Margaret, Hammerschlag

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Margaret, Hammerschlag

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Biography

Dr. Margaret R. Hammerschlag graduated from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She completed her pediatric training at the University of Washington Seattle Children’s Hospital and her Infectious Disease training at the Channing Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington. She is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Dr. Hammerschlag is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine and Director of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training Program at the State University of New York, Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, NY. She has served on the FDA Advisory Panels on Anti-infectives and Devices, Microbiology Section and has been an expert consultant to the CDC for the STI Treatment Guidelines since 1989. At Downstate, she established the Chlamydia Research Laboratory. Dr. Hammerschlag has served on the editorial boards of several journals including Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, and the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. She is currently on the editorial board of Expert Reviews of Anti-Infective Therapy. Her research has been focused on chlamydia infections, especially the epidemiology, treatment and prevention of perinatal C. trachomatis infections and epidemiology, immunology, diagnosis and treatment of C. pneumoniae infections.

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 89

Open Access
Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Chlamydia trachomatis Vaccine Program in Adolescent Girls in the United States.
(2018-12-03) Ditkowsky, Jared; Rahman, Afsana; Hammerschlag, Margaret R; Kohlhoff, Stephan; Smith-Norowitz, Tamar A
With >1.4 million cases in the United States reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012, Chlamydia trachomatis infection is a major public health concern. We examined the impact of a C trachomatis vaccination program using a decision-analysis model to estimate the effects of vaccination on C trachomatis-associated costs and morbidity.
Open Access
In vitro activities of rifamycin derivatives ABI-1648 (Rifalazil, KRM-1648), ABI-1657, and ABI-1131 against Chlamydia trachomatis and recent clinical isolates of Chlamydia pneumoniae.
(2003-03) Roblin, Patricia M; Reznik, Tamara; Kutlin, Andrei; Hammerschlag, Margaret R
ABI-1648 (rifalazil) is a semisynthetic rifamycin with potent bactericidal activity against intracellular respiratory bacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and a long half-life (approximately 60 h) and thus can be administered once weekly. We therefore tested the in vitro activities of ABI-1648, its derivatives ABI-1657 and ABI-1131, azithromycin, and levofloxacin against 10 strains of Chlamydia trachomatis and 10 recent clinical isolates of Chlamydia pneumoniae. The MICs at which 90% of the isolates were inhibited and the minimal bactericidal concentration at which 90% of the isolates were killed for ABI-1648, ABI-1657, and ABI-1131 were 0.0025 micro g/ml for C. trachomatis and 0.00125 to 0.0025 micro g/ml for C. pneumoniae. ABI-1648, ABI-1657, and ABI-1131 were 10- to 1,000-fold more active than azithromycin and levofloxacin.
Open Access
In-house nucleic acid amplification assays in research: how much quality control is needed before one can rely upon the results?
(2005-12) Apfalter, Petra; Reischl, Udo; Hammerschlag, Margaret R
Open Access
Asymptomatic respiratory tract infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae TWAR.
(1991-09) Hyman, C L; Augenbraun, M H; Roblin, P M; Schachter, J; Hammerschlag, M R
Chlamydia pneumoniae is a newly recognized organism associated with respiratory tract infections. Asymptomatic infection with C. pneumoniae, although it has been suggested to occur, has not been previously documented. We describe two asymptomatic individuals infected with this organism; these infections demonstrate that C. pneumoniae is able to establish a subclinical infection.
Open Access
Comparison of two rapid microscopic methods and culture for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in ocular and nasopharyngeal specimens from infants.
(1989-05) Roblin, P M; Hammerschlag, M R; Cummings, C; Williams, T H; Worku, M
The data available for the diagnosis of chlamydial infections in infants which compare direct fluorescent-monoclonal-antibody stains (DFAs) with culture are limited to one reagent, MicroTrak (Syva Inc., Palo Alto, Calif.). We therefore performed a comparison of Pathfinder (Kallestad Diagnostics, Chaska, Minn.) and MicroTrak with chlamydia culture. Paired conjunctival and nasopharyngeal specimens for DFAs and cultures were obtained from 56 infants less than 1 month of age with conjunctivitis. The sensitivities for detecting C. trachomatis in conjunctival specimens with MicroTrak and Pathfinder were 93.8 and 88.2%, respectively, and the specificities were 87.5 and 94.9%, respectively. The DFA tests on nasopharyngeal specimens from infants with conjunctivitis did not perform as well. The sensitivities for Pathfinder and MicroTrak were 33 and 50%, respectively. There were a total of six patients with culture-positive chlamydial conjunctivitis whose nasopharyngeal specimens were DFA positive and culture negative; four of the specimens were positive by both DFAs. These six discordant specimens were further evaluated by preparing pellets and smears of the original culture specimens. All six contained typical fluorescing elementary bodies when stained with the Syva DFA reagent.
Open Access
Draft Genome and Plasmid Sequences of Chlamydia pneumoniae Strain B21 from an Australian Endangered Marsupial, the Western Barred Bandicoot.
(2014-02-06) Roulis, Eileen; Bachmann, Nathan; Polkinghorne, Adam; Hammerschlag, Margaret; Kohlhoff, Stephan; Timms, Peter
Chlamydia pneumoniae is a ubiquitous intracellular pathogen, first associated with human respiratory disease and subsequently detected in a range of mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Here we report the draft genome sequence for strain B21 of C. pneumoniae, isolated from the endangered Australian marsupial the western barred bandicoot.
Open Access
Guidelines for the use of molecular biological methods to detect sexually transmitted pathogens in cases of suspected sexual abuse in children.
(2012) Hammerschlag, Margaret R; Gaydos, Charlotte A
Testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in children presents a number of problems for the practitioner that are not usually faced when testing adults for the same infections. The identification of an STI in a child, in addition to medical implications, can have serious legal implications. The presence of an STI is often used to support the presence or allegations of sexual abuse and conversely, the identification of an STI in a child will prompt an investigation of possible abuse. The significance of the identification of a sexually transmitted agent in such children as evidence of possible child sexual abuse varies by pathogen.While culture has historically been used for the detection of STIs in cases of suspected abuse in children, the increasing use of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) in adults and the increasing proliferation of second-generation tests with better sensitivity and specificity has made inroads into the use of such tests in children, especially for diagnostic and treatment purposes. Acceptance by the medicolegal system for sexual abuse cases is still controversial and more test cases will be necessary before definitive use becomes standard practice. In addition, if these assays ever become legally admissible in court, there will be recommendations that more than one NAAT assay be used in order to assure confirmation of the diagnostic result.
Open Access
Exposure to cigarette smoke and Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in mice: Effect on infectious burden, systemic dissemination and cytokine responses: A pilot study.
(2016) Kumar, Swati; Smith-Norowitz, Tamar A; Kohlhoff, Stephan; Apfalter, Petra; Roblin, Patricia; Kutlin, Andrei; Harkema, Jack; Ng, Sheung P; Doherty-Lyons, Shannon; Zelikoff, Judith T; Hammerschlag, Margaret R
Cigarette smoke exposure has been considered a risk factor for infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae. C. pneumoniae infection is associated with respiratory tract infection and chronic respiratory disease, which is a serious public health concern. To determine whether prior exposure to cigarette smoke worsens C. pneumoniae infection (specifically, increases infectious burden and systemic dissemination) as well as alters cytokine responses in mice, adult female C57BL/6 mice were exposed to either filtered air (FA) or mainstream cigarette smoke (MCS) (15 mg/m(3), total suspended particulates) for 5 days/week for 2 weeks and then infected with C. pneumoniae (10(5) IFU) via intratracheal instillation. Mice were euthanized on Days 7, 14 or 26 post-infection (p.i.). Chlamydial burdens in the lungs and spleen were quantified by quantitative PCR (qPCR) and histologic analyses were performed; cytokine levels (TNFα, IL-4, IFNγ) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results indicated that: (1) mice exposed to either FA or MCS had similar chlamydial burdens in the lungs and spleen on Days 14 and 26 p.i.; (2) proximal and distal airway inflammation was observed on Day 14 p.i. in both FA and MCS mice, but persisted in MCS mice until Day 26 p.i.; FA exposed mice demonstrated resolution of distal airway inflammation; and (3) MCS mice displayed higher serum levels of IFNγ and IL-4 on Day 26 p.i. These findings indicate that exposure of mice to MCS (at a concentration equivalent to smoking < 1 pack cigarettes/day) led to greater C. pneumoniae-induced inflammation, as indicated by prolonged inflammatory changes.
Open Access
Use of HEp-2 cells for improved isolation and passage of Chlamydia pneumoniae.
(1992-08) Roblin, P M; Dumornay, W; Hammerschlag, M R
Chlamydia pneumoniae has proved to be difficult to isolate and propagate in cell culture. We compared the growth of three strains of C. pneumoniae, TW-183 and two clinical isolates from Brooklyn, N.Y., in five cell lines, including HeLa 229, McCoy, HL, HEp-2, and HTED, an immortalized human tracheal cell line. HEp-2 was the most sensitive cell line tested. When 10-fold dilutions of three C. pneumoniae strains at known titers were inoculated into the different cell lines, the mean number of inclusion-forming units per milliliter was 1 to 2 log units higher in the HEp-2 than in the other cell lines. This difference was statistically significant. Omission of pretreatment with DEAE-dextran resulted in larger inclusions than those seen in pretreated cells, with the exception of McCoy and HTED cells. Retrieval of clinical specimens previously cultured on HeLa 229 cells and comparison of mean inclusion counts in fresh clinical specimens simultaneously inoculated on HeLa 229 and HEp-2 cells suggested that culture in HEp-2 cells may require only the initial inoculation and one passage, compared with three to four passages, as required by culture in HeLa 229 cells.
Open Access
Lymphogranuloma venereum in a pregnant woman.
(1988-07) Heaton, S; Hammerschlag, M R; Roblin, P M; Di Pasquale, R C
Lymphogranuloma venereum was diagnosed postpartum in a young black woman, who was a drug abuser. Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from aspirate of a left inguinal mass, and the patient was also seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus. During hospitalization she was treated with ampicillin, gentamicin, and doxycycline. Her twin infant girls had no evidence of C. trachomatis infection. The mother was discharged from the hospital after partial resolution of the left inguinal mass and was lost to follow-up.