Faculty Bibliography

Many tuberculosis control activities are based on principles learned from studies of tuberculosis transmission. To date, these have largely been limited to outbreak investigations in confined geographical regions. In this report conventional and computerized DNA fingerprint- based approaches were integrated to demonstrate that the most widely prevalent strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from New York City was cultured from only 1 of 755 patients in San Francisco, Calif, who was a traveling salesman. Large-scale molecular epidemiologic studies may provide a better understanding of the dynamics of tuberculosis transmission between geographic regions and suggest rational measures to interrupt such transmission

Reacting to the mad cow disease epidemic in Britain, the US livestock industry and veterinary medical groups said on Mar 29, 1996 that they will immediately establish a voluntary ban on the use of cattle and sheep parts in animal feed

Former Sen Paul E. Tsongas (D-MA) has developed a serious new complication of the therapy he received for cancer 10 years ago and was admitted to a Boston hospital on Mar 28, 1996. Tsongas is being treated with antibiotics for an infection resulting from the complication, a condition in which the bone marrow produces white and red cells that are immature and too few

Former Sen. Paul E. Tsongas of Massachusetts has developed a serious new complication of the therapy he received for cancer 10 years ago and was admitted to a Boston hospital for treatment yesterday, the hospital said. Tsongas, a candidate for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination, is being treated with antibiotics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for a blood infection resulting from the new complication, a condition known as myelodysplasia. Tsongas, 55, a lawyer in Boston, began to experience fatigue last November, said Dr. David G. Nathan, president of Dana-Farber

Federal officials are confident that the mad cow disease found in Britain has not occurred in the United States and that existing policies are adequate to protect the beef supply. The chief reasons for confidence, agriculture officials say, are that mad cow disease has never been identified in the United States and the incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, as the human version of mad cow disease is known, has remained unchanged since 1979. This contrasts with the situation in Britain, where there has been an epidemic of mad cow disease that has stricken some 162,000 animals since 1986. Cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Britain have risen to 55 in 1994 from 28 in 1985, including a cluster of patients more youthful than had previously been known

Federal officials are confident that the mad cow disease found in Britain has not occurred in the US and that existing policies are adequate to protect the beef supply. A meeting of 70 animal and public health experts convened by the Agriculture Dept reviewed current policies the week of Mar 17, 1996 and concluded without recommending any further safeguards. Nonetheless, the department said it would increase the number of cattle brains routinely tested for mad cow disease

The report is one more in a small number documenting unusually large numbers of asthmatic cases after thunderstorms. One such episode was reported in 1983 in Birmingham, England, and others in Melbourne, Australia, in 1984, 1987 and 1989. In Australia, asthma attacks after thunderstorms have been reported as a recurrent seasonal phenomenon, usually in late spring. Also, he said, doctors and hospital officials were not prepared to respond to an asthma outbreak as an emergency. Disaster drills generally focus on summoning surgeons and anesthesiologists, but not asthma and other specialists. One explanation comes from research by Dr. R. Bruce Knox, a professor of botany at the University of Melbourne, and other Australian scientists. In 1992 and 1993, they reported in two medical journals, The Lancet and Clinical and Experimental Allergy, finding a mechanism through which rye grass pollen can expel asthma-triggering starch particles

The severe thunderstorm occurred on a Friday night in London in June 1994, and during that weekend, 640 asthmatics swamped 12 emergency rooms. The British Medical Journal has published two reports of the epidemic and an editorial in its March 9 issue. The report is one more in a small number documenting unusually large numbers of asthmatic cases after thunderstorms. One such episode was reported in 1983 in Birmingham, England, and others in Melbourne, Australia, in 1984, 1987 and 1989. In Australia, asthma attacks after thunderstorms have been reported as a recurrent seasonal phenomenon, usually in late spring. The new reports in The British Medical Journal suggest that people with thunderstorm-related asthma might differ from other patients with asthma in sensitivity to different environmental stimuli. The findings challenge public health workers to determine who is at risk from such episodes

'The report has the potential, if implemented appropriately, to make a real difference in AIDS research,' Dr. Paul said in an interview. He said he would work with the 24 directors of the health agency's constituent institutes to put the thrust of the panel's recommendations into place as quickly as possible because 'we're facing a medical emergency' in AIDS. The panel has worked with the support of Dr. Paul. 'I credit Bill Paul tremendously for having sponsored this study and having opened up the whole program to a careful look,' said Dr. David Baltimore of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Baltimore, a member of the panel, charactrized the report as 'a mid-course correction' of the kind required in 'any program that has ramped up rapidly.' Dr. Paul said the report in no way was directed as criticism of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the N.I.H. institute most directly involved in AIDS research, and who has been a world leader in AIDS research since the disease was discovered in 1981. The field is now maturing, the report is a blueprint for restructuring N.I.H.'s AIDS research program, and 'it is time to move forward,' he said.

The overnment's $1.4 billion AIDS research program lacks focus, is uncoordinated and needs a major overhaul to attract new scientific talent and spur novel and imaginative ideas, a government-appointed panel said in a report issued Wednesday. But the panel of 114 leading scientists and representatives of academia, drug companies, community organizations and AIDS advocates rejected the idea of an institute devoted specifically to AIDS. Although 15 years of AIDS research have brought impressive gains, the program needs more on-going scientific oversight and review by nongovernment scientists, the panel said