Special considerations for prophylaxis for and treatment of anthrax in pregnant and postpartum women.

In August 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, convened a meeting of national subject matter experts to review key clinical elements of anthrax prevention and treatment for pregnant, postpartum, and lactating (P/PP/L) women. National experts in infectious disease, obstetrics, maternal fetal medicine, neonatology, pediatrics, and pharmacy attended the meeting, as did representatives from professional organizations and national, federal, state, and local agencies. The meeting addressed general principles of prevention and treatment for P/PP/L women, vaccines, antimicrobial prophylaxis and treatment, clinical considerations and critical care issues, antitoxin, delivery concerns, infection control measures, and communication. The purpose of this meeting summary is to provide updated clinical information to health care providers and public health professionals caring for P/PP/L women in the setting of a bioterrorist event involving anthrax.

Centers for disease control and prevention expert panel meetings on prevention and treatment of anthrax in adults.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened panels of anthrax experts to review and update guidelines for anthrax postexposure prophylaxis and treatment. The panels included civilian and military anthrax experts and clinicians with experience treating anthrax patients. Specialties represented included internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, infectious disease, emergency medicine, critical care, pulmonology, hematology, and nephrology. Panelists discussed recent patients with systemic anthrax; reviews of published, unpublished, and proprietary data regarding antimicrobial drugs and anthrax antitoxins; and critical care measures of potential benefit to patients with anthrax. This article updates antimicrobial postexposure prophylaxis and antimicrobial and antitoxin treatment options and describes potentially beneficial critical care measures for persons with anthrax, including clinical procedures for infected nonpregnant adults. Changes from previous guidelines include an expanded discussion of critical care and clinical procedures and additional antimicrobial choices, including preferred antimicrobial drug treatment for possible anthrax meningitis.

Emerging and zoonotic infections in women.

Emerging infections, many zoonotic, are caused by a variety of pathogens with global distribution. Previously rare pathogens have emerged; global travel facilitates their rapid spread. Human encroachment on remote areas has brought contact with zoonotic diseases never before characterized. Although systematic study of rare outbreaks can be challenging, knowledge of emerging pathogens and their effects on women is accumulating. This article discusses effects of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, West Nile virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, avian influenza A virus, viral hemorrhagic fevers, spirochetal illnesses, and Chagas' disease. The potential impact of candidate bioterror agents and issues of prophylaxis and therapy are discussed.

A case of naturally acquired inhalation anthrax: clinical care and analyses of anti-protective antigen immunoglobulin G and lethal factor.

This report describes the first case of naturally acquired inhalation anthrax in the United States since 1976. The patient's clinical course included adjunctive treatment with human anthrax immunoglobulin. Clinical correlation of serologic assays for the lethal factor component of lethal toxin and anti-protective antigen immunoglobulin G are also presented.

Emerging infectious disease outbreaks: old lessons and new challenges for obstetrician-gynecologists.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to summarize 3 recent high-profile infectious disease threats that have affected the United States: severe acute respiratory syndrome, West Nile virus, and anthrax. STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review was conducted with the use of Medline searches, searches of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, and review by experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. RESULTS: The 3 emerging infectious diseases pose very different threats: Severe acute respiratory syndrome is a newly identified pathogen that caused an international pandemic; the West Nile virus investigation involved an old pathogen that was identified in a new location; and the anthrax attacks involved the intentional introduction of a pathogen. CONCLUSION: All 3 outbreaks highlight the importance of obstetrician-gynecologists keeping current with new information as it emerges. In this global environment, it is likely that novel disease threats will continue to emerge in the United States.

Emerging infections and pregnancy: West Nile virus, monkeypox, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and bioterrorism.

As new infectious diseases, such as West Nile virus, monkeypox, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are recognized in the United States, there are critical questions about how these infectious diseases will affect pregnant women and their infants. In addition, the implications of bioterrorist attacks for exposed pregnant women need to be considered. In this article, the authors address the following questions for a number of infectious disease threats: (1) does pregnancy affect the clinical course of these novel infectious diseases?, (2) what are the implications for prophylaxis and treatment of exposed or infected pregnant women?, and (3) are these novel infectious diseases transmitted during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or breastfeeding?

Investigation of Kawasaki syndrome risk factors in Colorado.

Risk factors for Kawasaki syndrome (KS) were evaluated through a case-control study during an investigation of a KS cluster in Denver, CO. KS was associated with a humidifier in the child's room (odds ratio, 7.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.8 to 29.3) and possibly with an antecedent respiratory illness. The use of humidifiers should be further investigated as part of future studies of KS.

The role of the obstetrician-gynecologist in emerging infectious diseases: monkeypox and pregnancy.

Early in June 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced yet another unique infectious disease outbreak, the first evidence of community-acquired monkeypox in the United States. By July 8, 2003, a total of 71 cases had been reported to CDC from 6 states. When emerging infectious diseases are reported in the United States, particularly when these reports receive widespread media attention, obstetrician-gynecologists may be called upon to rapidly respond to queries from their patients and to address certain infectious disease risks within their clinical practices. In addition, obstetrician-gynecologists may have specific concerns about the implications for an infectious disease outbreak, such as monkeypox, for pregnant women. Therefore, it is important that obstetrician-gynecologists know how to gather up-to-date and accurate information about infectious disease outbreaks and that they be familiar with the public health response system for responding to such outbreaks.

Epidemiologic clues to bioterrorism.

Public health investigators have successfully carried out epidemiologic investigations of outbreaks of disease for many years. By far the majority of these outbreaks have occurred naturally. With the recent illnesses resulting from deliberate dissemination of B. anthracis on an unsuspecting population, public health investigation of diseases must now include consideration of bioterrorism as a potential cause of outbreaks of disease. The features of naturally occurring outbreaks have a certain amount of predictability in terms of consistency with previous occurrences, or at least biological plausibility. However, with a deliberately introduced outbreak or infection among a population, this predictability is minimized. In this paper, the authors propose some epidemiologic clues that highlight features of outbreaks that may be suggestive of bioterrorism. They also describe briefly the general process of involvement of agencies at various levels of government, public health and non-public health, depending on the extent of an outbreak or level of suspicion.

Prophylaxis and treatment of anthrax in pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE: To review the safety and pharmacokinetics of antimicrobials recommended for anthrax postexposure prophylaxis and treatment in pregnant women. DATA SOURCES: Articles were identified in the PubMed database from inception through December 2012 by searching the keywords (["pregnancy]" and [generic antibiotic drug name]). Additionally, we searched clinicaltrials.gov and conducted hand searches of references from REPROTOX, TERIS, review articles, and Briggs' Drugs in Pregnancy and Lactation. METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION: Articles included in the review contain primary data related to the safety and pharmacokinetics among pregnant women of 14 antimicrobials recommended for anthrax postexposure prophylaxis and treatment (amoxicillin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, doripenem, doxycycline, levofloxacin, linezolid, meropenem, moxifloxacin, penicillin, rifampin, and vancomycin). TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS: The PubMed search identified 3,850 articles for review. Reference hand searching yielded nine additional articles. In total, 112 articles met the inclusion criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, safety and pharmacokinetic information is limited for these antimicrobials. Although small increases in risks for certain anomalies have been observed with some antimicrobials recommended for prophylaxis and treatment of anthrax, the absolute risk of these antimicrobials appears low. Given the high morbidity and mortality associated with anthrax, antimicrobials should be dosed appropriately to ensure that antibiotic levels can be achieved and sustained. Dosing adjustments may be necessary for the ß-lactam antimicrobials and the fluoroquinolones to achieve therapeutic levels in pregnant women. Data indicate that the ß-lactam antimicrobials, the fluoroquinolones, and, to a lesser extent, clindamycin enter the fetal compartment, an important consideration in the treatment of anthrax, because these antimicrobials may provide additional fetal benefit in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

Anthrax cases in pregnant and postpartum women: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the worldwide experience of Bacillus anthracis infection reported in pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women. DATA SOURCES: Studies were identified through MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, and Global Health databases from inception until May 2012. The key words (["anthrax" or "anthracis"] and ["pregna*" or "matern*" or "postpartum" or "puerperal" or "lact*" or "breastfed*" or "breastfeed*" or "fetal" or "fetus" or "neonate" or "newborn" or "abort*" or "uterus"]) were used. Additionally, all references from selected articles were reviewed, hand searches were conducted, and relevant authors were contacted. METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION: The inclusion criteria were: published articles referring to women diagnosed with an infection due to exposure to B anthracis during pregnancy, the postpartum period, or during lactation; any article type reporting patient-specific data; articles in any language; and nonduplicate cases. Non-English articles were professionally translated. Duplicate reports, unpublished reports, and review articles depicting previously identified cases were excluded. TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS: Two authors independently reviewed articles for inclusion. The primary search of the four databases yielded 1,340 articles, and the secondary crossreference search revealed 146 articles. Fourteen articles met the inclusion criteria. In total, 20 cases of B anthracis infection were found, 17 in pregnant women, two in postpartum women, and one case in a lactating woman. Among these reports, 16 women died and 12 fetal or neonatal losses were reported. Of these fatal cases, most predated the advent of antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these case reports, B anthracis infection in pregnant and postpartum women is associated with high rates of maternal and fetal death. Evidence of possible maternal-fetal transmission of B anthracis infection was identified in early case reports.

Call-tracking data and the public health response to bioterrorism-related anthrax.

After public notification of confirmed cases of bioterrorism-related anthrax, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Emergency Operations Center responded to 11,063 bioterrorism-related telephone calls from October 8 to November 11, 2001. Most calls were inquiries from the public about anthrax vaccines (58.4%), requests for general information on bioterrorism prevention (14.8%), and use of personal protective equipment (12.0%); 882 telephone calls (8.0%) were referred to the state liaison team for follow-up investigation. Of these, 226 (25.6%) included reports of either illness clinically confirmed to be compatible with anthrax or direct exposure to an environment known to be contaminated with Bacillus anthracis. The remaining 656 (74.4%) included no confirmed illness but reported exposures to "suspicious" packages or substances or the receipt of mail through a contaminated facility. Emergency response staff must handle high call volumes following suspected or actual bioterrorist attacks. Standardized health communication protocols that address contact with unknown substances, handling of suspicious mail, and clinical evaluation of suspected cases would allow more efficient follow-up investigations of clinically compatible cases in high-risk groups.

SARS surveillance during emergency public health response, United States, March-July 2003.

In response to the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the United States established national surveillance using a sensitive case definition incorporating clinical, epidemiologic, and laboratory criteria. Of 1,460 unexplained respiratory illnesses reported by state and local health departments to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from March 17 to July 30, 2003, a total of 398 (27%) met clinical and epidemiologic SARS case criteria. Of these, 72 (18%) were probable cases with radiographic evidence of pneumonia. Eight (2%) were laboratory-confirmed SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infections, 206 (52%) were SARS-CoV negative, and 184 (46%) had undetermined SARS-CoV status because of missing convalescent-phase serum specimens. Thirty-one percent (124/398) of case-patients were hospitalized; none died. Travel was the most common epidemiologic link (329/398, 83%), and mainland China was the affected area most commonly visited. One case of possible household transmission was reported, and no laboratory-confirmed infections occurred among healthcare workers. Successes and limitations of this emergency surveillance can guide preparations for future outbreaks of SARS or respiratory diseases of unknown etiology.