View clinical trials related to Communicable Diseases.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to collect data and body fluid samples from people with acute or established HIV infection and from HIV uninfected people. Data from this study will be used to better understand properties of HIV, including HIV transmission and the differences between acute and established HIV infections.
The military is subject to traumatic wounds of various types and severity. Such wounds are predisposed to infection because they 1) tend to be extensive and deep, 2) may affect areas of normal carriage of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract, upper respiratory tract, and the female genital tract, 3) typically produce tissue damage, 4) may introduce foreign bodies, 5) may interfere with local blood supply, 6) tend to produce ischemia, edema and hemorrhage, 7) may be complicated by fractures or burns and 8) may lead to shock and overwhelming of the body's systemic defenses. It will not always be possible in the military setting to cleanse and debride the wound promptly and effectively or to promptly provide surgery in the event of damage to vital structures. In the active military setting, the probability of wound infection following trauma is relatively high. In the absence of rapid identification of infecting flora and provision of information on antimicrobial susceptibility, clinicians must resort to empiric therapy rather than a tailored therapy. There is a tendency to use one of the top available agents that would likely be active against the vast majority of bacteria. This leads to increases in antimicrobial resistance, an important problem. The investigators hypothesize that the use of molecular biology techniques will provide identification of the microorganisms responsible for wound infection more rapidly and accurately. The investigators will evaluate real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technique under this proposal. This procedure can be applied directly to material from the wound without need for first growing the organisms. It can be used to define the total flora of the wound within five hours. The investigators will first develop primers and probes that will detect the various bacteria anticipated in a given wound in a certain location. These primers and probes will be used in real-time PCR for rapid and accurate identification of the wound flora. The information obtained with real-time PCR is quantitative so that one may judge the relative importance of different isolates. The investigators will also use another molecular approach, 16S rRNA gene cloning, and conventional cultures; these will provide further information about the flora of various wounds. Definitive identification of anaerobes can be provided quickly and that, along with information on usual antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, can be life-saving or shorten the course of the infection considerably.
Helicobacter pylori is recognized as a major gastrointestinal pathogen in developing countries. This microorganism infects up to 60% of children less than five years in those countries and is strongly associated with chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer disease in children and adults. The progression of gastritis to atrophy often leads to decreased gastric acid output, which is a well-known risk factor for anemia. Gastric acid is essential for increasing the bioavailability and absorption of non-heme dietary iron, the most important source of iron in developing countries. Numerous reports suggest that iron malabsorption secondary to low gastric acid output is a problem in developing world countries. It has been further observed that iron deficiency anemia is resistant to iron therapy particularly in these countries. In a recently completed study we observed an association of anaemia with H. pylori infection. We hypothesize that the poor bioavailability of iron in these countries could be related to H. pylori -induced low gastric acid output and we propose to investigate the role of H. pylori infection as a cause of anemia and treatment failure of iron supplementation in Bangladesh. A prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled field trial is proposed among four groups ( 65 each) of H. Pylori infected children of 2-5 years of age with iron deficiency anemia. The children will be assigned to one of the four therapies: antibiotics alone (for H. Pylori eradication), antibiotic plus iron therapy, iron therapy alone, or placebo. Hemoglobin concentration, serum ferritin concentration, and transferrin receptor will be measured before and at 1 and 3 month after the intervention. We also propose a complementary study in an additional 20 children with H. Pylori infection and iron deficiency anemia to assess iron absorption with application of double stable isotopes. The change in hematological parameters will also be compared among the groups before and after the therapy. The results of this study are expected to have implications in the prevention and treatment of iron deficiency anemia in developing countries.
Prosthetic joint infection is a devastating complication of total joint arthroplasty ultimately leading to the failure of the total joint arthroplasty function and possibly death. Optimal treatment requires the resection of the infected total joint arthroplasty followed by prolonged parenteral antimicrobial therapy. This procedure is followed by reimplantation of a new total joint arthroplasty at a later date. Surgical debridement and retention of the infected total joint arthroplasty offers a more conservative surgical approach and has been proven to be cost-effective in selected groups of patients. Traditional medical therapy for staphylococcal infection would require an initial parenteral antimicrobial followed by chronic oral non-rifampin containing antimicrobial suppression regimen for the life of the total joint arthroplasty. With this strategy the success rate is close to 30%. Recently, several prospective studies of patients with THA, TKA and fracture fixation device infections conducted in Europe showed that the success rate with a 3-6 month course of a quinolone-rifampin combination is effective in 70% to 100% of cases. The proposed study will be a prospective open label observational cohort that will evaluate the outcome of Patients with S. aureus PJI treated with a medical regimen that includes oral levofloxacin- rifampin and debridement and retention of components. This medical regimen was approved for use by the Orthopedic Infectious Diseases focus group, Mayo Clinic, Rochester. 15 patients will be enrolled over a one-year period and followed up to minimum of 1 additional year. The outcome of this group will be compared to a historical group that is treated with traditional therapy.
The objective of the program is to examine the efficacy of 6 month home micronutrient supplementation in Bedouin and Jewish children on improvements in nutritional status including measures of iron, ferritin, zinc and folic acid, and measures of growth and health parameters i.e.reported and recorded morbidity.
The hypothesis is that an antiviral drug (valacyclovir) will reduce the amount of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the mouths of university students with infectious mononucleosis (mono) while being a safe drug. Because EBV is the cause of mono, it is expected that reduction of the amount of virus could result in faster recovery from the disease.
Does chlorhexidine gluonate, a simple broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent with virtually no adverse-effects lower the incidence of NI after cardiac surgery, especially with respect to LTI and SSI?
The purpose of this study is to develop a scoring system to allow doctors to accurately identify children on a mechanical ventilator who have bacterial pneumonia. Currently this diagnosis is very difficult to make, resulting in the overuse of antibiotics and the promotion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU). Four ICUs at 3 children's hospitals will participate. Study participants will include 150 children, ages 2 months to 17 years old who require mechanical ventilation, and in whom the bedside health care providers suspect bacterial pneumonia. Bacteria will be studied by sampling lung fluid through the breathing tube less than 12 hours after starting antibiotics, using a procedure known as "non-bronchoscopic-bronchoalveolar lavage (NB-BAL)." Participants may be involved in study related procedures for up to 31 days.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment with valganciclovir decreases T cell activation levels among HIV-infected patients with asymptomatic cytomegalovirus (CMV) co-infection, potentially improving immune responses to antiretroviral therapy.
The objective of the study is to determine the efficacy and safety of 0.5% and 2% PRO 2000/5 gels compared to placebo in preventing vaginally acquired HIV infection.