Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA articles from August 2000

Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA archives from August 2000

Hepatitis C Mortality and Complication Rates in New York Determined.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- New York State Department of Health epidemiologists recently reviewed and compiled the mortality and complication rates for hospital patients with hepatitis C (HepC) virus in Upstate New York. A report of...

Chlamydia pneumoniae Infection Increases Risk.(of strokes)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- In a study published in the July 2000 issue of the journal Stroke, researchers found that people infected with Chlamydia pneumoniae were 4-1/2 times more likely to have suffered a first ischemic stroke than...

Report Urges Closer Look at Cardiotoxicity of Breast Cancer Drug Trastuzumab (Herceptin).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Although trastuzumab (Herceptin) has been lauded as being beneficial in the treatment of breast cancer, its use is associated with a high incidence of cardiac toxicity and raises important questions about...

Routine HIV-1 Test Misses Preseroconversion in Blood Donation.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Routine HIV-1 tests may not be sensitive enough to detect all infectious window-period donations, according to a study in the July 12, 2000, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Cases...

Risk May Be Greater for Internet Sex Seekers.(sexually transmitted diseases and HIV report)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- People who seek sex partners through the Internet may be at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases, including the virus that causes AIDS, according to an article in the July 26, 2000, issue of The...

Public Health Investigators Use Internet to Trace Syphilis Outbreak.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- A recent syphilis outbreak linked to an Internet chat room provided a unique opportunity to conduct public health control activities in cyberspace, according to an article in the July 26, 2000, issue of The...

Mycobacterium bovis a Leading Cause of TB at Mexico-U.S. Border.(pasteurization laws to be more strictly enforced)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- According to University of California at San Diego investigators, a large number of new tuberculosis (TB) cases identified at San Diego hospitals in the last few years have been caused by Mycobacterium bovis,...

Genetic Tests Making U.S. Blood Supply Safer.(prevention of HIV and hepatitis C infection)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- New genetic tests have made the blood supply in the U.S. safer, allowing donation banks to detect viral infections sooner and keep them from slipping into transfusions, scientists said. Dr. Michael Busch...

Jail-Based Surveillance Screening Useful in Monitoring STD Epidemics.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- A study by the San Francisco, California, Department of Public Health, conducted at the San Francisco County Jail, has found that anonymous HIV screening of jail inmates offers an opportunity to track the...

U.S. AIDS Cases, Deaths, and HIV Infections Appear Stable.(emphasis placed on new prevention and treatment methods)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Both HIV and AIDS have stabilized in the U.S., indicating a need for expanded HIV prevention efforts and new treatment strategies, according to Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH, director of the National Center for...

Lethal Antibiotic Created to Cause Resistant Bacteria to Self-Destruct.(NewBiotics Inc. drug testing NB2001)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- NewBiotics Inc., San Diego, California, reported laboratory tests of its NB2001 drug candidate show the company's drug design causes resistant bacteria associated with hospital-acquired infections to...

NIH Announces New International Network to Study HIV Prevention Strategies.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on July 12, 2000, the formation of the international HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) to develop and test promising non-vaccine strategies to prevent...

U.S. Teens Having Sex Less.(AIDS/HIV education sucessful)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- U.S. teenagers are clearly getting the message about AIDS, new data show. Compared to a decade ago, they wait longer to have sex, use condoms, and have fewer partners. The data, released on July 10,...

In-Home Kidney Machine Offers Excellent Clinical Results.(personal hemodialysis sytem)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the testing of a new artificial kidney machine co-developed by Zbylut J. Twardowski, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri School of...

Vaccine for 2000-2001 Flu Season Expected to be Delayed.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- According to a notice in the July 14, 2000, edition of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, supply and distribution of the influenza vaccine for the...

FDA Approval Announced for Malarone.(drug therapy for malaria)(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Malarone (atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride) for the prevention and treatment of malaria in adults and children. The drug, manufactured by...

Herbal Supplemented Food Criticized.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- A cereal and a "memory elixir" iced tea claim to boost brain power. Snack chips purport to contain "an effective antibiotic." Dozens of foods illegally contain purported herbal medicines that deceive...

New York Area Spraying to Kill Virus-Carrying Mosquitoes.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2000... 2000 AUG 6 - (NewsRx.com) -- Health officials in New York City mobilized insecticide-spraying trucks on July 18, 2000, after an encephalitis virus that killed seven people last year turned up again in mosquitoes and birds across the New...

New Nipah Virus Shows Similarities to Hendra Virus.(CDC research)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Preliminary investigation of the newly identified Nipah virus has shown that it shares many characteristics with Hendra virus, but it is a separate and distinct virus, according to U.S. Centers for Disease...

Sharp Drops in Perinatally-Acquired HIV Reported in U.S.
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Comprehensive prevention and treatment efforts in the United States have brought sharp drops in mother-to-child (perinatal) transmission of HIV, according to new data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease...

Too Much Sugar, Not Enough Milk May Damage U.S. Teens' Health.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Between 1965 and 1996, a considerable shift occurred in the diets of U.S. teenagers that could compromise their future health, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study suggests. On the...

Scientists Link Protein to Hemorrhaging.(Ebola virus research report)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) have identified a part of the Ebola virus that likely is responsible for the massive internal bleeding leading to most of those deaths. Ebola...

Calcium May Reduce Transfer of Lead to Fetus.(in pregnant women)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Increased dietary calcium intake during pregnancy can reduce the amount of lead transferred from mother to fetus, although it will not prevent decreased birth weight and length caused by lead exposure,...

Health Officials Fear Infection in Foxhounds Could Cause Disease in Humans.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- A fatal tropical disease has infected large numbers of foxhounds in the U.S. Public health officials fear that humans may contract the disease if the dogs come into contact with sandflies, which transmit...

Landmark Guidelines Target Antibiotic Resistance.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- New guidelines designed to address the alarming rise in bacterial resistance to antibiotics have been issued by The Sinus and Allergy Health Partnership, with representation from the U.S. Centers for Disease...

Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor Used in Phase I Trial of Heart Patients.(stable angina)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Staff at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Rockville, Maryland, recently reported one of the first studies of its kind in the American Journal of Cardiology. According to these government...

Lack of B Cells in Knockout Mice Diminishes TB Pathogenesis.(tuberculosis research)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Although many studies have demonstrated the importance of T cells in the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, the role of B cells in early immune response has remained poorly understood....

Activists Call for Fast Track Development of Reticulose.(better access to AIDS disease drug therapy)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- With the close of the 13th International AIDS Conference, a coalition of AIDS treatment activists are demanding better access to Reticulose, a lipoprotein-nucleic acid complex manufactured by Advanced Viral...

Is the U.S. Prepared to Respond in Case of Chemical or Biological Threat?(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- In a society that is technology-enabled, economically-driven, and politically unstable, the threat of terrorism is a grim reality. If and when such an event is threatened or actually occurs, clinical...

Hepatitis A Disease Rate Remains High Among Populations in Atlanta, Georgia.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- In Atlanta, Georgia, the site for this year's major conference on emerging infectious diseases, a subset of the metropolitan population continues to have high hepatitis A virus infection rates, despite...

Scientists Study Neisseria meningitidis in Neonates.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported on the incidence of meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis in newborns at the CDC 2000 International Conference...

South Carolina is Site for Hepatitis C Exposure Risk Survey.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- One of the few studies to conduct an analysis of source patient seroprevalence for hepatitis C virus was reported recently at the CDC 2000 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases that was...

Success Reported in Thailand, But Other Developing Countries Lag Behind.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- At the XIII International AIDS Conference held in Durban, South Africa, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on the success of one of the first large-scale perinatal prevention...

International Training Efforts Directed at Tuberculosis Testing and Diagnosis.(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Tuberculosis remains a threat in countries throughout the world, and especially in developing countries, scientists report. With the use of international training efforts such as those coordinated by the...

DNA Immunization Generates Protective Immunity Similar to BCG Vaccine.(DNA vaccine against tuberculosis)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- DNA immunization against tuberculosis generated protective immunity similar to that induced by the bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine in a study conducted by U.S. government researchers. "Immunization...

Dramatic Surge Reported in Northwest U.S. Cities.(heroin use on the rise in Northwest)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Heroin use has risen dramatically in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S., with overdoses in the Portland, Oregon, area accounting for nearly as many deaths among young and middle-aged men as cancer or...

Phase III Studies Okay'd for Community-Acquired Pneumonia and Complicated Urinary Tract Infections.(Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. trials of Cidecin are progressing)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CBST), Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced progress on its Cidecin (daptomycin for injection) clinical trial program following recent meetings with the U.S. Food and Drug...

FDA Panel Okays Implanted Hearing Aid.(Symphonix Inc. gets nod from Food and Drug Administration to sell hearing implant)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Americans frustrated with their hearing aids may soon get to try a new surgical implant to help them hear better. Advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended that Symphonix...

Heel Pain Sound-Wave Therapy Approved.(OssaTron lithtriptor from HealthTronics Inc. treats plantar fasciitis)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- People who suffer chronic heel pain, a particular bane of athletes, may soon get a new therapy: sound waves. Sound waves, emitted from a machine called a lithotriptor, sometimes are used to break up...

First U.S. Federally Funded Resource Center Opens.(National Sexual Violence Resource Center opens, funded by)(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2000... 2000 AUG 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- The first U.S. federally funded center devoted to aiding victims of sexual violence opened July 20, 2000, outside Pennsylvania's capital city of Harrisonburg. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center...

CDC Research Underscores Deadly Tie Between HIV and TB Pandemics.(reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presented new findings on the link between the HIV and tuberculosis (TB) pandemics at a press briefing at the XIII International AIDS Conference in...

More Babies Being Diagnosed with Vitamin D Deficiency.(study finds increase highest among African American infants)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- In the past 10 years, physicians have been seeing an increase in the number of infants in the U.S. diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency rickets, a disease once considered to be virtually nonexistent, according...

Survey Indicates Almost Half of College Students Used Tobacco Products in Past Year.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Nearly half of college students in the U.S. surveyed report using tobacco products within the past year, according to an article in the August 9, 2000, issue of The Journal of the American Medical...

LASIK Has Significant Advantages Over Photorefractive Keratectomy for Farsightedness.(results of study by opthamologists at University of Texas)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- LASIK surgery is far better at correcting farsightedness than photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), ophthalmologists at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered. The...

First Responders at Low-Risk for Hepatitis C Virus Infection.(findings of five studies show)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Study results should reassure firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics that they are at low risk for hepatitis C infection (HCV) as a result of needlestick injury or other exposure to...

Study: Estimates of U.S. Deaths Caused By Smoking are Accurate, Refuting Industry Claim.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Adjusting for age and behavioral and socioeconomic factors has little impact on the estimates of smoking-attributable deaths, discounting claims by the tobacco industry that the death estimates are inflated,...

Studies Focus on Treatment Efficacies in Women.(studies show racial and gender disparities in access to AIDS therapies)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies revealed continued racial and gender disparities in access to the most effective therapies, and examined the contributing role stress may play in poor...

Studies Highlight Shortcomings of HIV Treatments.(as reported by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- New studies from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlight the growing shortcomings of existing HIV treatment regimens. The studies were discussed July 11, 2000, at a press...

FDA Approves Extended-Release Drug.(Food and Drug Administration, Concerta)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on August 2, 2000, approved Concerta, a form of the most common drug used for the disorder that can be taken in the morning and lasts 12 hours. The National Attention...

TB Contacts Screening Suggested.(HIV positive people at high risk for TB, report analyses testing practices at health clinics)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Health clinics should look more carefully for the AIDS virus among people who have close contact with tuberculosis patients because HIV positive people are much more vulnerable to TB, the U.S. Centers for...

Hepatitis C Registry Provides More Accurate View of New Mexico Infection Rate.
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- After four years of collecting data, public health officials have a better picture of the hepatitis C infection rate in the state of New Mexico thanks to a new hepatitis C registry. Data from this...

Melon's Rind Won't Prevent Illness.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- Most people wouldn't think to wash a watermelon before slicing it, but health experts say that's the best defense against bacteria like Escherichia coli. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, health officials have linked...

Lysine Auxotroph of M. tuberculosis H37Rv Induces Immunity in Mice.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- A lysine auxotroph of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv used as a vaccine was able to induce cell-mediated immunity in a murine model. "A mutant strain of M. tuberculosis H37Rv (mc23026) in which the lysA...

Large Outbreak in Romania Involved Multiple Types of Enteroviruses.(Brief Article)
August 20, 2000... 2000 AUG 20 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a large outbreak of viral meningitis in Romania was caused by three different types of enteroviruses. This is unusual in that it is the...