Outbreak News Radio

Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi; the diseases can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another. Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases of animals that can cause disease when transmitted to humans.

Infectious disease medicine requires an extensive understanding of the way in which bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections occur in humans and how they present clinically, as well as knowledge about antimicrobial agents, antibiotic resistance, vaccines, and other immunobiological agents.

My guest today to discuss some "pearls" about infectious diseases is the Gompf's ID Pearls author and Associate Professor, Infectious Disease and International Medicine, USF Health, Sandra Gompf, MD

A person on my Facebook page, Infectious disease news, who frequently posts anti-vaccine comments and links to certain posts placed a link to a article from a website called Natural News.

The author, SD Wells, asks the question and gives his or her answer in a piece called– Which has killed more people, measles or the measles vaccine?

Joining me today to look at this article is Paul Offit, MD. Dr Offit is a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases and an expert on vaccines.

Today’s topic is hot with 3 major papers in the last few months, that is the viral hypothesis of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was estimated to affect 35.5 million people worldwide in 2010 and is expected to affect 115.4 million people by 2050. Four members of the Human Herpes Virus family have been associated […]

Today's topic is hot with 3 major papers in the last few months, that is the viral hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) was estimated to affect 35.5 million people worldwide in 2010 and is expected to affect 115.4 million people by 2050.

Four members of the Human Herpes Virus family have been associated with development of Alzheimer's disease; HSV-1, VZV, HHV-6A, and HHV-7.

My guest today says its time to put it to the test. Joining today is infectious disease physician, Steven LaRosa, MD.

A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that substandard and falsified medicines, including medicines to treat malaria, are a serious problem in much of the world.

Here to talk about this serious issue in more detail is Sachiko Ozawa, Ph.D. Dr Ozawa is a health economist and associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She is also the lead author of the study published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

A recent Reuters article on the problem with Venezuela's measles outbreak crossing the Brazilian border said the following: Brazil complained on Thursday that Venezuela was doing nothing to stop the spread of an outbreak of measles in Brazil and other neighboring countries that has been sparked by an exodus of Venezuelans fleeing economic collapse.

This has prompted Brazil to launch a nationwide campaign to vaccinate 11 million children, plus adults who request it.

My guest today commented on Twitter writing--Totalitarian governments, not surprisingly, spawn infectious disease outbreaks that place other countries at risk.

Joining me today is Amesh Adalja, MD. Dr Adalja is a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a recognized expert in infectious diseases.

Lyme disease is a potentially serious bacterial infection that is spread by bites from infected blacklegged ticks and deer ticks. The bacterium, called Borrelia burgdorferi, causes more than 300,000 illnesses each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The prevalence of Lyme disease is increasing in the United States and according to a recent Quest Diagnostics Health Trends report, it has spread to all 50 United States and the District of Columbia.

Joining me today to discuss the report is Harvey W. Kaufman, M.D., Dr Kaufman is the senior medical director for Quest Diagnostics and head of the company's Health Trends research program.

Rat lungworm infection or Angiostrongyliasis is a parasitic infection that is relatively rare in the US; however, its effects on those infected can be quite serious.

Last Friday, a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report or (MMWR) looked at cases of CNS disease in the continental US for a 6 year period.

Joining me on today's podcast is Eugene Liu, MD. Dr Liu is the lead author of the MMWR article and he's a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Officer with the Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Center for Global Health.

A recent study by Johns Hopkins researchers look at the flu and what may explain why men recover faster. The study published in the journal Biology of Sex Differences demonstrates increased amounts of a lung-healing protein called amphiregulin (AREG) could be the reason why men recover from influenza more quickly than women.

Public health physician and vaccinologist, Dr Melvin Sanicas wrote about the study for the website, ZME Science and is here to talk about it today.

Last week I reported on a Wisconsin man who contracted a very serious infection with the bacterium, Capnocytophaga canimorsus and quickly went into septic shock.

It is suspected he contracted the bacterium from a dog lick. The latest news on his condition was he had all four limbs amputated.

So what is Capnocytophaga? Joining me on today's podcast to discuss this pathogen is infectious disease physician, Steven LaRosa, MD.