CDC launches 2-year study of patients in fungal meningitis outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched a study to identify the long-term health effects of last fall's deadly fungal meningitis outbreak linked to tainted steroids and to determine which antifungal drugs work best, the Boston Globe reported recently.
The $216,000 study will be led by Peter Pappas, MD, of the University of Alabama School of Medicine, who leads a national consortium of scientists who specialize in fungal infections, the story said. Mary E. Brandt, PhD, who leads the CDC's Mycotic Diseases Branch, said Pappas and his team will monitor 500 patients from the states hit hardest in the outbreak—Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Thus far the CDC has linked 749 fungal infections, including 63 deaths, to contaminated steroids from the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. Patients have had fungal meningitis, local spinal or paraspinal infections, and infections in joints such as the knee, shoulder, or ankle.
In the 2-year study, the investigators will look at which antifungal medication patients are receiving, side effects, other symptoms, and any relapse after stopping the drugs, Brandt told the Globe. She said physicians have been using three different antifungal drugs, and the investigators will be trying to figure out which works best.
"We really don't know how long to tell them to keep taking the medications," Brandt said. "It is possible that some may have to take them the rest of their lives." She noted that patients who have certain other fungal infections, such as Valley Fever meningitis, need lifelong treatment.
Aug 24 Boston Globe story
CDC's outbreak update page
Iowa reports 528 confirmed or probable Cryptosporidium cases
The number of confirmed or probable Cryptosporidium infections in Iowa since Jun 1 reached 528 last week, up from 399 just 1 week prior, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported on Aug 22. An additional 173 illnesses are being investigated, the agency added.
Polk County has reported the most cases by far: 216. The only other counties reporting more than 30 cases are Webster, with 37, and Linn, with 33.
The IDPH said the state had 328 probable or confirmed "Crypto" cases in all of 2012.
The disease, caused by the Cryptosporidium parvum parasite, is an intestinal illness that lasts a few days in healthy people but can be serious in children and older people and fatal in those with weakened immunity. Symptoms typically include watery diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and a low-grade fever.
In a statement earlier this month, the IDPH said many of the sick patients reported swimming in pools, lakes, or rivers.
Aug 22 IDPH case count update
At least 21 measles cases linked to Texas megachurch
At least 21 cases of measles in largely unvaccinated Texans have been linked to a megachurch that is now hosting vaccination clinics, the Associated Press (AP) reported today.
A visitor who contracted measles overseas started the outbreak at Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, Tex., about 20 miles north of Fort Worth. Local health officials said patients range in age from 4 months to 44 years, with all of the school-age patients being homeschooled and most of those students unvaccinated.
In a recent sermon posted online, senior pastor Terri Pearsons told members who haven't been vaccinated to get a measles vaccine but also added, "If you've got this covered in your household by faith and it crosses your heart of faith, then don't [get vaccinated]," according to the story.
At least 16 of the 21 church members who contracted measles were not vaccinated. Officials are investigating whether a case in Harris County, where Houston is located, is part of the outbreak.
The state has seen 27 measles cases this year, compared with none last year and 6 in 2011, the AP reported.
Aug 27 AP story
