Faculty Bibliography

Foodborne illnesses impose a substantial economic and quality-of-life burden on society by way of acute morbidity and chronic sequelae. We developed an economic model to evaluate the potential cost-effectiveness of a disinfection program that targets high-risk food preparation activities in household kitchens. For the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, we used published literature and expert opinion to estimate the cost of the program (excluding the educational component); the number of cases of Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections prevented; and the economic and quality-of-life outcomes. In our primary analysis, the model estimated that approximately 80,000 infections could be prevented annually in U.S. households, resulting in 138 million dollars in direct medical cost savings (e.g., physician office visits and hospitalizations avoided), 15,845 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained, 788 million dollars in program costs, and a favorable cost-effectiveness ratio of 41,021 dollars/QALY gained. Results were similar for households in Canada and the United Kingdom (21,950 dollars Can/QALY gained and 86,341 pounds sterling/QALY gained, respectively). When we evaluated implementing the program only in U.S. households with high-risk members (those less than 5 years of age, greater than 65 years of age, or immunocompromised), the cost-effectiveness ratio was more favorable (10,163 dollars/QALY gained). Results were similar for high-risk households in Canada and the United Kingdom (1,915 dollars Can/QALY gained and 28,158 pounds sterling/QALY gained, respectively). Implementing a targeted disinfection program in household kitchens in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom appears to be a cost-effective strategy, falling within the range generally considered to warrant adoption and diffusion (<100,000 dollars/QALY gained).

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract infection in infants and young children. Premature infants and infants with underlying lung disease are at increased risk for severe RSV infection in the first 1 - 2 years of life. Monthly prophylaxis with palivizumab (Synagis) during RSV season has been proven safe and effective in this population and these effects have persisted over the 4 years since the drug was approved by the US FDA in 1998. Issues remain regarding the optimal candidates for palivizumab prophylaxis and whether additional groups of high-risk individuals, for example infants with congenital heart disease or cystic fibrosis, and immunocompromised hosts, might benefit from such preventive therapy. It is possible that palivizumab in combination with antiviral or anti-inflammatory agents might also prove to be beneficial in the treatment of RSV disease. Newer monoclonal antibodies to RSV in development may offer the potential for less frequent dosing, increased efficacy and a role in treatment of RSV disease, but pending further evaluation of such products palivizumab provides significant protection for high-risk infants against a major pathogen.

In this report we present four patients who were found to have both an eating disorder and the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Two of the patients presented for evaluation of an eating disorder and also had CFS, while two of the patients presented for evaluation of CFS and also had an eating disorder. In all four patients the eating disorder preceded the CFS. We consider the question of whether the occurrence of these two disorders in the same patients is merely a coincidence; whether an eating disorder can act as a precipitant for CFS, perhaps through the exacerbation of an underlying vascular instability; and whether overlapping etiologies may predispose some adolescents to develop both disorders. We also discuss similarities (including diagnostic dilemmas, cultural influences, psychological correlates, demographic similarities, perceptual biases, and cardiovascular effects) encountered in the management of both of these disorders.

OBJECTIVE:To assess the economic impact, from a societal perspective, of a multidimensional infection control education program (ICEP) in a preschool for children with Down syndrome. METHODS:Krilov et al implemented a comprehensive ICEP in a specialized preschool setting and reported a significant decrease in medical resource utilization and days absent from school. Clinical and economic data from Krilov et al and other sources were incorporated into a health-state transition (Markov) decision analysis model that estimated annual expected costs for the baseline and intervention years. Procedure and diagnosis codes were assigned to all physician office visits, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and laboratory and diagnostic tests. Cost estimates then were derived using 1999 national reimbursement schedules and other sources. Productivity losses for parents were estimated using national wage rates. The costs of the ICEP were compared with the reduction in the costs of illness (direct medical costs plus costs associated with lost parental working time). The outcomes measured were mean annual costs of illness per child, total annual ICEP costs, and net annual costs or savings. RESULTS:With a comprehensive ICEP, the mean costs of illness in the baseline year was $1235 per child, of which 68% and 14% were for productivity losses and physician visits, respectively. In the intervention year, the mean costs of illness per child was $615, of which 71% and 20% were for productivity losses and physician visits, respectively. The cost of the preexisting infection control (IC) practices in place at the onset of the study (baseline year) was $716. The comprehensive ICEP cost (intervention year) was $75 627, 92% of which was spent to hire a cleaning service to decontaminate toys 3 times per week. When a secondary analysis was performed to reflect a less intensive ICEP in a nonspecialized preschool setting, the mean costs of illness in the baseline and intervention years were $962 and $614 per child, respectively, representing a total annual cost-of-illness savings of $13 224 for the 38 children who participated in the study by Krilov et al. The annual incremental cost of the less intensive ICEP was $2371; therefore, the estimated net annual savings of the less intensive ICEP in a nonspecialized preschool was $10 853. CONCLUSIONS:This study suggests that the reduction in the costs of illness could more than offset the cost of implementing a multidimensional ICEP in a preschool setting.

In this work we continue our study of the biochemical responses of respiratory epithelial cells to infection with human paramyxovirus pathogens. In our earlier studies, we detected elevated concentrations of the proinflammatory chemokines MIP-1alpha and IL-8 in upper and lower respiratory tract secretions from patients infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Here we demonstrate the same trend for individuals infected with parainfluenza virus (PIV), with elevated concentrations of MIP-1alpha and IL-8 (means of 309 +/- 51 and 2280 +/- 440 pg/ml/mg protein, respectively) detected in nasal wash samples from 17 patients with culture-positive PIV. Similar to our findings with RSV, cells of the HEp-2 epithelial line and primary cultures of human bronchial epithelial cells respond to PIV infection with production and release of both MIP-1alpha and IL-8. Addition of the glucocorticoid anti-inflammatory agent hydrocortisone (200-1000 ng/ml) attenuated the production of MIP-1alpha and IL-8 in PIV-infected cells while having minimal to no effect on the production of these mediators from cells infected with RSV. Neither virus infection resulted in a change in the total cellular concentration of glucocorticoid receptors, nor did hydrocortisone exert any differential effect on viral replication. As repression of chemokine production by epithelial cells is likely to result in diminished recruitment of proinflammatory leukocytes, these results may explain in part why glucocorticoid therapy reduces the symptoms associated with acute PIV infection, but have little to no effect in the overall outcome in the case of RSV.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, which primarily manifests as bronchiolitis or pneumonia, is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract infection in infants and young children. It is associated with more than 100,000 pediatric hospitalizations each year in the United States. Infants who were premature; have chronic lung disease, congenital heart disease, or immunodeficiency disorders; or have underlying metabolic or neuromuscular disorders are at increased risk for especially severe RSV disease. Treatment of children hospitalized with RSV disease is primarily supportive, with administration of supplemental oxygen and fluid replacement therapy. Bronchodilators may benefit at least a subset of such patients. Antiviral therapy with aerosolized ribavirin is available for high-risk, severely ill patients. Handwashing, cleaning of environmental surfaces, and cohorting in hospital settings may decrease RSV transmission. In children born premature and younger than 1 year of age, and in patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia younger than 2 years of age, passive protection against severe RSV disease may be achieved through monthly injections of anti-RSV antibody (palivizumab) during winter months. No vaccine is available to provide active immunity against RSV, but live attenuated and subunit cloned surface protein vaccines are in development.