Infectious Disease

One of the earliest contributions of VA researchers to medical science was the establishment of effective treatments for tuberculosis back in the 1930s and 1940s. Since then, VA scientists have helped advance the understanding, prevention, and treatment of numerous infectious diseases, ranging from the common cold to major public-health threats such as AIDS and influenza.

Examples of VA Research Advances

Shingles vaccine effective but underused—The latest results from a major clinical trial by VA and the National Institutes of Health confirmed that a new vaccine given to prevent shingles is safe over the long term. But other new research shows the vaccine is not being used widely in the United States-fewer than 10 percent of older people are receiving it-and that the incidence of shingles is rising. VA recently stepped up efforts to educate clinicians and patients about the vaccine. Shingles is a painful nerve condition that results from reactivation of the virus that causes childhood chicken pox. In 2005, VA and NIH researchers first reported, in the New England Journal of Medicine, that the vaccine cut the incidence of shingles by more than 50 percent and dramatically limited its severity and complications.

Reducing hospital pneumonia—A set of relatively easy changes could dramatically reduce the number of patients who come down with pneumonia after surgery, says a Palo Alto VA study. The changes include computerized reminders for doctors, special breathing exercises for patients, oral antiseptic swabs, extra training for nurses, and measures to improve patients' head elevation during meals and sleep. Pneumonia is the third most common post surgery complication in the U.S. and can often be fatal.

HIV screening advances—Increasing the rate of rapid HIV testing in primary-care clinics is relatively simple, suggests a study from the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System. Nurses voluntarily enrolled in a workshop that taught how to administer the test, counsel patients and interpret results. Testing by nurses increased; the study also saw an unexpected increase in HIV blood testing by other clinical staff. These changes led to an overall 70-percent increase in HIV testing at the site over one year.