronidazole); and patient-applied therapy of genital warts (podofilox). Syphilis therapy did not change substantially. Several global issues that emerged during the development of the World Health Organization Recommendations for the Management of Sexually Transmitted Diseases also are discussed. This evidence-based approach clarified important treatment issues and the rationale for recommendations, and identified research priorities.

Anti-Infective Agents↗