Cross-sectional survey of MRSA

Population Dynamics of Nasal Strains of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Their Relation to Community-Associated Disease Activity:, Link

Intracellular S. aureus Reservoir

Interesting report of S. aureus sanctaury in Sept 15th JID. Link

R34 Mechanism - Clinical Trial Planning - NIAID

NIAID will support clinical trials planning (R34) grants for complete planning and design of, and documentation for, investigator-initiated Phase I, II, III, and IV clinical trials. A clinical trial is the prospective testing of the effect and value of a preventive, diagnostic, or therapeutic intervention(s) against a control in human subjects. The R34 planning grant is designed to: (1) permit early peer review of the rationale for the proposed clinical trial; (2) permit assessment of the design/protocol of the proposed trial in an early form; (3) provide support for the development of a complete study protocol and associated documents including a manual of operations and (4) support the development of other essential elements of a clinical trial. The receipt of an R34 grant is a prerequisite for submission of a clinical trial implementation application.

• The R34 grant will provide up to one year of support. Applicants may request up to $75,000 direct costs for planning and design of a Phase I trial and up to $150,000 in direct costs for planning and design of a Phase II, III, or IV trial.
• Pre-approval from NIAID is required for submission of an R34 application.
• R34 applications will be peer reviewed by NIAID initial review groups.
• The product of the R34 will be either an application for a cooperative agreement for clinical trial implementation or a decision by the awardee not to apply for funding for clinical trial implementation

Click for more info

archives of intern med 6/27/2005

two interesting articles this week

(1) Impact of Inadequate Initial Antimicrobial Therapy on Mortality in Infections Due to Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase–Producing Enterobacteriacea by a group from Penn

(2) Rapid Spread of Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumonia in NYC by a group from SUNY-Downstate

Nature Medicine Supplement - Emerging ID

December 2004. Nice summary articles on topics such as the "Social and environmental risk factors in the emergence of infectious diseases", SARS, influenza and antibiotic resistance. Link to table of contents.

MIDAS is Back!

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) reannounces the Request for Applications for Research Groups for the Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS). MIDAS consists of a centralized informatics resource and a network of multidisciplinary scientists conducting computational and mathematical research to improve the ability to detect, control, and prevent emerging infectious diseases caused by naturally occurring or intentionally released pathogens, including those relevant to biodefense. LOI: January 24, 2005 and Deadline: February 23, 2005 Link to RFA-GM-05-011

CDCs 10th Biennial Symposium on Statistical Methods

This meeting looks interesting. Reasons to attend - interesting abstracts including modeling, Bethesda location, February 28–March 2, 2005 date and fee of $80 ($40 for students). Check it out. Link to meeting page.

NIH grant support for conferences and meetings

Something to think about. 10-page grant under R13 or U13 mechanism. Support available for 5 years. Link to Instructions

Limitations of Antibiotic Cycling

Bergstrom et al. used a model to simulate the effect of antibiotic cycling in hospitals. The model predicts that cycling strategies are unlikely to reduce rates of resistance carriage and that random mixing strategies, in which each treated patient receives one of several drug classes used simultaneously in the hospital, are predicted to be more effective. This effort shows why it's important to simulate strategies using models for the purpose of understanding the underlying process prior to intervening. It also shows why selecting intervention strategies based on quasi-experimental data might not be the best strategy.
Link to Abstract

Importance of Transmission Prior to Clinical Symptoms

Fraser et. al. (PNAS 4/2004) assess factors that influence success of outbreak control using a math model simulating HIV, SARS, Smallpox, and Pandemic flu. They conclude that the proportion of transmission that occurs while that patient is asymptomatic may be as important as Ro, the intrinsic transmissibility. Very well written.
Link to Abstract

Forecast and control of epidemics using civil aviation data

Hufnagel et.al. in PNAS present a stochastic model of SARS dispersion incorporating civil aviation network data. They compare two control strategies to prevent a new epidemic outbreak: (i) the shutdown of individual connectionsand (ii) the isolation of cities. They project that isolation of only 2% of the largest cities is as effective as shutting down the top 27.5% of all flight connections. The costs and feasibility of either drastic strategy were not discussed.
Link to Abstract

NIH Updates Criteria for Evaluating Grants

Effective for all applications received after 1/10/2005. Thought it might be useful. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-002.html

EEID's Blog

Welcome DEPM. This is the new EEID working group blog. We will soon be able to email posts to this site and explore ways to increase communication and collaboration.