Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA articles from October 2002

Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA archives from October 2002

Human blood clotting factor achieves sustained levels in rhesus macaques.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Humans with hemophilia B could some day be treated with gene therapies targeting the liver. Patients with hemophilia B do not produce enough human factor IX...

U.S. Customs Service and FDA uncover dumping scheme involving contaminated honey.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Customs Service and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that they have discovered bulk imports of Chinese honey that were contaminated with low levels of chloramphenicol (CAP),...

Study finds dramatic decline in physical activity among African American and white girls.(U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute )(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Both African American and white girls experience a dramatic decline in physical activity during adolescence, with the greatest decline occurring in black girls, according to a study supported by the...

Youth tobacco use and exposure is a global problem.(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention )(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new report reveals that 14% of 13- to 15-year-old students around the world currently smoke cigarettes. In addition, the report found that nearly 25% of students who smoke tried their first cigarette...

CDC continues to investigate transmission through organ transplant.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Georgia State Department of Health, the Florida Department of Health, and the Health Resources and...

EluSys gets grant for anthrax drug.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A biotech startup company has won a $2.8 million U.S. government grant to help refine technology to destroy toxins that anthrax bacteria release in the bloodstream. The grant is the government's...

More than 70% of adults with cancer use alternative therapies.
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 70% of adult cancer patients in western Washington use alternative therapies and almost all report substantial improvements in well-being as a result of using alternative medicine, according...

Group says some states lacking disease-tracking system.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Most states don't adequately track chronic diseases such as a cluster of leukemia cases in a northern Nevada town, a public interest advocacy group report says. The U.S. Public Interest Research...

Test kits recalled by Abbott.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that Abbott Laboratories, Inc., has initiated a worldwide recall of 32 laboratory kits used to diagnose gonorrhea. The kits have been shown to...

SAMHSA: Early marijuana use linked to adult dependence.(United States. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new federal report concludes the younger children are when they first use marijuana, the more likely they are to use cocaine and heroin and become dependent on drugs as adults. The report,...

Multiantigen vaccine effective against malaria in rhesus macaques.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Rhesus macaques were protected against a lethal Plasmodium knowlesi infection by immunization with a vaccine composed of cytokines and DNA plasmids...

Preventive strategies can lower Arizona's high child death rate.
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Prevention strategies could reduce the percentage of child deaths in Arizona by more than a third, study data show. M.E. Rimsza and colleagues, Arizona State University, writing in the journal...

CDC claims to be better prepared for terror.(United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it is better prepared to handle the threat of terrorism following the September 11 attacks. CDC director Julie Gerberding said...

Vaccinia hyperimmune globulin contract awarded.(Brief Article)
October 6, 2002... 2002 OCT 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cangene announces that it has been awarded a contract by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop and supply a vaccinia immune globulin (VIg) for use in treating and...

Blood transfusions unlikely to transmit West Nile virus.
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Contracting the much-publicized West Nile virus through blood transfusion is extremely unlikely, researchers in the United States find. "Human West Nile...

HHS and CDC continue to aggressively prepare nation for another terrorist attack.(Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- One year after the World Trade Center and anthrax attacks, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to aggressively work with...

FDA proposes new industry draft guidance for evaluating safety of antimicrobial new animal drugs.(Food and Drug Administration)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the availability of a draft guidance document entitled "Guidance for Industry: Evaluating the Safety of Antimicrobial New Animal Drugs with...

HHS issues report showing dramatic improvements in Americans' health over past 50 years.(Department of Health and Human Services)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has issued a new report showing how Americans' health has changed dramatically for the better over the past 50 years, with...

FDA to consolidate review responsibilities for new pharmaceutical products.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dr. Lester M. Crawford, deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has announced the consolidation of FDA's responsibility for reviewing new pharmaceutical products into its...

CDC continues to track disease in United States.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to work with state and local health departments to help control West Nile virus (WNV). At press time 1438 cases of West Nile...

Feds issue new cleanup rules.(anthrax decontamination work)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Workers at buildings contaminated with anthrax should receive a vaccine, not just antibiotics, to protect them from the deadly agent, the U.S. government has announced. Federal health officials...

Study finds outbreak of Cipro web sites followed mail attacks.(Anthrax threat)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Web sites selling the prescription-only medication ciprofloxacin (also known by its brand name Cipro) sprang up quickly following an anthrax outbreak in October 2001, according to a new study by...

Insel named new director of National Institute of Mental Health.(Thomas R. Insel)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Elias Zerhouni, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced the appointment of Thomas R. Insel, MD, as director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Insel,...

Vaccination now required for elementary, secondary school enrollment.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New Mexico and Mississippi join 38 states (plus the District of Columbia) that now require the chickenpox vaccine for day care, public school, or both. In addition, several states now have similar...

Former insider lashes out at FDA's links with pharmaceutical industry.(Dr. Paul Stolley)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A former senior consultant with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has criticized the American regulator's close relationship with the pharmaceutical industry. Interviewed in the British...

CDC to open office in Guyana to help fight HIV/AIDS.(Centers for Disease Control)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were scheduled to open an office in Georgetown, Guyana, in September 2002 to help local health officials combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in the...

Cowboy enterprise: Bioterror lab considered national model.(Wyoming Department of Health)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Chronic disease management was once the chief concern of the Wyoming Department of Health - until anthrax-laced letters caused fear across the nation last fall. Then anthrax, smallpox and...

UMass researcher studies head lice using artificial 'scalp'.(resistance to insecticidal shampoo)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Head lice, which crop up on the heads of 6-12 million people in the U.S. every year, are becoming increasingly resistant to the special shampoos used to treat them, says University of Massachusetts...

Psychological and emotional effects of attacks on U.S. remain unaddressed.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Many residents of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, who experienced emotional or psychological problems after the September 11 terrorist attacks did not receive assistance. One month after the...

Botox maker refuses FDA demand to withdraw ads.(Allergan Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The maker of Botox, the wrinkle-smoothing botulism toxin, is refusing a demand by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to pull ads the agency said are misleading. Allergan, Inc. reacted angrily to...

Five kidney dialysis deaths prompt Baxter/FDA action.(product recall)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that Baxter Healthcare Corp. has notified dialysis centers that certain blood tubing used with Baxter's Meridian dialysis machines may possibly...

Hispanic women on border face higher HIV risk.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hispanic women living along the border between the United States and Mexico have an increased risk for HIV infection by their husbands or boyfriends, according to a University of Arizona professor and...

Arizona study shows many youth engage in unprotected sex.(Brief Article)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- About 91% of teens in drug treatment programs have had sexual intercourse and used condoms only half the time, according to a new study. A University of Arizona researcher revealed the findings...

Delivery schedule established with CDC for vaccinia hyperimmune globulin.(Centers for Disease Control)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Further to the announcement of a 5-year supply and development agreement with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cangene announces that it has established a preliminary...

Some vaccines recommended.(smallpox immunization due to threat of bioterrorism)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials are recommending that smallpox vaccinations be given to about 250,000-500,000 people, including hospital and emergency workers most likely...

FDA adoption drives demand for commercial electronic document systems.(Food and Drug Administration technology)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The combination of XML format for eCTD and the accompanying expectations of a faster review process by FDA, European Union's EMEA, and the Japanese Ministry of Health will be the prime drivers of...

NHF calls for reauthorization of blood safety advisory group at HHS.(National Hemophilia Federation, Department of Health and Human Services)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In a letter addressed to Eve Slater, MD, FACC, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Hemophilia Federation (NHF) President Glenn Pierce, MD, PhD,...

CDC confirms West Nile transmitted through donated organs.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
October 13, 2002... 2002 OCT 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Having confirmed that West Nile virus can be spread through organ transplants, U.S. health officials have found new evidence that it may be transmitted through blood transfusions as well. The U.S....

FDA, FSIS issue health advisory.(Food and Drug Administration)(Food Safety Inspection Service)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) are advising the public of a recent increase in cases of Listeria monocytogenes in Pennsylvania and monitoring...

HHS efforts to reduce birth defects successful.(United States. Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The incidence of spina bifida has decreased by 32% in the United States over the past decade. The decrease indicates the success of the Public Health Service's recommendations released in 1992...

50,000 sisters of women with breast cancer recruited for U.S. study.
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- At the September 2002 Tampa Bay-area Race for the Cure, medical researchers began recruiting women for a unique effort to determine the causes of breast cancer - the "Sister Study." Researchers hope...

FDA approves new treatment.(Hepsera treats chronic Hepatitis B)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval September 20, 2002, of Hepsera (adefovir dipivoxil) tablets for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (HBV) in adults with evidence of...

50,000 current and former smokers needed for national lung screening trial.
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) has launched a new study to determine if screening people with either spiral computerized tomography (CT) or chest x-ray before they have symptoms can reduce...

New strain hits Africa.(meningitis epidemic strain W135)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The emergence of a newly epidemic strain of meningitis in West Africa earlier this year has given renewed urgency to the search for a more effective and affordable vaccine. The World Health...

FDA issues acetaminophen warning.(Food and Drug Administration)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Marcus Trunk took a prescription painkiller containing acetaminophen for 10 days, and then over-the-counter acetaminophen for another week to numb the pain of an injured wrist. Suddenly nausea and...

VA buys automated external defibrillators.(Veterans Affairs)(Brief Article)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cardiac Science, Inc., (DFIB) a leading developer and manufacturer of life-saving, automated public access defibrillators (AEDs), announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has again...

Vaccine shortage prompts states to curtail immunizations.(childhood vaccination programs)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Congressional auditors have found that more than half of America's immunization programs are rationing one or more childhood vaccines because of shortages, but government officials say supplies are...

203,600 pounds of beef recalled.(E. coli contamination)(Brief Article)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Pennsylvania beef-packing company owned by Smithfield Foods recalled 203,600 pounds of ground beef after some of its meat tested positive for Escherichia coli bacteria. Moyer Packing, based in...

Hospital charges are rising while length of hospital stays is falling.(treating cardiac patients)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The average hospital charge for treating a patient admitted for a heart attack increased by roughly one-third from 1993 to 2000, according to trend data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and...

Dimension Data launches Health Alert Network to help combat bioterrorism.
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Increased risk for potential major bioterrorist activities has raised an immediate need for comprehensive systems to share information quickly and securely. Dimension Data Holdings, plc, (DDT), a...

Patients falling through cracks more often than not, report says.(mental health system)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. mental health system is in crisis, unable to provide even the most basic services and supports to people with psychiatric disabilities, according to a federal report released September 16,...

Early detection can prevent fractures.
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended that women age 65 and older be routinely screened for osteoporosis to reduce the risk of fracture and spinal abnormalities often associated with...

CDC welcomes rise in bioterrorism scares.(United States. Centers for Disease Control)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An increase in the number of false alarms reporting possible anthrax or smallpox over the past year shows local health departments are on guard for bioterrorism, the director of the U.S. Centers for...

More planning needed in case of bioterror attacks, experts say.
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the past year, bioterrorism has received headlines, dollars and the interest of public officials - all rare before the first anthrax-tainted letters were mailed 1 year ago. But while the U.S. is...

Life expectancy rose in the Americas, PAHO report shows.(Pan American Health Organization)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Life expectancy at birth rose by 6 years throughout the Americas between the early 1980s and the late 1990s, mostly because a reduced risk of dying from communicable and cardiovascular diseases,...

Bush vaccine plan begins with health workers, moves to general public.(George W. Bush)
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Smallpox vaccine would be offered first to hospital emergency workers and slowly extended to other doctors, nurses, police and, eventually, the general public, under a Bush administration plan in the...

Advertisements called misleading.
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Weight-loss advertising is riddled with false or misleading claims that prey on millions of overweight people seeking help to shed pounds, the Federal Trade Commission reported September 17, 2002. ...

Acute paralysis seen in infected patients.
October 20, 2002... 2002 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. health officials are warning doctors that the West Nile virus can cause acute paralysis after the mosquito-borne virus apparently caused six people to become paralyzed. The U.S. Centers for...

Novel assay detects seroconversion in all host species.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States have developed a novel assay that could aid field studies of the Ebola virus. "The natural host for Ebola virus, presumed...

Decline in sexual risk behaviors seen among high school students from 1991-2001.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The percentage of U.S. high school students who ever had sexual intercourse fell from 54.1% to 45.6% between 1991 and 2001, according to a new analysis of data trends by the U.S. Centers for Disease...

Pan American conference opens with summons to strengthen struggle against AIDS.(26th annual conference )
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The 26th Pan American Sanitary Conference, which brings together all Ministers of Health of the Americas, opened September 23, 2002, at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)...

NHLBI launches national women's heart health awareness campaign.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cardiovascular experts and leading women's health advocates joined the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health in September 2002 for the unveiling of The...

Prompt detection of influenza with rapid tests helps control disease spread, severity.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Lynn Yoffee, senior medical writer - Patients are often confused by symptoms of influenza compared with the common cold. In many cases their illness proceeds to severity before seeking medical...

Reducing obesity must begin in very young children.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Being obese at the age of 5 years is the strongest predictor of obesity at age 10, with weaker predictors being reduced fasting insulin and elevated...

Police didn't follow procedures in anthrax scare.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Oregon State Police didn't follow proper procedure when they entered the state Capitol to investigate reports of an envelope containing a suspicious white powder, officials say. The envelope,...

Immediate immunity offers specific defense against pathogenic agents.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Some scientists are suggesting that specific antibody reagents should be kept on hand to provide immediate immunity in the event of bioterrorism. A. Casadevall, Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein...

Scientists test blood sterilization.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Several hundred transfusion recipients around the country - adults undergoing heart surgery and children with certain inherited anemias - are being enrolled in a bold experiment: They'll receive...

Scientists find clue to carcinogen.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have found a clue to the chemical reaction that may cause potato chips, french fries and other fried or baked starchy foods to build up high levels of a possible cancer-causing substance....

Prices lowered for HIV/AIDS, antimalarial medicines.(GlaxoSmithKline AB)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that it has further reduced the not-for-profit preferential prices of its HIV/AIDS medicines by up to 33% and its antimalarial medicines by up to 38%. The price...

CDC recommends universal childhood immunization against influenza.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Lynn Yoffee, senior medical writer - Although every flu season is unique, it's estimated that 10-20% of U.S. residents get the flu, and an average of 114,000 people are hospitalized for flu-related...

World Health Organization urges stepped-up fight against flu.(advocating international flu vaccines)(Brief Article)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aiming to combat the constantly changing forms of the influenza virus, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the formula for the 2003 southern hemisphere flu vaccine. ...

TRW wins $511 million CDC contract.(TRW Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has selected TRW, Inc., (TRW) for a $511 million, 7-year contract to develop and support information systems that aid CDC public health...

Schools, hospitals training next generation of doctors in post-September 11.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A year after America's first case of anthrax bioterrorism, schools and hospitals are making sure the next generation of health professionals has the tools to respond to biological, chemical or nuclear...

250 millionth dose of Mectizan administered.(Brief Article)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 1 thousand Tanzanian citizens and international government and public-health leaders, including representatives of Helen Keller Worldwide, are joining Merck & Co. for the administration of...

Experts discuss future of homeland security.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An expert panel assembled by the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security (CHHS) announced recommendations in the nation's war on terrorism and commented on the country's...

Experts: Success will depend on local response.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vigilance, preparation and a rapid response will be essential to control the effects of biological or chemical weapons attacks, military and public health officials said Friday. U.S. Surgeon...

National guidelines help state's bioterror plan.(Brief Article)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New national smallpox vaccination guidelines brought Arizona a step closer to completing plans against a smallpox epidemic, its bioterrorism coordinator says. But local officials still have a long...

Public health officials assess U.S. readiness for a bioterrorist attack.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Lynn Yoffee, senior medical writer - Although the U.S. public health infrastructure has been under supported for decades, the year post-September 11 has seen a multitude of rapid changes. But...

U.S. has enough vaccine.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- By diluting long-stored doses, the United States now has more than enough smallpox vaccine to protect everyone in case of a bioterrorist attack, a top health official said September 29, 2002. ...

Vaccine to go to public.
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Moving aggressively to steel the nation against bioterrorism, the Bush administration is preparing to offer the effective but risky smallpox vaccine to every American before an attack ever occurs. ...

Investigational antibiotic found to be rapidly bactericidal against VRSA superbug.(vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Lynn Yoffee, senior medical writer - A late-breaker presentation on the positive effects of a new type of antibiotic on the recently discovered superbug strain known as vancomycin-resistant...

U.S. supplied bioterror stock to Iraq, records indicate.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Iraq's bioweapons program that President Bush wants to eradicate got its start with help from Uncle Sam 2 decades ago, according to government records getting new scrutiny in light of the discussion of...

House OKs mosquito-control programs.(Brief Article)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Hoping to ease the spread of West Nile virus across the U.S., the House passed a bill October 1, 2002, that would authorize $100 million in grants for communities to develop mosquito-control programs....

Signs of virus found in breast milk.(West Nile Virus)
October 27, 2002... 2002 OCT 27 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists have found genetic signs of West Nile virus in the breast milk of a new mother battling the infection, the latest surprise as the virus continues to spread throughout the United States. ...