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Herpes simplex virus infections in newborn babies can be prevented by preventing genital herpes infections in pregnant women and delivering them by cesarean if they have a genital infection. This was the conclusion of a study of 58,362 pregnant women, of whom 202 had genital herpes diagnosed when they were in labor.

Many patients infected with genital herpes can transmit the virus to another person even if they have no visible lesions or any other symptoms. Researchers tested genital fluids from 143 people whose blood tested positive for herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2). Ninety had symptoms of genital herpes and 53 did not. Three percent of both groups were shedding the virus in genital fluids. Sixty-two percent of the asymptomatic patients subsequently developed genital herpes lesions.

Women with a history of genital herpes often release the virus from their genital tract and rectum even when they do not have any visible symptoms of infection. A total of 110 women with herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection entered a study for a median of 105 days. They kept diaries of visible genital sores, took samples from the vulva, cervix, and rectum with a swab, and visited a clinic every four to six weeks. On at least one day when sores were not visible, swab cultures contained the virus in 55% of the women with HSV-2, 52% with HSV-1 and HSV-2, and in 29% of the women with just HSV-1. On 32% of the days when virus was detected, there were no visible sores. This viral release without symptoms was more common in women who had been infected in the previous year and in women who had frequent recurrences of infection. Women with HSV-2 infections may be likely to release and transmit the virus to sexual partners even when they do not have sores.

The respondents' comments about the predistribution model (PDM), the SIR algorithm, the departure from Bayesian inference and the use of simulated inference are addressed. Specifically, the PDM used in the proposed inference method was chosen by the International Whaling Commission's Scientific Committee at its May 1994 meeting. Thus, its application to bowhead whale management was not really within the authors' jurisdiction., We would like to thank all five discussants for excellent comments. All have raised important points. We would like to thank Schweder and Tuljapurkar and Lee for pointing out several [...]

Patients with a compromised, or weakened, immune system may have an increased risk of developing pneumonitis caused by human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6). Pneumonitis is an inflammation of the lungs. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to examine levels HHV-6 DNA in lung tissue from 15 immunocompromised patients with pneumonitis after a bone marrow transplant, 15 healthy individuals and six fetuses. HHV-6 DNA was found in the lung tissue from all the immunocompromised patients. It was also found in the lung tissue from all 14 healthy individuals who had developed antibodies against HHV-6, but not in the lung tissue from the one healthy individual without anti-HHV-6 antibodies. None of the samples of fetal lung tissue contained HHV-6 DNA. Levels of HHV-6 DNA were higher in the lung tissue of the six immunocompromised patients with pneumonitis that had no other identifiable cause.

Fifty-two eyes were collected and analyzed to estimate ages of 42 bowhead whales using the aspartic acid racemization aging technique. Between-eye and within-eye variance components for the ratio of the D and L optical isomers (D/L ratio) were estimated via analysis of variance using multiple measurements from nine whales with both eyes sampled and analyzed. For whales with more than one (D/L)act value, an inverse variance weighted average of the values was used as (D/L)act for the whale. Racemization rate ( kAsp) and D/L ratio at birth (D/L)0 were estimated using (D/L)act from 27 bowhead whales with age estimates based on baleen or ovarian corpora data and two term fetuses. The estimates were kAsp = 0.977 × 10−3/yr and (D/L)0 = 0.0250. The nonlinear least squares analysis that produced these estimates also estimated female age at sexual maturity as ASM = 25.86 yr. SE(age) was estimated via a bootstrap that took into account the SE of (D/L)act and the variances and covariance of kAsp and (D/L)0. One male exceeded 100 yr of age; the oldest female was 88. A strong linear relationship between kAsp and body temperature was estimated by combining bowhead data with independent data from studies of humans and fin whales. Using this relationship, we estimated kAsp and ASM for North Atlantic minke whales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semen is the body fluid most commonly associated with sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1). Because the male genitourinary tract is distinct immunologically from blood, compartment-dependent factors may determine HIV-1 shedding in semen. To identify these factors, the authors obtained 411 semen and blood specimens from 149 men seen up to three times. Seminal plasma was assayed for HIV-1 RNA and semen was cocultured for HIV-1 and cytomegalovirus (CMV), which may up-regulate HIV-1 replication. The best multivariate model for predicting a positive semen HIV-1 coculture included two local urogenital factors, increased seminal polymorphonuclear cell count (odds ratio (OR) = 12.6 for each log10 increase/mL, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 12.2, 134.5) and a positive CMV coculture (OR = 3.0, 95% Cl 1.2, 7.7). The best multivariate model for predicting semen HIV-1 RNA included two systemic host factors, CD4+ cell counts <200/μliter (OR = 3.0, 95 percent Cl 1.3, 6.9) and nucleoside antiretroviral therapy (monotherapy: OR = 0.5, 95% Cl 0.3, 1.0; combination therapy: OR = 0.4, 95% Cl 0.2, 0.9), and a positive CMV coculture (OR = 1.7, 95% Cl 1.0, 3.0). Thus, both systemic and local genitourinary tract factors influence the risk of semen HIV-1 shedding. These findings suggest that measures of systemic virus burden alone may not predict semen infectivity reliably. Am J Epidemiol 1999; 150: 622-31. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study which investigates the reidentifications of bowhead whales that were photographed in various years during their spring migration past Point Barrow in Alaska. The photographs include 40 different whales seen between 1984-1994. It notes that the differences between dates of initial sightings and subsequent sightings ranged from -31 to +23 days comparing month and day only. The study considers the models for predicting resighting date from initial sighting date, whale length and presence of calf. It was found out that the individual mature bowheads do not have a consistent migration timing past Barrow. This indicates a single stock of whales with a plastic schedule.