Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA articles from July 2001

Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA archives from July 2001

UN Says HIV/AIDS Epidemic Is Still In Early Stages.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- On the 20(th) anniversary of the first published report on AIDS, United Nations experts warned on June 5, 2001, that in many countries the epidemic is still in its early stages. "HIV is...

CDC Outlines New Strategic Plan To Thwart HIV Infection.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently provides almost $400 million to state and local prevention programs targeting high-risk individuals, including MSM. To expand...

New CDC Study Finds High Rates Of HIV Infection Among Young Gay And Bisexual Men.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data showing that 4.4% of young men who have sex with men (MSM), 23-29 years of age - and 14.7% of African-American MSM in this...

Proposed Change To Food Labels Would Help Consumers Wanting To Follow New Cholesterol Guidelines.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- During the past decade, American consumers have become avid readers of nutrition labels. Today's health-conscious shoppers closely examine food packages for tip-off words such as fat, salt, and...

Microbiological Testing Would Shore Up Restaurant Inspections.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Occasional laboratory testing of swab samples from food handling areas could lessen the chance of food contamination in restaurants, say public health...

FDA Panel Considers GHB For Treating Narcolepsy-Related Condition.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A U.S. government advisory panel concluded that a drug abused in date rape can be useful as a treatment for a rare but dangerous complication of the sleep disorder narcolepsy. The panel...

Traditional Practitioners In China Urged To Modernize.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Traditional Chinese medicine must be brought into the 21st century or miss out on the multibillion-dollar global drug market, speakers at an international conference said. "We must use...

AIDS Activists Decry Proposal To Require Names-Based Testing.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A regulation that would require Pennsylvania residents who test positive for HIV to be listed by name in a state database would discourage thousands of people from being tested because of...

U.S. Agency Launches Investigation Of Counterfeit Drugs.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating three counterfeit drugs that have appeared on the U.S. market. The agency and the manufacturers of the real drugs that are being...

U.S. TB Cases Drop to All-Time Low.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The United States has sliced tuberculosis rates in half during the past decade, and the number of cases of the respiratory disease fell to an all-time low, federal health officials said on June 12,...

Researcher Says More Outbreaks Likely, Advanced Vaccines Could Provide Control.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Writing in the June 2001 Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Dr. John Beale warns that future outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) will be "more likely" as the movement of people and...

CDC Says New Approach Could Cut Rate Of New Infections In Half.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced a new approach to HIV prevention that will involve intensive prevention outreach and services to those living with the...

Video Intervention Cost-Effective For Minority Disease Clinics.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - A short, video-based group behavioral intervention is a cost-effective way for sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics with minority clienteles to reduce...

Radical Groups Promote Campaign Against Western Medicine In Nigeria.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- There are signs that Nigeria's northern region is becoming increasingly vulnerable to annual epidemics of measles and meningitis amid widespread resistance to immunization by suspicious locals. ...

A Third Of Childhood Cases Could Be Missed In Sub-Saharan Africa.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Limited resources, which prevent the measurement of microbiological markers, could mean that around a third of cases of acute childhood bacterial meningitis are not diagnosed in sub-Saharan Africa....

Ohio Town Tries To Stem Outbreak By Vaccinating Almost 6,000 People.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Ohio health officials said on June 5, 2001, that they planned to inoculate thousands of high school students in an effort to contain a meningitis-related outbreak that has killed two teenagers. ...

New Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, Key Staff Announced.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NewsRx Network, Atlanta, Georgia, the leading provider of life science databases and daily and weekly health news, has announced top staff appointments, including a new editor-in-chief and publisher...

North Carolina Health Officials Prepare For Outbreak.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- North Carolina health officials are preparing for a potential outbreak of rubella this summer. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has not received confirmed cases of...

Cloned Animals Not OK'd As Food.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it doesn't want meat or milk from cloned livestock sold to consumers until it is sure the food is safe and the technology won't harm the environment...

Doctors In U.S. Northeast Cautioned To Test Patients With Encephalitis Or Meningitis.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2001... 2001 JUL 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- West Nile virus will probably spread beyond the northeastern U.S., so doctors should consider that when diagnosing patients stricken with encephalitis or meningitis during mosquito season,...

HIV Immunoglobulin G3 Superior To Other Antibody Subclasses.
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The G3 subclass of HIV immune globulin blocks HIV cell fusion and entry more efficiently than other immunoglobulin subclasses, researchers in Maryland...

Nutrition Summit Distills Strategies For Weight Loss.
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Recommendations that emerged from last year's National Nutrition Summit in Washington, DC, focused on the epidemic of obesity in the United States that...

Folate Fortification And Other Factors Have Reduced Neural Tube Defects In U.S.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized adding folic acid to grain products, there has been a 19% decrease in birth defects known as neural tube defects (NTDs) in newborns across the...

Significant Racial Differences In Life Expectancy.(for people with Down syndrome)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A U.S. government study has found a sharp racial divide in life expectancy for people with Down syndrome, with whites living twice as long as blacks. Whites with Down syndrome in the United...

Contamination From Natural Rubber Stoppers In Drug Bottles Can Induce Latex Reactions.
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Armed with evidence from a recent study of latex allergy skin reactions in patients, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions encourage the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and drug...

Working Group On Civilian Biodefense Warns Tularemia Could Be Threat.(rabbit fever)(Brief Article)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Working Group on Civilian Biodefense, an expert panel convened by the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, says that the...

Navajo Nation Telemammography Field Trial Funded.
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Funding from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is helping the U.S. Indian Health Service, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine provide Native...

Antibiotic-Resistant Streptococcus On The Rise.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Antibiotic resistance rates for Streptococcus pneumoniae infections have been on the rise over the past five years, increasing as much as 10% to 16% in the case of some commonly prescribed...

First Atlas Of Geographic And Racial, Ethnic Disparities In Heart Disease Death Rates For U.S. Men Released.(Review)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The greatest burden for heart disease exists among African-American men and among men residing in parts of the rural south, according to a new report, "Men and Heart Disease: An Atlas of Racial and...

Outbreak Of Calicivirus Infection Mistakenly Attributed to Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli O157:H7.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- On February 21-22, 2000, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) was notified by a university student health center of two suspected cases of Escherichia coli O157:H7. At a local hospital...

Virginia Sixth Graders Will Need Hepatitis Shots To Enroll In School.
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Virginia students entering sixth grade in the fall of 2001 must have a hepatitis B vaccination this summer or they won't be allowed in school. The requirement is part of a two-pronged attack on...

Pipe Filter Distribution Project In Sudan Prevents Ingestion Of Contaminated Water.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Carter Center, along with its partners, Health and Development International (HDI), Hydro Polymers of Norsk Hydro, and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), has begun to blanket Sudan with nine million...

AIDS Program For The Caribbean And Latin America Set For Expansion.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An AIDS program to help combat the epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean will be expanded through a joint effort of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Caribbean Epidemiology...

FDA Approves First OSHA-Compliant, All-In-One Delivery System.(Brief Article)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for Safety Tip-Lok(TM): prefilled Tip-Lok(R) syringes packaged with BD SafetyGlide(TM)...

Vaccine Coverage Summarized.
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An article in the June 15, 2001, edition of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Report summarizes the routine polio vaccination coverage, surveillance for...

Meningococcal Disease Spread By Infected Man On Airplane.
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A case of air-travel-associated meningococcal disease prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue guidelines for the management of persons potentially exposed to...

FDA Approves New Six-Month Heartworm Injection For Dogs.(ProHeart 6)(Brief Article)
July 8, 2001... 2001 JUL 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first long-term injectable drug to prevent heartworm in dogs. One injection provides six months of heartworm protection, the agency said...

Fewer Than Half of Americans Receive Some of the Most Valuable Health Care Services.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Fewer than half of all Americans receive some of the most valuable preventive health services available, according to a new study released June 22, 2001, by the nonprofit group Partnership for...

Numbers Of CD4(+) T Cells Increase In HIV Patients After Antiretroviral Therapy.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Georgetown University Medical Center researcher has found that a certain type of CD4(+) T-cell, a type which travels through the lymph nodes, increases in HIV patients after they receive...

FDA Corrects Erroneous Media Reports On Egg Safety Guidelines.(Food and Drug Administration )(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Go ahead and order those sunny-side up and over-easy eggs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says, just be forewarned that eating undercooked eggs can cause illness. Contrary to some...

Government Agencies Target Online Health Fraud.(Federal Trade Commission and Food and Drug Administration)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As part of an ongoing and comprehensive law enforcement and consumer education campaign begun in 1997, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a new round of enforcement actions...

Software Could Make Generic Drugs' Testing More Thorough.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have developed new software for the pharmaceutical industry that seamlessly and comprehensively graphs the dissolution curves of two drugs in order to plot how quickly the drugs are...

Education Program Reduces Antibiotic Use In Children.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medical experts have identified antibiotic resistance as an emerging threat to the public health. But a program that simultaneously educates parents and health care providers about appropriate...

Pediatricians Support Elimination Of Mercury-Containing Thermometers.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new technical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) addresses the hazards of mercury and the measures pediatricians can take to reduce children's exposure. One of the chief...

Pre-School Children In Micronesia Suffer From Vitamin A Deficiency.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vitamin A deficiency is a severe public health problem among pre-school children in Micronesia, according to a report in the June 22, 2001, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. A prevalence...

Mortality Declines In U.S. For Several Leading Causes Of Death In 1999.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Mortality for several leading causes of death declined in 1999, according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), released June 26, 2001. The...

Condoms Offer Protection For Women.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The use of condoms and changes in sexual behavior can reduce the transmission of genital herpes (herpes simplex virus 2 [HSV-2]), with women receiving greater protection from the virus with the use...

VerticalNews Launch Uses NewsRx Artificial Intelligence Technology.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NewsRx, the leading provider of life science databases and daily and weekly health news, has leveraged its technology platform to create a new media company, VerticalNews. VerticalNews'...

NIAID Collaboration Yields New Diagnostic Test.(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Immunetics develops Lyme Disease detection test)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new test developed with funding from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has been shown to be highly accurate and sensitive for detecting antibodies to Lyme...

Supplementary Vaccination Activities Show Limited Impact In Zambia.(control of measles)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In March 2001, the World Health Organization set a goal for reducing global measles deaths by 50% by 2005. Unfortunately, assessment of supplementary vaccination activities (SVAs) in Zambia...

Incorrect Vaccine Regimen Not Uncommon.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Pediatricians should do a double-take when it comes to vaccine regimens for their patients, caution endocrinologists. Incorrect timing of vaccine...

U.S. Study Assesses Effect Of Weight Loss.(impact on type 2 diabetics)(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Diabetes has become an epidemic in the United States, largely because of the dramatic increase in the number of Americans who are overweight or obese. Diabetes markedly increases the risk of dying...

Declaration Outlines Plan For Nations To Provide Treatment Of And Prevent Spread Of HIV.(Brief Article)
July 15, 2001... 2001 JUL 15 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Buoyed by the success of a historic three-day United Nations summit on AIDS, politicians, health experts, and activists now face the challenge of putting to action their battle plan to halt the...

Short-Course, High-Dose Antibiotic Therapy May Reduce Risk Of Carrying Drug-Resistant Strep.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Higher-dose antibiotic therapy administered over a short period appears to reduce the risk of carriage of drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae following treatment for respiratory tract...

CDC Reports U.S. ED Visits Have Increased, But Less So For Younger People.(Centers for Disease Control notes use of emergency departments has risen)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The latest national data on the use of hospital emergency departments in the U.S. show that there were 103 million visits in 1999, up 14% from 90 million visits in 1992. Because the number of...

Article Calls For OTC Status By FDA.(Journal Obstetrics and Gynecology article says emergency oral contraceptives should be over-the-counter product)(Brief Article)
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medical and legal commentators in the July 2001 issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology argue that under long-standing federal legislation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is...

Study Ranks Effectiveness Of Common Preventive Medicine.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Childhood vaccinations and anti-smoking counseling for adults are the most effective preventive medicine, says a new study that ranks medical services based on how many lives they save and how much...

Asian Tiger Mosquitoes Reach California.(disease carrying insects found in plants)(Brief Article)
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A type of mosquito known to carry disease in Asia has been introduced into Southern California, arriving in shipments of an increasingly popular plant called "lucky bamboo." There have been no...

FDA Plans To Make Allergen Inspections.(candy makers and bakeries)(Brief Article)
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to inspect thousands of candy makers, bakeries, and other processors over the next two years to make sure ingredients that cause common allergic...

Risks Mount In The United States.
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Concerns about vaccine safety, antibiotic use and resistance, and the importation of infectious diseases have recently intensified in the U.S., health officials said. The officials spoke June...

Health Officials Expect Another Flu Vaccine Delay.(influenza vaccine producers have manufacturing problems)(Brief Article)
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Flu vaccines are expected to arrive late for the upcoming season in the U.S., but the delay should not be as severe as last year's, federal health officials said. The U.S. Centers for Disease...

Study Relates Jogging And Strong Bones In Young Men.(Brief Article)
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Young men who jog regularly build strong bones and may be less likely to develop the brittle bone disease osteoporosis, a new study finds. Researchers report in the July 2001 issue of the...

Study To Examine Effects Of Long-Term Weight Loss.(Action for HEAlth in Diabetes)(Brief Article)
July 29, 2001... 2001 JUL 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A study to look at the effects of long-term weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes was announced at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association on June 25, 2001. Funded by the...