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- Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) / Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- Adenovirus Infections
- AIDS / HIV
- Chickenpox
- Herpes Simplex Virus / Cold Sores
- HIV Home Care
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- Human Parainfluenza Viruses (HPIVs)
- Impetigo
- Meningococcal Infections
- Mumps
- Rabies
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- Rotavirus Infections
- Rubella (German Measles)
- Varicella
Infectious Diseases
Research
The infectious disease specialists at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital are actively involved in both clinical and laboratory leading-edge research.
Every member of the infectious disease team is actively involved in a full range of research projections, including studies of molecular pathogenesis of viral and bacterial diseases, epidemiology, vaccine development, and clinical trials of anti-infectives and vaccines. Their work has developed important information for the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. These physician-scientists form two subgroups--a viral pathogenesis group and a bacterial pathogenesis group. They often collaborate with basic scientists from the Departments of Microbiology, Cell Biology, Physiology, Medicine, Epidemiology, and the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of the Presbyterian Hospital.
These physicians participate in the National Institutes of Health pediatric AIDS clinical trials group, reviewing the safety and effectiveness of anti-viral medications and drugs to prevent opportunistic infections in children. They are also studying the perinatal HIV transmission in infants born to women who are HIV-infected to determine why some babies contact HIV from their mothers and others do not.
The Hospital's infectious disease specialists are also involved in cystic fibrosis research and are
- studying bacterial respiratory tract infections in patients with cystic fibrosis;
- investigating - with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation grants - nitrous oxide and the effects of acidity or alkalinity on immune function, and the distribution of genes (toll-like receptors or TLRs) in normal and cystic fibrosis cells lining the lungs
- www.columbia.edu/cu/hs/princelab/ and
- http://www.healthsciences.columbia.edu/
- dept/gsas/pharm/faculty/prince.htm;
- exploring the mechanisms through which bacteria stimulate the lining of the lung cells to produce anti-inflammatory processes;
- studying antibiotics, antibiotic combinations, antibiotics under development for treating multi-drug resistant bacteria;
- http://synergy.columbia.edu/;
- studying implementation of infection control guidelines for patients with cystic fibrosis (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2003;24(5 Suppl):S6-53 or Am J Infect Control 2003;31(3 Suppl):S1-62).
Having pioneered the development of the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine, the Hospital's infectious diseases specialists continue to study its safety and effectiveness since licensure in the United States. Current research includes a program to determine if children with underlying asthma respond normally to this vaccine.
In addition, the team has worked collaboratively with the Centers for Disease Control and the New York City Department of Health in investigating missed opportunities to prevent pediatric tuberculosis (TB) and the safety and tolerability of treatments for multi-drug resistant TB and latent TB infections. This collaborative effort also led to the development of national guidelines for the care of children and adolescents with latent TB infections (Pediatrics 2004; 114(4 Suppl 2):1175-1201 or http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/114/4/S2/1175).
In collaboration with Columbia University's School of Nursing and School of Public Health, the infectious diseases team participated in a National Institutes of Health trial to investigate the impact of hand hygiene practices on hospital-acquired infections in neonatal intensive care unit patients.