2 – How Is the Coronavirus Spreading?
Abstract Once an outbreak starts, it is important to quantify how a disease is spreading, how it is affecting the population, and how different public health measures will have an…
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
8 – Are There Therapeutic Options?
Abstract At the time of writing there are no vaccines or specific antiviral therapies for the SARS-CoV-2 virus with significant reductions in mortality. Lessons learned from the SARS outbreak have…
4 – How Is the Coronavirus Changing?
Abstract Theodosius Dobzhansky’s essay, “Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution,” reflects on how evolution gives a powerful perspective to biological phenomena, able to integrate disparate…
6 – How Does the COVID-19 Outbreak Compare to the SARS Outbreak in 2003?
Abstract The virus infecting humans that is closest to SARS-CoV-2 is SARS-CoV, the agent that caused the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003. These two viruses are very similar in…
3 – What Is a Coronavirus?
Abstract Viruses are amazing creatures. They are the most common, the most diverse, and the fastest-evolving biological entities on Earth. They infect every form of life known, “hijacking” the complex…
Clostridioides difficileinfection
Clostridioides difficile , formerly knowns as Clostridium difficile, is a Gram-positive, anaerobic bacillus, with a spore phase that prolongs survival in the environment. Ingestion of spores that are resistant to…
Gastrointestinal viruses
Diarrheal disease is the second most common cause of death in children younger than 5 years worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In the United States, viruses are…
Strongyloides, cryptosporidium, and other parasitic infections
Parasitic infections are an uncommon but potentially important cause of morbidity and mortality in children undergoing solid organ transplantation (SOT). Although few data have been published relating to parasitic infections…
Pneumocystispneumonia
Epidemiology and risk factors Pneumocystis jirovecii (formerly Pneumocystis carinii ) is an infrequent though potentially deadly cause of fungal pneumonia ( P. jirovecii pneumonia [PJP]) in immunocompromised patients. P. jirovecii…
Nocardiaand actinomyces
Nocardia Epidemiology and risk factors Nocardia species are a heterogeneous group of ubiquitous aerobic, gram-positive filamentous organisms that reside in soil and decaying organic matter and are associated with an…
