Infectious diseases

A case-note audit at a community-based sexual health clinic has shown that hepatitis C treatment outcomes among Indigenous Australians are similar to those among non-Indigenous Australians, which might be partly due to genetics.

Joshua S Davis · Anuja C Kulatunga · Krispin Hajkowicz

To the Editor: We report a case of severe Vibrio cholerae infection acquired in Sydney, likely due to ingestion of imported seafood. An 83-year-old man with Parkinson disease presented with a 3-day history of vomiting, large-volume watery diarrhoea and acute renal impairment necessitating admission to the intensive care unit. Blood cultures grew curved gram-negative bacilli, and intravenous piperacillin–clavulanic acid was commenced. Subsequent microbiological testing of blood ...

Chiao-Yun Hsu · Simon Pollett · Patricia Ferguson · Brenden J McMullan · Vicki Sheppeard · Suzanne E Mahady

Children in two remote Northern Territory Aboriginal communities were studied to measure the impact of four weeks of daily swimming on rates of ear discharge with a tympanic membrane penetration and on the microbiology of the nasopharynx and middle ear.

Anna T N Stephen MPH · Amanda J Leach BAgSc(Hons), MAgSc, PhD · Peter S Morris MB BS, PhD, FRACP

A study of disease notifications in general practice seeks to answer the question of whether increases in pertussis notifications in Australia since 2008 were due to a true increase in the disease or an increase in testing.

Marlena C Kaczmarek BSc, MPH · Lisa Valenti BEc, MMedStat · Heath A Kelly BSc, MB BS, MPH · Robert S Ware BSc(Hons), PhD · Helena C Britt BA, PhD · Stephen B Lambert MAppEpid, FAFPHM, PhD

A challenging case of acute febrile illness and rapidly evolving petechial rash and digital gangrene in a traveller returning from North India and Nepal.

Puvesh Punj MB BS · Renjy Nelson MB BS, FRACP · Sarah Gardiner BM BS · Michelle Lodge MB BS, FRACS · Stephen R Graves FASM, FRCPA, PhD · Morgyn S Warner MD, FRACP, FRCPA

In view of the findings of a linked research article in this issue, clock watching should take a back seat to paying strict attention to insertion and maintenance practice to prevent IV catheter-related bloodstream infection

Claire M Rickard BN, GradDipN(CriticalCare), PhD · Joan Webster RN, RM, BA · E Geoffrey Playford MB BS(Hons), MMed(ClinEpi), PhD

A sensible approach to controlling tuberculosis in Australia would be universal screening of migrants from high-incidence countries, similar to the efficient and cost-effective program that is used in the United Kingdom

Justin T Denholm MPHTM, PhD, FRACP

Incident cases of S. aureus bacteraemia occurring where intravenous catheters were inserted in wards and in emergency departments were investigated. The researchers suggest that timely removal is important for reducing risk of infection, particularly when the catheters are inserted under suboptimal circumstances.

Rhonda L Stuart MB BS, PhD, FRACP · Donna R M Cameron CertICS, BN, BAppSc · Carmel Scott RN Div 1, CICP · Despina Kotsanas BSc(Hons), MClinEpi · M Lindsay Grayson MB BS, MD, FRACP · Tony M Korman MB BS, FRACP, FRCPA · Elizabeth E Gillespie BN, MPubHealth · Paul D R Johnson MB BS, PhD, FRACP

With human papillomavirus vaccination for boys now on Australia’s National Immunisation Schedule, this study determined background rates of potential adverse events, assuming temporal association with vaccination but no other association. The findings will help to determine whether adverse event reports represent real safety flags that require urgent investigation.

Hazel J Clothier FIBMS, MSc, MAppEpid · Katherine J Lee BSc, MSc, PhD · Vijaya Sundararajan MD, MPH · Jim P Buttery FRACP, MD, MSc · Nigel W Crawford BM BS, MPH, PhD

Antibiotics should be continued unchanged when a paradoxical reaction occurs in M. ulcerans infection, but adding steroids can diminish skin loss and systemic symptoms.

Janine M Trevillyan MB BS, FRACP · Paul D R Johnson MB BS, PhD, FRACP

Vaccination remains the single best option for controlling influenza, but it is important not to overstate the effectiveness of current inactivated vaccines.

Heath A Kelly MB BS, MPH · Nicholas Kelley PhD

The first case of visceral leishmaniasis in an Australian returned traveller taking adalimumab highlights the small but significant risk to immunosuppressed patients travelling to areas endemic for leishmaniasis.

Catherine E Berry BMed · Jeffrey Tsai MB BS · Alexander Tierney MB BS, FRACP · Robert Pickles BMed(Hons), FRACP

From the “Black Death” of bubonic plague to the “White Plague” of tuberculosis, infectious diseases have had devastating effects on unprepared human populations. What must we do to avoid a similar fate from the “Red Plague” of multiresistant gram-negative bacteria?

David F M Looke FRACP, FRCPA, MMedSci(ClinEpidemiol) · Thomas Gottlieb MB BS, FRACP, FRCPA · Cheryl A Jones MB BS, PhD, FRACP · David L Paterson MB BS, PhD, FRACP