Infectious Diseases News Brief - May 29, 2009

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Tuberculosis Disparity between US-born Blacks and Whites, Houston, Texas, USA

Tuberculosis (TB) rates in the United States are disproportionately high for certain ethnic minorities. Using univariate and multivariate analyses, the researchers compared data for 1,318 US-born blacks with 565 US-born non-Hispanic whites who participated in the Houston TB Initiative (1995–2004). All available Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates underwent susceptibility and genotype testing (insertion sequence 6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism, spoligotyping, and genetic grouping). TB in blacks was associated with younger age, inner city residence, HIV seropositivity, and drug resistance. TB cases clustered in 82% and 77% of blacks and whites, respectively (p = 0.46). Three clusters had >100 patients each, including 1 cluster with a predominance of blacks. Size of TB clusters was unexpectedly large, underscoring the ongoing transmission of TB in Houston, particularly among blacks.

Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal, volume 15 number 6, June 2009
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/6/899.htm

Unvaccinated Children at Higher Risk of Whooping Cough

New research from the US suggests that children whose parents won't let them be vaccinated are 23 times more likely to get whooping cough compared to children who are fully immunized.  The study was led by a vaccine research team at Kaiser Permanente Colorado's Institute for Health Research in Denver.  The researchers wrote that most parents have their children vaccinated, and this has led to a dramatic fall in numbers of children with serious childhood diseases, but despite this, the number of parents who don't want their children to be vaccinated appears to be rising in the US.  The scientists wanted to find out if children infected with pertussis or whooping cough were more likely to have parents who had refused to let them be vaccinated than equivalent children who did not become infected.  For the case controlled study the researchers used data on children enrolled in the Kaiser Permanente of Colorado health plan between 1996 and 2007. They matched each case of whooping cough to 4 randomly selected controls (ie children who had not had the disease).

Source: Medical News Today 26 May 2009
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151443.php

Sexually Transmitted HPV Linked To Certain Head & Neck Cancers

Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in Buffalo, New York, are strongly advocating a national discussion about the need to vaccinate both young men and women against HPV 16 to prevent head & neck cancers. The call comes amid growing evidence that certain cancers of the head and neck are strongly linked to HPV 16, a specific strain of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States. It is estimated that approximately 70% of Americans, both men and women, will be infected with HPV at some point in their lives.  The types of cancer associated with HPV 16 occur mostly at the back (base) of the tongue, in the tonsils, and in the soft palate at the back of the throat.  Over the past 10 years, members of RPCI's Head & Neck Department have seen a threefold increase in the number of throat cancers they treat.  In 2007, Roswell Park researchers began testing all head and neck tumours treated at the Buffalo-based comprehensive cancer center for the presence of HPV DNA.  Data from the ongoing testing have been combined with data from archived tumour samples to provide a clearer picture of how many head and neck cancers treated at RPCI test positive for HPV. To date, the total is around 50 to 60 percent.

Source: Medical News Today 23 May 2009
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151175.php