Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA articles from January 2001

Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA archives from January 2001

New Combined PCR/Fluorescent Probe Technique Enables Rapid Genotyping of Varicella-Zoster Virus.(polymerase chain reaction)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a method they call fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) for quick genotyping of varicella-zoster...

Methylvinyl Ketone Can Cause Respiratory Irritation.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers writing in the journal Toxicological Sciences argue that exposure to methylvinyl ketone, a substance with a number of industrial uses, may cause a number of problems including upper...

Particulates in Air Need to be Controlled to Protect Public Health.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health have found that despite improved efforts to control air pollution, microscopic particles in the air continue to be associated with adverse...

Measles and Pertussis Risk Higher for Children with Personal Exemptions from Immunization.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Children who are exempt from immunization for religious or philosophical reasons have a higher risk of measles and pertussis, reports an article in the December 27, 2000, issue of The Journal of the...

No Link Between Problem Drinking and On-the-Job Injuries.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health have found no evidence for a strong link between problem drinking and on-the-job injuries. In fact, for young workers in the United States,...

Supplements Industry Tells FDA Ephedra is Safe.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Challenging a report in a prestigious medical journal that a popular herbal stimulant can kill, the dietary supplement industry disclosed its own review on December 20, 2000, that contends ephedra is...

FDA to Change Prescription Warnings.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hoping to combat the dangerous problem of doctors prescribing the wrong drug for the wrong patient, the U.S. government said on December 21, 2000, it would overhaul the fine-print drug warnings doctors...

Columbia, South Carolina HIV Infection Rate Drops.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The number of AIDS cases has dropped for the Columbia, South Carolina, metropolitan area, according to a new ranking based on a fiscal year. Between July 1999 and June 2000, 205 AIDS cases were...

CDC Inaugurates High-Tech Lab for Studying HIV, Flu, and Polio.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) celebrated the opening of its new state-of-the-art research facility, the Edward R. Roybal Laboratory Building, on December 18, 2000. The...

Four Deaths Linked to Recalled Poultry Products.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cargill, Inc.'s, chief executive officer is urging customers to destroy recalled poultry products that have been linked to four deaths and three miscarriages or stillbirths. The U.S. Centers for...

First Deaths Reported in U.S. Since 1998.(Rabies)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Rabies killed five people in the United States during 2000 in the first such deaths reported since 1998. All but one of the deaths occurred after the person was bitten by a bat, the U.S. Centers...

First-Ever U.S. Standards Established to Protect Personal Medical Records.
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Donna E. Shalala on December 20, 2000, released the first-ever U.S. federal standards for protecting the privacy of Americans' personal...

Nevada Ranks Below National Average.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Despite the amount of sex for sale in Nevada brothels and strip clubs, the state ranks below the U.S. national average for some common sexually transmitted diseases, although studies show increases on...

Ecstasy Use Up Sharply; Use of Other Illegal Drugs Steady, or Declining.(Statistical Data Included)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Use of the drug Ecstasy (MDMA) by American adolescents continued to rise sharply this year (2000), according to the latest results from the Monitoring the Future study, conducted at the University of...

Experimental Drug Stolen.(goat antiserum)(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An "extremely dangerous" batch of an experimental drug produced in goats and intended as a treatment for HIV/AIDS has been stolen, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said December 22, 2000, in a...

Government, Industry, and Academia Tackle Regulatory Issues.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Product Quality Research Institute (PQRI) - a first-ever collaborative effort between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), the...

Beliefs Act as Barriers to Getting Flu Shots.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Certain individuals may avoid getting a flu shot because of beliefs they hold, such as concern about unknown ingredients in the vaccine, suggest the results of a small study of elderly low-income...

Information Key Ingredient for Healthy World; NewsRx.net Offers eHealth Revenue Sharing Booster Shot.(Brief Article)
January 14, 2001... 2001 JAN 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Health information from the Internet is the key ingredient for advancing world health, according to health publishing executive, C.W. Henderson, CEO of NewsRx. Henderson said that delivering the...

Salmonella is Developing Resistance to Important Drug.(ceftriaxone)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Salmonella illnesses resistant to the standard drug used to treat serious forms of the infection in children are emerging nationwide, government researchers warn. The U.S. Centers for Disease...

Cholesterol Measurement Improved.(Cholesterol Reference Method Laboratory Network)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Cholesterol Reference Method Laboratory Network (CRMLN), created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provides for accurate measurement of blood cholesterol. G. L....

Hair Analysis Test for Trace Elements and Nutritional Balance is Unreliable.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Health care choices based on hair analysis results may be ineffective or detrimental to patient's health. Hair mineral analysis from six commercial laboratories was found to be unreliable, and...

Age Grouping Affects Overweight Estimates.(obesity in children report)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Overweight prevalence in children can be overestimated depending upon how ages are grouped. "Although age categorization may often have little effect on prevalence estimates, prevalence may...

Risk Higher for Children with Personal Exemptions from Immunization.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Children who are exempt from immunization for religious or philosophical reasons have a higher risk of measles and pertussis, according to an article in the December 27, 2000, issue of The Journal of...

Emergency Medical Personnel Risk Chemical Toxicity from Contaminated Patients.(risk of organophosphate poisoning)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Health care workers require adequate protection to prevent contamination from chemically contaminated patients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Emergency...

Metal-Working Fluids Attack Liver and Gonads.(risk present in both sexes)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Metal-working fluids, absorbed through the skin, are toxic to the liver and to male gonads. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pursuant to findings that...

Incidence of Unpowered Scooter-Related Injuries Reported.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Injuries associated with unpowered scooters have increased dramatically since May 2000, states data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These scooters are a new version...

CDC Funds Registries for Childhood Type 2 Disease.(Centers for Disease Control)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- With diabetes increasing at unprecedented rates among adults both in the United States and throughout the world, initial reports suggest a rise in type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents. ...

CDC Receives Financial Increase of Almost $850 Million.
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has received a 27% increase in funding for FY2001 compared to FY2000. Major highlights include: A total of $175 million for buildings and...

Health Experts Concerned with Teens' Views About Sex.(misinformation about sexually transmitted diseases)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Arizona health experts are concerned about results of a national study showing that adolescents believe sexually transmitted diseases can only be contracted through sexual intercourse and not other...

FDA Said Lax on Human Tissue Safety.(Federal Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration must more aggressively ensure the safety of donated skin, bone, and other human tissue, says a new federal report that found the FDA has never even inspected some...

Combination of Drugs Deadly for HIV(+) Pregnant Women.(Zerit and Videx)(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Three pregnant women infected with HIV recently died from a severe side effect caused by taking two AIDS drugs together, the U.S. government said on January 5, 2001, in a warning to pregnant women to...

Follow-Up Report of Theft of AIDS Drug Suggests a Business Dispute.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about an experimental AIDS drug allegedly stolen from a storage facility in Raleigh, North Carolina, might be more of a business dispute than a...

Study Finds Alaska Natives Susceptible to Helicobacter pylori.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study on a harmful bacteria common in Alaska Natives has produced some alarming preliminary findings, according to the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. The center's research has found...

South Carolina Inmates with HIV Show Increased Rate of Tuberculosis Transmission.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An epidemiological investigation conducted at a South Carolina prison traced tuberculosis transmission to a single dormitory where inmates resided. The results of that investigation demonstrate the...

Pennsylvania Public Health System Examined in Wake of Outbreak.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pennsylvania's public health system, with its mix of local and state authorities, is coming under scrutiny after officials in one of the state's largest counties criticized their own health department...

Maternal Factors Key to Compliance with Infant Hepatitis B Prevention.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- - by Sonia Bell-Nichols, staff medical writer -- Key factors associated with maternal health care continue to play a significant role in whether or not infants receive appropriate vaccinations for...

CDC Says Vaccination Now is Best Protection Against Slow-Starting Flu Season.(Center for Disease Control)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention influenza surveillance supports the warning to persons at high risk for complications from influenza that it's not too late to get a flu shot this flu...

Severe Adverse Effects Reported from Post-HIV-Exposure Nevirapine Prophylaxis.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- At least 22 people have suffered serious side effects, including liver failure, from taking an AIDS drug that was prescribed to prevent HIV infection in people accidentally exposed to the virus. ...

Study Looks at Case Management Intervention to Improve Access to Care.(Brief Article)
January 21, 2001... 2001 JAN 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A clinical study seeking to determine whether a case management intervention will improve attendance and usage of HIV health care services by individuals newly diagnosed with HIV infection began at...

Study Sheds New Light on Disease Transmission, Implications for Vaccine Development.(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New research on the tick-borne bacteria responsible for Lyme disease likely will make scientists think differently about how to develop a more effective vaccine. The findings clearly demonstrate...

Poor Reading Skills Stop Inmates from Learning Tuberculosis Materials.(Massachusetts Department of Public Health )(Brief Article)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Some Massachusetts inmates lack the reading skills necessary to read and understand tuberculosis education materials, according to workers at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in Boston....

EPA to Set New Standard for Arsenic in Drinking Water.(Environmental Protection Agency )
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to set a new drinking water standard that would reduce the acceptable levels for arsenic by 80% while backing off from a more ambitious proposal....

Survey Results for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Remain Constant.(National Partnership for Reinventing Government)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The results of the second government-wide customer satisfaction survey released December 22, 2000, showed that consumers continue to be satisfied with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA)...

Preliminary Analysis Inconclusive in Cluster of Nine Childhood Cases.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The first stage of a state probe has found no explanation for a cluster of nine childhood leukemia cases in a small Nevada town and health officials will now turn to outside experts for help. ...

FDA Warns Livestock Feed Makers.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hundreds of animal feed producers in the U.S. have violated regulations meant to keep mad cow disease out of the country, says a new U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report. No cases of mad...

FDA Cautions Pregnant Women to Limit Consumption of Certain Types of Fish.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pregnant women and those who might become pregnant should not eat four types of fish - shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish - because they could contain enough mercury to hurt an unborn baby's...

LaserVision Settles FDA Lawsuit.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- LaserVision Centers Inc. and its four top officers have agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a federal complaint alleging unlawful distribution of software cards used to illegally alter laser eye...

Heroin Addiction is Rising Amid Too Little Treatment.(Office of National Drug Control Policy)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Heroin addiction is on the rise in the United States, especially among young people. One reason is that it can now be smoked or snorted instead of having to inject it in a vein, which put the user...

Alcohol Use and Hepatitis C Common to Youth who Inject Drugs in California Study.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Public health epidemiologists in Los Angeles, California, have found alcohol use and hepatitis C to be highly prevalent in young people who use injection drugs in Los Angeles County. Attendees at...

Most Americans Not Concerned About the Risk of Type 2 Disease.(Brief Article)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Despite a recent U.S. study linking a sharp rise in type 2 diabetes to America's obesity epidemic, a nationwide survey found that while many people (39%) consider themselves overweight, two-thirds...

Minnesota Health Officials Look at Warnings Regarding Mercury-Contaminated Fish.(evaluate how best to inform public)(Brief Article)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Minnesota state health officials are evaluating how best to inform people about the dangers of mercury found in fish caught from contaminated lakes in Minnesota. Many Minnesota lakes are...

Outbreak in Haiti and the Dominican Republic Under Control.(outbreak of poliomyelitis )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A leading physician monitoring an outbreak of poliomyelitis in Haiti and the Dominican Republic said that the situation appears to be under control and urged countries not to retreat from achieving and...

Report Says Tissue Banks Lack Checkups.(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report on tissue banks and body parts industry)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 28, 2001... 2001 JAN 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tissue banks are not routinely inspected and donor families rarely hear about the profits being made from donated body parts, according to two reports released by the U.S. Department of Health and...