Infectious Disease

Readmission rates among patients with heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and pneumonia increase when psychiatric illness is also present.

A recipe described in a 1000-year-old book may possess some antimicrobial activity.

Advances in treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus have been breaking news in the last few years.

Changes to immunization schedules, a review of this season's flu shot, and potential vaccines in the pipeline were broached at the American Pharmacist Association's Annual Meeting and Exposition session on immunizations.

Commonly cited estimates on how easily newly infected patients transmit HIV may be vastly overstated.

Pharmacists can serve as an important resource for patients traveling abroad.

More than 90% of HIV transmissions originate from undiagnosed and untreated individuals. On the other hand, those retained in medical care who have achieved viral suppression are 94% less likely to transmit HIV.

Using scare tactics to sway vaccine skeptics' views tends to backfire, suggesting that pharmacists and other health care professionals should alter their approach to counseling these patients.

An OTC allergy medication may be able to kill the bacteria behind Lyme disease, bringing researchers closer to developing the first targeted therapy for the debilitating infection.

Preventing exposures to blood and body fluids is critical to preventing occupationally acquired HIV.

The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for an antigen rapid test (ReEBOV/Corgenix) to detect Ebola Zaire virus.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries recently launched generic versions of Sanofi's enoxaparin sodium injection (Lovenox) and Pfizer's linezolid injection (Zyvox).

Recent superbug exposure reported at a hospital in Los Angeles has shed light on the importance of antimicrobial stewardship.

More than 100 patients at a hospital in Los Angeles may have been exposed to a "superbug" that has been linked to at least 2 deaths at the facility.

Patients, especially infants, who are infected with respiratory syncytial virus may face an increased risk of developing pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, a recent study suggests.

The current measles outbreak across 14 US states indicates that too few individuals are being vaccinated to prevent infections, according to Jason Gallagher, a clinical pharmacy specialist in infectious diseases at Temple University.

A recent study has identified how chronic hepatitis infection can pave the way to liver cancer.

The recent California measles outbreak appears to have galvanized the public's attention in a way earlier outbreaks have not, putting the anti-vaccine movement on the defensive.

Measles cases in Arizona and elsewhere could soar as football fans pour into the state for the Super Bowl.

Pharmacist collaboration with physicians during a national shortage of intravenous trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole may have helped mitigate negative treatment outcomes among HIV-infected patients with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.

The FDA today approved Bexsero, a vaccine to prevent invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B in patients aged 10 to 25 years.

Hospitalization for pneumonia increases a patient's risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to a paper published in the January 20, 2015 edition of JAMA.

As we are all aware, the flu vaccine is not a perfect match this season.

Amiodarone has been shown to inhibit Ebola virus entry into host cells.

Evidence suggesting that this year's flu vaccine missed the mark has caused the CDC to turn to other treatment strategies.

Respiratory syncytial virus infection increases the risk of pneumonia in young children.

Rhinovirus infection tends to aggravate other conditions in the elderly.

Flu activity continued to worsen throughout the United States in the final week of 2014.

The FDA today granted the first waiver to allow the use of a nucleic acid-based influenza diagnostic test in a greater variety of health care settings.

Even intermittent heroin abuse can worsen human immunodeficiency virus infections.