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Unique Collaboration Charts the Migrations of a Parasite that Affected History
Researchers Sequence Louse DNA from Mummies and Propose New Model for its Development


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Featured in U.S. News & World Report
"Common Cold Virus Alters Body's Genes" October 24, 2008
Comparison of the Safety and Immunogenicity of 2 Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccines— Nonadjuvanted Vaccine or Vaccine Adjuvanted with Alum—Given Concomitantly with Influenza Vaccine to High-Risk Elderly Individuals
Ann R. Falsey, Edward E. Walsh, Jose Capellan, Stefan Gravenstein, Maria Zambon, Eddy Yau, Geoffrey J. Gorse, Robert Edelman, Frederick G. Hayden, Janet E. McElhaney, Kathleen M. Neuzil, Kristen L. Nichol, Eric A. F. Simões, Peter F. Wright, and Valérie M.-P. Sales
A second study, this one published in the Nov. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, found that respiratory syncytial virus, the main cause of lung infections and hospitalizations in children, may actually linger in the body even after symptoms subside.

Featured in Reuters-USE_THIS
"HPV infection rates similar in men and women" October 10, 2008
Age-Specific Prevalence, Incidence, and Duration of Human Papillomavirus Infections in a Cohort of 290 US Men
Anna R. Giuliano, Beibei Lu, Carrie M. Nielson, Roberto Flores, Mary R. Papenfuss, Ji-Hyun Lee, Martha Abrahamsen, and Robin B. Harris
Although men are at high risk of acquiring human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, most last no more than a year, about the same time this sexually transmitted disease persists in women, researchers report in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Featured in Houston Chronicle
"Graedons: Some food combos can do harm" August 10, 2008
Medical-Grade Honey Kills Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria In Vitro and Eradicates Skin Colonization
Paulus H. S. Kwakman, Johannes P. C. Van den Akker, Ahmet Güçlü, Hamid Aslami, Jan M. Binnekade, Leonie de Boer, Laura Boszhard, Frederique Paulus, Pauline Middelhoek, Anje A. te Velde, Christina M. J. E. Vandenbroucke-Grauls, Marcus J. Schultz, and Sebastian A. J. Zaat
Honey has been used for thousands of years to help heal wounds. A recent article demonstrated that medical-grade honey kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria (Clinical Infectious Diseases, June 1, 2008). When applied to the forearm, this special Dutch honey (Revamil) kept germs from growing on the skin. The manufacturer also has developed a veterinary formulation called Vetramil, which is supposed to discourage licking.

Featured in Scientific American
"Stomach Bug May Ward Off Asthma" July 16, 2008
Helicobacter pylori Colonization Is Inversely Associated with Childhood Asthma
Yu Chen, Martin J. Blaser
"...scientists analyzed data from more than 7,000 participants in a national health and nutrition survey. They found that children between the ages of three and 13 are less than half as likely to have asthma if they carry H. pylori. They also had half the incidence of hay fever and other allergies. The results appear online in the July 15th issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases."

Featured in U.S. News & World Report
"Stomach Germ May Protect Against Asthma" July 15, 2008
Helicobacter pylori Colonization Is Inversely Associated with Childhood Asthma

Yu Chen, Martin J. Blaser
"A stomach bacterium called Helicobacter pylori may reduce a child's risk of developing asthma by as much as 50 percent, a new study suggests.  H. pylori has been present in the human stomach probably since humans were humans. However, the germ began disappearing over the course of the 20th century with the introduction of antibiotics and cleaner water and homes, perhaps making children more susceptible to asthma, the study authors suggested."

Featured in Wired News
"Internal Bacterial Imbalance Leads to Asthma" July 15, 2008
Helicobacter pylori Colonization Is Inversely Associated with Childhood Asthma
Yu Chen, Martin J. Blaser
"In a study published yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, researchers showed that Heliobacter pylori, an intestinal microbe that co-evolved with humans, appears to protect children from asthma.  Asthma rates have nearly doubled in the United States since 1970, and are swelling in the developing world. Underlying the rise is a constellation of causes -- and one of these may be the loss of H. pylori, a vanishing member of the rich bacterial ecosystems in our stomachs."

Featured in Reuters
"Zinc reduces common cold symptoms" April 17, 2008
Duration and Severity of Symptoms and Levels of Plasma Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist, Soluble Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor, and Adhesion Molecules in Patients with Common Cold Treated with Zinc Acetate
Ananda S. Prasad, Frances W. J. Beck, Bin Bao, Diane Snell, and James T. Fitzgerald
Zinc acetate lozenges taken within 24 hours of developing symptoms of the common cold reduce the duration and severity of symptoms, according to a report in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Featured in National Public Radio
"Peruvian Mummies' Lice Came from Africa" February 7, 2008
Molecular Identification of Lice from Pre-Columbian Mummies

Didier Raoult, David L. Reed, Katharina Dittmar, Jeremy J. Kirchman, Jean-Marc Rolain, Sonia Guillen, and Jessica E. Light
When humans migrated out of Africa 100,000 years ago, they were likely carrying stowaways. Scientists who've tested head lice taken from Peruvian mummies found the strains of these little parasites were nearly identical to those that were irritating our ancestors in Africa.

Featured in New York Times
"Scientists Say Mummies' Lice Show Pre-Columbian Origins" February 7, 2008
Molecular Identification of Lice from Pre-Columbian Mummies
Didier Raoult, David L. Reed, Katharina Dittmar, Jeremy J. Kirchman, Jean-Marc Rolain, Sonia Guillen, and Jessica E. Light
[In a new paper for the JID, scientists] establish that lice had accompanied their human hosts in the original peopling of the Americas, probably as early as 15,000 years ago. The DNA matched that of the most common type of louse known to exist worldwide now and also before Europeans colonized the New World.

Featured in Reuters
"Head lice came with us out of Africa" February 6, 2008
Molecular Identification of Lice from Pre-Columbian Mummies
Didier Raoult, David L. Reed, Katharina Dittmar, Jeremy J. Kirchman, Jean-Marc Rolain, Sonia Guillen, and Jessica E. Light
Head lice taken from 1,000-year-old mummies in Peru support the idea that the little creatures accompanied humans on their first migration out of Africa, 100,000 years ago, researchers reported on Wednesday.

15 April 2008

Volume 197, Number 8
The Journal of Infectious Diseases 2008;197:1145–1155
© 2008 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
0022-1899/2008/19708-0011$15.00
DOI: 10.1086/529523
MAJOR ARTICLE

Inferior Clinical Outcome of the CD4+ Cell Count–Guided Antiretroviral Treatment Interruption Strategy in the SMART Study: Role of CD4+ Cell Counts and HIV RNA Levels during Follow-up

The Strategies for Management of Antiretroviral Therapy (SMART) Study Groupa

Background and methods.  The SMART study compared 2 strategies for using antiretroviral therapy—drug conservation (DC) and viral suppression (VS)—in 5472 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–infected patients with CD4+ cell counts >350 cells/μL. Rates and predictors of opportunistic disease or death (OD/death) and the relative risk (RR) in DC versus VS groups according to the latest CD4+ cell count and HIV RNA level are reported.

Results.  During a mean of 16 months of follow-up, DC patients spent more time with a latest CD4+ cell count <350 cells/μL (for DC vs. VS, 31% vs. 8%) and with a latest HIV RNA level >400 copies/mL (71% vs. 28%) and had a higher rate of OD/death (3.4 vs. 1.3/100 person-years) than VS patients. For periods of follow-up with a CD4+ cell count <350 cells/μL, rates of OD/death were increased but similar in the 2 groups (5.7 vs. 4.6/100 person-years), whereas the rates were higher in DC versus VS patients (2.3 vs. 1.0/100 person-years; RR, 2.3 [95% confidence interval, 1.5–3.4]) for periods with the latest CD4+ cell count 350 cells/μL—an increase explained by the higher HIV RNA levels in the DC group.

Conclusions.  The higher risk of OD/death in DC patients was associated with (1) spending more follow-up time with relative immunodeficiency and (2) living longer with uncontrolled HIV replication even at higher CD4+ cell counts. Ongoing HIV replication at a given CD4+ cell count places patients at an excess risk of OD/death.

Trial registration.  ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00027352.

Received 15 June 2007; accepted 5 November 2007; electronically published 6 March 2008.

Reprints or correspondence: Dr. Jens D. Lundgren, Copenhagen HIV Programme (CHIP), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Panum Institute, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark ().

Cited by

Timothy J. Wilkin and Roy M. Gulick. (2008) HIV/AIDS: When to Start Antiretroviral Therapy?. Clinical Infectious Diseases 47:12, 1580-1586
Online publication date: 15-Dec-2008.
Abstract-Full Text-PDF Version (272 kB)
Andrea L Ciaranello, George R Seage, Kenneth A Freedberg, Milton C Weinstein, Shahin Lockman, Rochelle P Walensky. (2008) Antiretroviral drugs for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: balancing efficacy and infant toxicity. AIDS 22:17, 2359-2369
Online publication date: 1-Dec-2008.
CrossRef

  • Potential conflicts of interest: J. Lundgren and A. Phillips have received honoraria, fees for speaking, consultancy fees, and/or funds for research from various pharmaceutical companies, including Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), Roche, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Gilead, Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), Pfizer, Tibotec, and Janssen-Cilag. S. Emery has received honoraria and consultancy fees from and has received research grants from or been an investigator in clinical trials sponsored by Abbott, BI, BMS, Chiron, Gilead Sciences, GSK, Merck Sharp and Dohme, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, Tibotec, and Virax Holdings. All other Writing Group members report no potential conflicts.

    Presented in part: International AIDS Conference, Toronto, 13–18 August 2006.

    Financial support: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (grants U01AI042170 and U01AI46362).

  • aStudy group members (including the members of the Writing Group, who authored this article) are listed after the text.

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