Infection Control Today - 03/2002: Microbe of the Month

Microbe ^{of the} Month

By Roger P. Freeman, DDS
Dateline: Urban Tora Bori, India, Africa, Asia.

Dear ICTees,

Alas, ifsome people have their way, this could be one of my last transmissions. Thingsare not going well for me. It just doesn't seem fair...so many folks piling iton: WHO, UNICEF, even the Rotarians! Everyone's out to "e" me intooblivion alongside the greatest, the one and only, my variolar scourgemate.

Things were going great for me in the first 54 of the 20th century. Lots ofserious epidemics... swimming pools, parent panic, poster children. Then came1955, then '62. The "V" word. And S x 2. Who were those guys,anyway? To make matters worse, in 1988 a bunch of future dot.orgs decided tofull-court press me out of the kripple-kids biz, targeting 2000 for the globalgangledopper. Thought I might end-run the campaign, sneak in a few ringers...but the CDC caught on and now recommends the pointy V instead of the sugar cube.Just because the S model was made with live relatives, leaving eight statesidersinfected in '00, instead of protected. Picky, picky!

No more tiny tummies, node knobbing, or sometimes (less than 1/100), a CNSbulls-eye. I must be from Mars, 'cause I'm basically a motor thing and don'thave much of a sensitive side. Flaccid's not an attractive concept in any case,but combine it with a paralysis analysis, an early viral count, and ...as Sonnyonce said, "You got me, babe."

Looking on my bright side, the vaccine vigilantes will have a big job"mopping" me up in every single nook and fanny out there. (I behavelike an entervirus, so that's important!) I last visited the states in '79,Haiti and Dominican Republic in 2000, and now I have to lurk around in theworld's Club Dreads... war-torn, isolated, inaccessible. Considering my travelitinerary, the troops will need a legion of elephants, camels, andhelicopters--and an army of volunteers--to score a perfect 100% of little onesunder age 5. Target date for lights-out has already been pushed back to 2005, soI'm worried, but not ready to hang up my RNA just yet. Name me, my disease, andthe two guys you owe big-time for the beginning of my end!

Roger P. Freeman, DDS, is a dental infection control consultant andpresident of Infectious Awareables, Inc., an infection control promotionalcompany, at www.iawareables.com.

E-mail your answers to kpyrek@vpico.com.The names of the first 25 readers who supply the correct answer will be placedin a drawing for infection control-related prizes. The answers to last month'smystery microbe are: Streptococcus pneumoniae; AOM (acute otitis media), CAP(community acquired pneumonia), HAP (hospital acquired pneumonia), and DRSP(drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae).

Calendar

APRIL 2002

21-25
Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN)
Annual Congress
Anaheim, CA
www.aorn.org

22-26
Infectious Disease of Adults
Sponsored by Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital
Cambridge, MA
www.cme.hms.harvard.edu

MAY 2002

5-8
International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM)
Orlando, FL
www.iahcsmm.com

19-23
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
Annual Conference
Nashville, TN
www.apic.org

AUGUST 2002

4-7
Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management (AHRMM)
San Antonio, TX
www.ahrmmm.org

OCTOBER 2002

19-22
American Society for Healthcare Central Service Professionals (ASHCSP)
San Antonio, TX
www.ashcsp.org

24-27
Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA)
Annual Meeting
Chicago, IL
www.idsociety.org

NOVEMBER 2002

3-6
International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM)
San Antonio, TX
www.iahcsmm.com

Send your event information to kpyrek@vpico.com.