Faculty Bibliography

Many health officials have predicted major increases in H.I.V. in India, which has the world's second highest number of infected people, after South Africa. But new infections among young adults declined by more than a third from 2000 through 2004, according to a statistical study by Dr. Rajesh Kumar and a team of researchers reported in the journal Lancet. A second is that routine monitoring of H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted diseases are powerful and cost-effective ways to control AIDS in India. But experts urged constant vigilance for signs of a reversal of the favorable trend. The prevalence of H.I.V. among women aged 15 to 24 in the southern states fell to 1.1 percent from 1.7 percent during the period of study. But H.I.V. prevalence did not fall significantly among women aged 25 to 34

The dilemma often concerns the influenza virus because it continually mutates, leading to human pandemics that predictably occur unpredictably. Although scientists lack the knowledge to predict when and what strain will cause the next influenza pandemic, they say they are convinced that another one is inevitable and so preparation must start as soon as a threat is detected. That kind of immediate action occurred in 1976 after four cases of swine influenza were detected at Fort Dix, a military base in New Jersey. Fearing that the cases represented an early warning of an impending pandemic of influenza, Public Health Service officials rushed President Gerald R. Ford, who was running for re-election, into recommending a swine influenza shot for every American. Warnings about A(H5N1) avian influenza began in 1997, when scientists in Hong Kong discovered that that strain of virus had jumped directly to cause disease in humans without first mixing in pigs, which had been the pattern until then. With the spread of the virus among birds, officials have warned that it could mutate, combine with a human influenza virus and create a new one to cause a human pandemic

The diseases are known as zoonoses because they affect animals primarily, and humans only incidentally. The AIDS, SARS and A(H5N1) avian influenza viruses and at least eight other infectious agents carried by animals have led to new and emerging human diseases in recent years. In 1999, scientists discovered the Nipah virus among pig workers in Malaysia and Singapore who developed inflammation of the brain and respiratory illness. Farming practices on pig farms where fruit trees were abundant created opportunities for transmission of the Nipah virus, said Dr. Peter W. Daniels of the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong. Cats, leopards and tigers have died from A(H5N1) avian influenza in southeast Asia and Europe. Though the number of cases is small, they have raised concern that the virus could become a bigger problem among felines. The 10,000 tigers now being kept as pets in the United States outnumber the 6,000 in the wild worldwide, Dr. [Bruno Chomel] said

Mr. [George E. Pataki], 60, said he had taken a number of telephone calls in his hospital room from well-wishers. His spokesman, David Catalfamo, said that Mr. Pataki had spoken with former President Bill Clinton and Gov. Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky. Mr. Catalfamo said that one of the reasons Mr. Pataki appeared at the news conference was to reassure his mother, Margaret, who was concerned about news reports about his medical condition. On Tuesday, Mr. Pataki's doctors revealed that his ruptured appendix left him more seriously ill than his staff and doctors had previously acknowledged. For the first week that Mr. Pataki was at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital, his doctors and staff gave little information about his medical condition, not fully explaining the need for his second operation or revealing the peritonitis and abscesses. Yesterday, Mr. Catalfamo defended the staff's handling of the information about Mr. Pataki's illness, saying, ''We are doing our best to provide the public with as much information as we understand.''

They used the word ''peritonitis'' -- the name of a potentially fatal inflammation of the abdominal lining -- only after being pressed repeatedly by reporters. They also described abscesses but declined to use that word, and declined to say how high a fever Mr. [George E. Pataki] had. And although they said that his bowel function was impaired but improving, they would not elaborate despite repeated questioning. Dr. Dennis L. Fowler said yesterday that the adhesions were new and probably caused by the ruptured appendix and the first operation. Dr. [Spencer E. Amory] said that after examining Mr. Pataki and reviewing his records, ''I thought the governor received excellent care at Hudson Valley.'' When asked whether Mr. Pataki had peritonitis, Dr. Amory said there was ''a spread of infection within the abdomen.'' He was asked again, and gave a similar answer. When asked a third time, he said the condition he described ''is defined as peritonitis.''

When Ariel Sharon suffered his first stroke in December, he did what many national leaders who suddenly become ill rarely do. Mr. Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, told his doctors at the Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem to inform the public about his medical problems, Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the Hadassah Medical Organization's director-general, said in interviews in the United States last week. Critics contend that Mr. Sharon's doctors erred in some of their decisions, including the heparin. But, Dr. Mor-Yosef said, the hospital has conducted internal reviews of Mr. Sharon's treatment at different stages. Hadassah doctors discussed the case by telephone and e-mail with specialists in Israel and elsewhere, he said. An expert in coma, Dr. Jerome B. Posner of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center flew from Manhattan to examine Mr. Sharon. The morning after Mr. Sharon's second stroke, Dr. Mor-Yosef's wife, Dina, and government officials called him because of rumors that the prime minister was dead. Dr. Mor-Yosef swiftly told reporters that Mr. Sharon was alive and in an intensive care unit, and he promised to report quickly any changes in his medical condition

The researchers, who reported their finding at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in San Francisco, do not know whether the virus causes prostate cancer, infection or any other ailment in humans. The virus, called XMRV, could prove to be harmless. The XMRV virus is closely related to a group of retroviruses found in mice and known as xenotropic murine leukemia virus. (Xenotropic means the virus crossed species.) Though such viruses can cause disease in animals other than mice, there has been no documented human infection until the new report. The XMRV virus acts differently from viruses known to cause cancers, [Don Ganem] said. In known links, the virus is in the cancer cell, not in the stroma, and every cell in the tumor is infected

Both men were hospitalized after complaining of pain. Governor [George E. Pataki] had his appendix removed on Feb. 16, developed intestinal complications, and was transferred to another hospital for more surgery. Governor Fletcher had a gallstone removed, then his gall bladder, and later developed an infection in his abdomen and bloodstream. David M. Catalfamo, the communications director for Governor Pataki, said the administration has been trying to strike the right balance between informing the public of important developments about the governor's health while preserving some of his privacy. He said that the written statements his office has issued over the last few days have updated the public on the salient points about the governor's health. But some other doctors not connected with the case have said that the statements were sparse in detail. Since then, the administration has relied on the written statements to discuss his condition. But the absence of specific detail led many news outlets to call doctors who are not involved in Governor Pataki's care and invite them to speculate about the causes of his intestinal complications. After The Daily News quoted a doctor who raised the possibility that the governor's digestive system had been blocked by surgical error, Mr. Catalfamo issued a statement which said that the blockage ''was not a result of surgical error.''

The man who contracted inhalation anthrax, Vado Diomande, a drummer and dancer, collapsed after a performance in Pennsylvania and was hospitalized there last Thursday. On Tuesday, after blood tests confirmed the presence of anthrax, Pennsylvania authorities alerted New York City officials. Yesterday morning, federal authorities concluded definitively that Mr. Diomande had inhalation anthrax. Officials in Pennsylvania also took steps last night to reassure students and employees at the school, Mansfield University in Mansfield, Pa., where Mr. Diomande performed before he collapsed. Mr. Diomande, who is conscious and cooperating with investigators, remained in fair condition last night in the intensive-care unit at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa. After Vado Diomande was hospitalized in Pennsylvania with anthrax, an investigation led officials yesterday to a Brooklyn warehouse and the man's van nearby. (Photo by Robert Stolarik for The New York Times); (Photo by Kotchegna Dance Company via Getty Images)(pg. B1); Police yesterday entered the apartment of Vado Diomande at 31 Downing Street in the West Village, after he was found to have anthrax. (Photo by Robert Caplin for The New York Times); From left: Health Commissioner [Thomas R. Frieden]; [Mark J. Mershon] of the F.B.I.; Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly; Joseph F. Bruno, emergency management chief; and Mayor [Michael R. Bloomberg]. (Photo by Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times)(pg. B5)

The governor's doctors have not addressed reporters since Mr. [George E. Pataki] left the first hospital, Hudson Valley Hospital Center in Cortlandt Manor. In his statement, Mr. [David M. Catalfamo] said that the surgery to ease the governor's digestive system had gone as expected, and that the governor was awake and able to work on his laptop and walk around. John F. Kilcooley, who was visiting his brother-in-law at the hospital, said he had bumped into Governor Pataki and his wife, Libby, as they walked through the halls of the McKeen Pavilion at the NewYork-Presbyterian hospital yesterday. He said that Mr. Pataki, clad in pajamas and a robe, looked well, and that he was wheeling an intravenous unit with him as he walked. Mr. Pataki is also at risk for developing other complications, like infections and abscesses. Mr. Pataki's doctors would be expected to do additional tests, including imaging procedures like CT scans, at the first sign of a fever or increased white blood count or pain, Dr. [Ralph S. Greco] said