Active clinical trials for "Communicable Diseases"

The purpose of this study is to show that the incidence of sternal wound infections at day 30 after cardiac surgery is 50% lower with the additional use of Daptomycin on top of a standard antibiotic prophylaxis as compared to the standard antibiotic prophylaxis alone.

Hypothesis: the intracellular concentrations of raltegravir (RAL) and etravirine (ETV) administrated as 800 and 400 mg once a day, respectively, are similar to those obtained with the standard doses of 400 and 200 mg/12h, respectively. Objective: To analyze the plasma and intracellular concentrations of RAL and ETV administrated as 800 and 400 mg once daily respectively compared with standard doses of 400 and 200 mg/12h, respectively, and if they support its once daily administration.

The study will compare the outcomes of treating bone and joint infections with 6 weeks of intravenous antibiotics with 6 weeks of oral antibiotic treatment. The trial is of antibiotic "strategy" rather than of individual antibiotics. The study will be open label, but the primary outcome will be proven failure of infection treatment, determined by pre-established objective criteria for treatment failure. The null hypothesis tested is that there will be no difference in treatment failure rates.

The aim of this study is to ascertain if the use of PDS plus® reduces the number of wound infections and incisional hernia after midline and transverse laparotomy comparing to polyglactin suture.

This study will evaluate HIV-HBV infected individuals who have evidence of HBV replication in the blood after taking 48 weeks of more of the HBV active medication tenofovir in combination with emtricitabine or lamivudine. Eligible participants will be randomized to receive 24 weeks of entecavir (ETV) 1 mg versus continued standard of care antiretroviral therapy. After 24 weeks, individuals on entecavir or who remain HBV viremic on standard of care will receive ETV o for an additional 24 weeks. The hypothesis is that intensification with entecavir will reduce HBV DNA at 24 weeks more than continued antiretroviral therapy without entecavir.

The purpose of this study is to verify that the incidence rate of urinary tract infections after a routine outpatient cystoscopy is the same for non-sterile (clean) and sterile procedural techniques.

Serious infections caused by resistant bacteria are becoming more of a medical problem throughout the world. This study will measure how well TD-6424 (Telavancin) can control infections and whether the drug is safe to give to patients.

Patients admitted into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) have an intravenous (IV) catheter (small plastic tube) placed in their vein. Very occasionally (4 times out of 100) the insertion of an intravenous catheter may cause an infection in the blood. It has been shown that the removal of the catheter and the insertion of a new one at a new site helps to get rid of this infection. Sometimes, antibiotics are also given. Vancomycin is the antibiotic given intravenously (into the vein) to treat these catheter-related infections. At Vancouver General Hospital, some physicians may not give any vancomycin at all whereas others may treat with intravenous (IV) vancomycin for one to fourteen days. Since there are a lack of data to support the length of IV vancomycin therapy, the investigators would like to find out if two days of IV vancomycin are as good as seven days. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine if two days of IV vancomycin are as good as seven days for the treatment of catheter-related infections in the blood.

Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and heart disease are much more common in men than in women. However, as women grow older, especially after menopause the incidence of atherosclerosis and heart disease increases. These findings suggest that estrogen may be protective and help in preventing heart disease. Studies of large groups of post-menopausal women suggest that hormone replacement therapy (therapy that includes estrogen) reduces the risk of heart disease. Estrogen causes favorable changes in particles that carry cholesterol in the blood stream and improves function of blood vessels. Estrogen may also stimulate the immune system's ability to fight off infections that may lead to or contribute to atherosclerosis. Researchers believe two specific infectious agents (Chlamydia pneumoniae and human cytomegalovirus) may cause damage to the lining of blood vessels resulting in inflammation and the development of atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study is to determine if estrogen treatment can change how the immune system responds to chronic infections, by Chlamydia pneumoniae and human cytomegalovirus, in postmenopausal women.

To allow, on a compassionate use basis, zalcitabine (ddC) for pediatric patients with symptomatic HIV disease who have failed treatment or who are intolerant to zidovudine (AZT), or who have completed other ddC protocols, or who are ineligible for ongoing clinical trials.