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ABOUT INFECTIOUS DISEASES

• While many organisms live in and on

humans, and are normally harmless or 

even helpful, some can cause disease 

under certain conditions. They do so either 

by disrupting the body’s normal processes 

or by stimulating the immune system to 

produce a defensive response, resulting 

in high fever, inflammation, and other 

symptoms.

• Some infectious diseases can be passed

from person to person through contact 

with bodily fluids, coughing, sneezing, and 

other methods. Others are transmitted 

from insect or animal bites, or by ingesting 

contaminated food or water or other 

environmental exposures. 

• Many infectious diseases can become

difficult to control, if the infectious 

agents develop a resistance to commonly 

used drugs. Bacteria, for example, can 

accumulate mutations in their DNA, or 

acquire new genes that allow them to 

survive contact with antibiotics that would 

normally kill them.

• VA has determined that nine infectious

diseases are related to military service in 

the first Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. 

They include malaria, brucellosis, 

campylobacter jejuni, coxiella burnetli 

(Q fever), mycobacterium tuberculosis, 

nontyphoid salmonella, shigella, visceral 

leishmaniasis, and west Nile virus.

VA RESEARCH ON INFECTIOUS 

DISEASES: OVERVIEW

• VA researchers are advancing the

understanding, prevention, and treatment 

of numerous infectious diseases, ranging 

from the common cold to major public 

health threats such as tuberculosis, AIDS, 

hepatitis C, and influenza. 

• A number of effective new preventive

strategies, vaccines, and drugs for 

infectious diseases have been developed 

by VA investigators.

• Some researchers are focusing on infectious diseases that may endanger American troops serving abroad, such as malaria 

and leishmaniasis. Others are searching for 

new approaches to treat infectious diseases, focusing on how pathogens change 

and drug resistance evolves.

SELECTED MILESTONES AND 

MAJOR EVENTS

1946 – Developed and tested effective 

therapies for tuberculosis through 

multicenter clinical trials that led to the 

development of the VA Cooperative 

Studies Program

2005 – Demonstrated the effectiveness of 

a new vaccine for shingles, a painful skin 

and nerve infection affecting older adults

2011 – Published findings showing a 

60 percent or greater decrease in MRSA 

infections from a VA-wide infection 

control initiative

2014 – Learned that treatment for 

pneumonia that included the antibiotic 

azithromycin (Zithromax) was associated 

with a significantly lower risk of death and 

a slightly increased risk of heart attack

2015 – Found that patients who received 

antiretroviral therapy within a year of their 

infection were half as likely to develop AIDS, 

compared with those who waited longer

2016 – Determined that a hospital 

infection-control program aimed mainly 

at methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus 

aureus (MRSA) can also significantly reduce 

transmission of bacteria that cause infections such as pneumonia, blood infections, 

surgical infections, and meningitis. 

RECENT STUDIES: SELECTED 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Treatment for pneumonia that

included the antibiotic azithromycin 

(Zithromax) compared with other 

antibiotics was associated with a 

significantly lower risk of death and 

a slightly increased risk of heart attack. 

Researchers from several VA facilities 

concluded there is a net benefit associated 

with azithromycin use in patients 

hospitalized for pneumonia. (Journal of the 

American Medical Association,

June 4, 2014)

VA research on 

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Infectious diseases are disorders caused by microorganisms such 

as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites. Microorganisms that 

cause disease are collectively caused pathogens.

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VA researchers are advancing the understanding, 

prevention, and treatment of numerous infectious 

diseases, ranging from the common cold to major 

public health threats such as tuberculosis, AIDS, 

hepatitis C, and influenza. 

• Patients who received antiretroviral 

therapy within a year of their 

infection were half as likely to 

develop AIDS, compared with those 

who waited longer. They were also 

more likely to achieve and maintain 

a normal level of infection-fighting 

T-cells. A study by researchers from the 

South Texas VA Healthcare System and 

the University of Texas contradicted 

traditional HIV treatment methodology, 

which encourages physicians to wait 

until patients reached certain infection 

thresholds before recommending 

antiretroviral therapy. (JAMA Internal 

Medicine, January 2015)

• An algorithm to help hospitals and 

public health officials determine 

the earliest stages of flu season has 

been developed by researchers with 

VA and other health care institutions 

throughout the nation. The algorithm, 

which researchers call the Above Local 

Elevated Respiratory Illness Threshold 

(ALERT) uses routine information, 

such as the number of influenza cases 

confirmed per week in a region, to 

determine where and when the flu 

needs to be combatted. Having this 

information could help public health 

officials preserve resources while 

combatting the virus. (Clinical Infectious 

Diseases, Feb. 15, 2015)

• In 12 minutes, a pulsed xenon 

ultraviolet (UV) light system could 

disinfect a hospital room as well 

as a human can. Before and after 

UV disinfection, researchers from the 

Central Texas Veterans Health Care 

System took samples of five “hightouch” surfaces in 38 patient rooms, 

including the patient call button, 

bedrail, and tray table, as well as the 

handrail and toilet in the restroom. 

They found that the UV method cut 

the number of bacterial colonies per 

room by about 70 percent, roughly the 

same level of effectiveness as manual 

disinfection. (American Journal of 

Infection Control, April 1, 2015)

• Giving spores of nontoxic C. difficile 

by mouth can stop repeated bouts of 

C. difficile infection. An international 

team of researchers led by investigators 

with the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital 

in Illinois randomly assigned 168 adult 

patients with C. difficile infections who 

had been treated for their infection 

to receive doses of either 10,000 or 10 

million spores per day of nontoxic C. 

difficile in liquid form for 7 or 14 days, or 

to receive an identical-looking placebo. 

Statistically significant reductions 

of relapses in infection were shown 

in those who received any dose of 

nontoxic C. difficile; the best results 

were shown in those who received 10 

million spores a day for seven days. 

C. difficile is an intestinal bacterial 

infection that is difficult to treat 

using standard antibiotic treatment, 

because it has a very high recurrence 

rate. (Journal of the American Medical 

Association, May 5, 2015)

• A procedure that dates back 

thousands of years can be an 

effective method for battling C. 

difficile infections. The procedure, 

called fecal transplantation, involves 

removing stool containing healthy 

bacteria from a donor and inserting 

it into a sick patient. VA researchers 

and researchers with the University 

of Minnesota found that fecal 

transplantation proved successful in 

treating 85 percent of patients with 

recurring infections, and that such 

transplantation is a safe and effective 

way to treat recurrent infections. (Annals 

of Internal Medicine, May 5, 2015)

For more information on VA studies 

on infectious diseases and other key 

topics relating to Veterans’ health, 

please visit 

www.research.va.gov/topics

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Updated September 2016 • For a digital version of this fact sheet with active links to sources, visit www.research.va.gov/topics