Lyme Disease signs any the symptoms.....

Summer & fall are times to be outdoors—gardening, walking or simply enjoying the warm weather. Unfortunately, being more active outside also increases your chance of encountering a blacklegged tick, the carriers of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease.
A blacklegged tick is extremely small, and they are very hard to see. Generally, an infected tick has to be attached to your body for 24 to 36 hours for the bacteria to spread to your blood. There are three stages of Lyme disease, and the symptoms may come and go. If the condition is not treated, it can spread to the brain, heart and joints. Symptoms of Stage 1 (early localized)

Lyme disease include:Body-wide itchingChillsFeverGeneral ill-feelingHeadacheLight-headedness or faintingMuscle painStiff neckA "bull's eye" rashSymptoms of Stage 2 (early disseminated) Lyme disease can appear in the weeks and months following the tick bite, and they include:Paralysis or weakness in the muscles of the faceMuscle pain and pain or swelling in the knees and other large jointsHeart problems, such as skipped heartbeats (palpitations)Months or even years after infection, people in Stage 3 (late disseminated) Lyme disease can experience the following symptoms:Muscle and joint painAbnormal muscle movementMuscle weaknessNumbness and tinglingSpeech problemsLyme disease is diagnosed through a blood test known as an ELISA, which checks for antibodies to the bacteria that causes the condition.  If the ELISA test is positive, it is followed by a Western blot test that will confirm the diagnosis. Treatment of confirmed Lyme disease includes a two to four week course of antibiotics. The type of antibiotics used will vary depending on the stage of the disease and the symptoms

Lesser Known C-Diff turns out is more of a Hospital Treat than MRSA.....

There's good and bad news on the "superbug" front. In community hospitals in the Southeast, an easily spread bacterium appears to have overtaken the widely feared MRSA as the most common hospital-acquired infection. But a pilot project in Ohio found that pushing hard on simple things such as hand washing and thorough cleaning can lower rates of that bug significantly.Known as Clostridium difficile, or "C. diff," the bacterium resides in the gut, is spread by contact and can cause painful intestinal infections and in some cases death. It's primarily seen in those over 65, and relapses occur in a fourth of patients, despite treatment.More than 90% of cases happen after antibiotic use, when thC-Diffe healthy flora of the gut are destroyed and C. diff can take up residence.C. difficile was 25% more common than MRSA in a study of 28 hospitals in the Southeast, says Becky Miller, an infectious-disease researcher at Duke UniversityMedical Center in Durham, N.C. The proportions nationwide aren't known.MRSA "was the big bad pathogen in hospitals," but C. diff has overtaken it, Miller says.

She worked the study by looking at C. difficile ra tes at community hospitals in the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network. The data were presented over the weekend at the Fifth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infections conference in Atlanta.Rates of MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, have been falling nationwide as hospitals increased infection control work, says Jose Cadena, a professor of infectious disease at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. MRSA causes serious skin and soft tissue infections. C. diff rates doubled between 1996 and 2003, research has shown.Each year in the USA, more than 28,000 people die of C. diff, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The breakdown is:• Hospital-acquired, hospital-onset cases: 165,000 patients, $1.3 billion in excess costs, and 9,000 deaths• Hospital-acquired, post-discharge (up to 4 weeks), 50,000 patients, $0.3 billion in excess costs, and 3,000 deaths.• Nursing home-onset cases, 263,000 patients, $2.2 billion in excess costs, and 16,500 deaths.That is why work in Ohio is so promising. A carefully monitored study of a quarter of the state's hospitals showed that following strict guidelines on hand washing, contact isolation and cleaning caused the number of cases to fall from 7.7 per 10,000 patient days in the hospital to 6.7 between the first and last half of 2009, says Julie Mangino, a professor of internal medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio."One of the units which was very vigilant had no new cases," she says.

The procedures aren't rocket science: "hand washing before and after room entry, compliance with gown and glove rules and meticulous cleaning," she says. But the researchers actually set up observers, to make sure they were happening. That made the difference.While prevention may seem a no-brainer, it's anything but.C. diff is hugely expensive to treat. Each case of hospital-acquired C. diff is estimated to cost between $4,000 and $9,000 to treat, she says.Many other states also are targeting C. diff prevention, using federal stimulus funds. Ohio and New York were first, but there are about a dozen coming, says the CDC's Nicole Coffin.C. difficile is especially difficult to stop because in addition to being a bacterium, it can exist in a dormant spore form, which can survive for weeks or months on hard surfaces, then begin multiplying when ingested. The alcohol-based hand foams that have become ubiquitous in hospitals don't kill it. It doesn't even appear that soap and water kill the bacteria when it's in spore form.

"But some people think just the physical process of washing gets it off your hands," says Neil Fishman, president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology in America.Hospitalization is a double whammy, both because the bacteria can become resident in a given facility and contaminate others and because people in hospitals are already sick and have lower resistance.Judicious antibiotic use is another key factor in lowering rates, says Coffin. "Good" bacteria in the gut can keep C. diff in check. But antibiotics can wipe out those good bacteria, allowing C. diff to flourish.In general, it's hard to convince individuals that they should not take antibiotics unnecessarily, because the threat is a general one — it might in the future render that antibiotic less effective against disease. But in the case of C. diff, it's very immediate. "If you're being treated with antibiotics for something else, you're at higher risk for C diff. It's a big reminder to clinicians that they need to make sure that you're using antibiotics appropriately and judiciously.

Study in monkeys raises hope for HIV .......vaccines

Study in monkeys raises hope for HIV vaccines

Click the Above link to read the Article....

Questions and Answers about MMRV Vaccine Safety from CDC site.....

This page addresses questions related to the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine.

• What is ProQuad?
• Is the MMRV vaccine available in the United States?
• What side effects were reported among children following MMRV vaccination before the vaccine was licensed?
• What is a febrile seizure?
• Who is at risk for febrile seizures?
• Are children more likely to have a febrile seizure after getting the MMRV vaccine than after getting MMR and varicella (chickenpox) vaccines?
• Is the study completed?
• Does the MMR vaccine cause febrile seizures?
• Does a varicella vaccine cause febrile seizures?
• How serious is a febrile seizure?
• Can febrile seizures after vaccination be prevented?

What is ProQuad?

ProQuad® is the trade name for a vaccine made up of measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chickenpox) components (MMRV). It was licensed in 2005 for use among children ages 12 months to 12 years. It is a single shot that can be used in place of two other shots--the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and the varicella vaccine. Using it lowers the number of shots a child needs to receive to be protected from these diseases.

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Is the MMRV vaccine available in the United States?

Very little MMRV vaccine is available in the United States due to manufacturing issues unrelated to vaccine safety. MMRV vaccine is not expected to be available again until 2009. However, some clinics may have some MMRV vaccine in stock.

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What adverse events were reported among children following MMRV vaccination before the vaccine was licensed?

Mild adverse events have been found, including--

• Soreness or swelling where the shot was given (about 1 child out of 5)
• Fever (about 1 child out of 5)
• Rash (about 1 child out of 5)

The MMRV vaccine, compared with MMR and varicella vaccines given separately, has been associated with higher rates of fever and a measles-like rash during the 5-12 days after vaccination.

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What is a febrile seizure?

"Febrile" means "relating to a fever." In some children, having a fever can bring on a seizure. During a febrile seizure, a child often has spasms or jerking movements--larger or small--and may lose consciousness. Febrile seizures usually last only a minute or two. They are most common with fevers that go up fast and reach 102;° F (38.9;° C) or higher, but can also occur when a fever is going back down. Febrile seizures may happen with any condition that causes a fever, including common childhood illnesses like ear infections and, rarely, vaccination.

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Who is at risk for febrile seizures?

Most febrile seizures occur in children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. The peak age is 14 to 18 months, which overlaps with the ages when first doses of the MMRV, MMR, and varicella vaccines are recommended. If a member of a child's immediate family has febrile seizures, that child is more likely to have a febrile seizure.

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Are children more likely to have a febrile seizure after getting the MMRV vaccine than after getting MMR and varicella (chickenpox) vaccines?

Early findings from an ongoing CDC study show that children who get an MMRV vaccine may be twice as likely to have a febrile seizure 7-10 days after getting the shot than children who get MMR and varicella vaccines (2 shots) at the same health care visit.
During the 7-10 days after vaccination, about one additional febrile seizure would be expected to occur among every 2,000 children vaccinated with MMRV vaccine, compared with children vaccinated with MMR and varicella administered at the same visit.

Is the study completed?

No. This study shows early results only. CDC and the Food and Drug Administration will continue to assess this information. Continue to visit this page for updated information.

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Does the MMR vaccine cause febrile seizures?

Children who receive the MMR vaccine are more likely to have febrile seizures 8-14 days after vaccination than children who are not vaccinated at all. ¹ During the 8-10 days after vaccination, about one additional febrile seizure occurs among every 3,000-4,000 children who receive MMR vaccine, compared with children who do not receive any vaccines.

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Does a varicella vaccine cause febrile seizures?

Varicella vaccine is not known to cause febrile seizures. A study among nearly 90,000 children who received varicella vaccine showed no increased risk of febrile seizures due to varicella vaccine.

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How serious is a febrile seizure?

Although febrile seizures can be frightening for the child's caregivers, most are harmless. The majority of children who have febrile seizures recover quickly and have no lasting effects. Up to half of children who have one febrile seizure will have at least one other febrile seizure. But children with simple febrile seizures--the most common form--have no greater chance of getting epilepsy or brain damage than children who do not have febrile seizures. A study ¹ showed that children who have febrile seizures after receiving an MMR vaccine are no more likely to have more seizures, epilepsy, or learning or developmental problems than children who have febrile seizures that are not associated with a vaccine.

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Can febrile seizures after vaccination be prevented?

In general, febrile seizures cannot be prevented. Some health care providers recommend aspirin-free fever-reducing medications to make the child more comfortable. However, these medications have not been shown to prevent febrile seizures. To avoid choking, children should not be given medication or anything else by mouth during a seizure.

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¹ Barlow WE, Davis RL, Glasser JW, Rhodes PH, Thompson RS, Mullooly JP, Black SB, Shinefield HR, Ward JI, Marcy SM, DeStefano F, Immanuel V, Pearson JA, Vadheim CM, Rebolledo V, Christakis D, Benson PJ, Lewis N, Chen RT, for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vaccine Safety Datalink Working Group. The risk of seizures after receipt of whole-cell pertussis or measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.* The New England Journal of Medicine 2001;345(9):656–661.

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