Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA articles from September 2001

Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA archives from September 2001

Fas Mutations Linked To Heightened Risk.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - People who carry mutations in the genes coding for the Fas receptor are more likely to develop a wide range of lymphomas, researchers report. "Fas...

Are We Letting Our Guard Down?(multidrug-resistant tuberculosis)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) remains a real threat both globally and in the U.S., particularly in areas heavily populated by immigrants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised. ...

Adolescents And Young Adults At High Risk For Deadly Infection.(meningococcal infection)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Adolescents and young adults have an unusually high risk of severe and sometimes fatal bacterial meningitis, according to a report in the August 8, 2001, issue of the Journal of the American Medical...

Recalls, Safety Alerts For Pacemakers, Implantable Defibrillators Are On The Rise.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Recalls and safety alerts involving pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) occur often and appear to be increasing, costing millions of dollars annually, according to an...

CDC: School Homicides Highest Just After Summer, Winter Breaks.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- School-related killings occur most often just after students return from long summer or winter breaks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "The start of each...

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy May Help Predict Effectiveness Of Medication.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers are using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to identify which patients may benefit most from specific cholesterol-lowering medications. NMR spectroscopy uses radio waves...

Expanding Access To Treatment Fastest Way To Reduce Infection In Homeless.(control of tuberculosis)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The single most effective way to reduce future cases of tuberculosis among the homeless is making standard treatment more available to them, according to 10-year projections based on a computer...

Patch Is Preferred Fix.(treating abdominal aortic aneurysms)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Thousands of Americans have a weak spot on the body's largest blood vessel that could burst and kill almost instantly. Their options: grueling abdominal surgery or new patches that doctors thread...

Cryoablation Technology In Surgery Receives FDA Clearance.(Endocare Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Endocare, Inc. (ENDO) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted it 510(k) clearance to market a cryoablation technology for surgical treatment of arrhythmias, including...

FDA Approves Diagnostic Kit.(Quanta Plex autoantibody kit)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- INOVA Diagnostics, Inc. and Luminex Corporation announced that INOVA's new QUANTA Plex(TM) ENA Profile 4, based on Luminex's open-platform LabMAP(TM) system, has recently received 510(k) approval...

Clarithromycin Extended-Release Tablet Receives FDA Approval.(Biaxin XL)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Abbott Laboratories announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a new seven-day indication for Biaxin(R) XL (clarithromycin extended-release tablets) for the...

FDA Approves New Treatment.(Natrecor vasodilator)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Natrecor(R) (nesiritide) Injection for the treatment of acute congestive heart failure (CHF). Natrecor is a synthetic version of a human...

Elderly Latino Diabetic Mortality Rate Higher Than Non-Hispanic Whites.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Initial results from a University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)-led study have found that the mortality rate of Hispanics ages 65-74 years with diabetes is more than twice the rate of...

CDC Reports Many Americans Discover Infection Status Late.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- More than 40% of HIV positive Americans don't know they are infected until just before developing full-blown AIDS, sometimes missing out on a decade or more of treatment, suggests a government study...

New Ultrasound Contrast Agent May Improve Heart Diagnosis.(Definity)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- DuPont Pharmaceuticals Company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its ultrasound contrast agent Definity(TM) (Vial for Perflutren Lipid Microsphere Injectable...

Spring-Based Retracting Needle Syringe Receives FDA Approval.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Med-Design Corporation (MEDC) congratulated BD (BDX) on receiving clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market a new safety-engineered, spring-based, retracting needle...

CDC Charged With Covering Up Important Info On Condoms.(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In one of his national daily broadcasts, Focus on the Family President Dr. James C. Dobson charged the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with covering up vital information on the...

NIH Report Shows That Condoms Do Not Provide Safe Sex.(United States. National Institutes of Health)(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Condoms, long the mainstay of the safe-sex public health model, do not protect against the spread of nearly all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), according to a benchmark report released by the...

National Minority AIDS Council To Government: Condom Report Is Dangerous.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) labeled as "misleading and dangerous" a report from the U.S. National Institutes of Health that suggests, in part, that condoms are not effective in the...

Illness Spreads In Cincinnati, Ohio.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An outbreak of an infectious disease is plaguing children and employees at daycare centers and public pools in Ohio and Kentucky. Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

Diet and Exercise Dramatically Delay Onset.
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- At least 10 million Americans at high risk for type 2 diabetes can sharply lower their chances of getting the disease with diet and exercise, according to the findings of a major clinical trial. ...

Five-Year, $6.9 Million Study Looks At Impact Of Urologic Disease On Americans.(Brief Article)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A University of California, Los Angeles, researcher is launching a first-of-its-kind study to document the impact of urologic diseases on the American public, an endeavor that may influence...

Assaulted Girls Are More Likely Than Boys To Have Preexisting Cognitive Or Psychosocial Impairments.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 9, 2001... 2001 SEP 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In the U.S., adolescent girls are more likely than adolescent boys to be assaulted at home, at a residence, or at school than in public, and are more likely than boys to be stabbed than shot, study...

Kenyan Study Could Help Other African Countries Improve HIV Blood-Transfusion Strategies.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A 1994 study that highlighted the problem of HIV-1 transmission from blood-transfusion programs in Kenya, and which resulted in positive government action, could help other African countries...

New Recommendations Aim To Reduce Possible Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Transmission Risk.(FDA attempts to ensure safety of blood supply, strict controls on who may donate)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft revised guidance to the blood industry intended to further reduce the risk of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)...

TB Test Required For Arthritis Patients Wishing To Take Remicade.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Rheumatoid arthritis patients must be tested for tuberculosis before they begin taking a treatment called Remicade, the drug maker and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced. Patients...

False-Positive Epstein-Barr Antibody Test Results Reported In Patients With Primary HIV Infection.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Physicians with high-risk patients who present with symptoms of acute Epstein-Barr virus infection (or infectious mononucleosis) should consider a diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)...

Incorrect Warfarin Data Reported By Hospital Lab Endangered Patients.(St. Agnes Medical Center, safety procedures recommended by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asked hospitals nationwide on August 25, 2001, to review their laboratory procedures after a deadly error at a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,...

Studies Highlight Need to Prevent Exposures During Pregnancy to Medications Known to Cause Birth Defects.(Accutane)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that despite prevention efforts some women who take Accutane(R) (Hoffman-LaRoche), a prescription medication given for severe acne...

CDC Issues Rabbit Fever Warning.(tularemia)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- U.S. health officials renewed their warnings about tularemia, a rare bacterial illness also called rabbit fever, that humans can contract from the carcasses of dead animals. Eleven people in...

Use Of Nonprescription Products Common Among Young Women.(survey of weight reduction products)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Seven percent of survey respondents, including nearly 30% of young obese women, report using nonprescription weight loss products, according to an article in the August 22/29, 2001, issue of the...

New Self-Reported Data Should Aid Disease Management.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A report in the August 17, 2001, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report provides the first estimates of self-reported asthma prevalence data for U.S. adults for all 50 states, the District of...

New York May Get Reprieve From Anticipated Major Blood Shortage.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New York may get a reprieve from a massive blood shortage. The government is considering banning blood imported from Europe that makes up almost a third of that city's supply, but says any such ban...

Intravenous Nesiritide Receives FDA Approval.(United States. Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scios, Inc., announced that it has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market Natrecor(R) (nesiritide) for the intravenous treatment of patients with acutely...

Venezuelan Epidemic Highlights Spread Of Disease Throughout Americas.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Venezuela thought it had beaten dengue fever after spending millions of dollars on fumigation and prevention. But it was wrong. A new and dangerous epidemic of the mosquito-borne illness has...

CDC Releases New Guidelines On Fluoride Use To Prevent Tooth Decay.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new recommendations for fluoride use in the current-day environment of widespread use of bottled waters and availability of a host...

Test May Help Predict Effectiveness Of Cholesterol-Lowering Medication.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Northwestern University Medical School, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and North Carolina State University are using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)...

Current Lines May Get FDA's Approval.(United States. Food and Drug Administration required safety testing)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The fact that colonies of human embryonic stem cells are grown with the help of mouse cells won't block their eventual use in people as long as scientists meet well-known federal safety rules,...

Botulism Outbreak Associated with Eating Fermented Food.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The risks for foodborne botulism in Alaska can be reduced by boiling fermented foods before eating, and by avoiding foods fermented by nontraditional methods, emphasizes a report in the August 17,...

Washing Hands After Contacting Pets Helps Prevent Salmonella Infection.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Although most cases of Salmonella infections that occur each year in the United States are transmitted through food, the bacteria can also be transmitted through exposure to contaminated water,...

First Case Of Cutaneous Anthrax Reported In The United States Since 1992.(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A case report of human cutaneous anthrax was reported in the August 17, 2001, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. In the United States, the annual incidence of human anthrax declined from...

Religious Exemptions For Vaccinations On The Rise In Oregon.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Doctors and public health officials are beginning to worry about the growing number of parents who are denying vaccinations for their school-age children because of religious reasons. ...

Workplace Homicides More Likely At Smaller Businesses Open Late, Saturdays.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Smaller businesses, businesses that opened at their current locations within the past two years, and businesses having only one worker on duty evenings and weekends are more likely than other...

Outbreak Emphasizes Benefits Of Vaccination In Long-Term Care Facilities.(pneumococcal vaccine)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Providing pneumococcal vaccines to long-term care facility residents is important in the prevention of pneumococcal illness. Outbreaks of pneumococcal pneumonia and bacteremia, resulting in...

Doctors Miss Chance To Advise Women To Take Folic Acid, Survey Finds.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Doctors and other health care professionals are losing a key birth defects prevention opportunity by failing to tell their female patients to take a multivitamin every day, according to a new U.S....

Combination Therapy Receives FDA Approval.(Schering-Plough Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Schering-Plough Corporation announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Peg-Intron (peginterferon alfa-2b) Powder for Injection for use in combination therapy with...

FDA Clears New Sling System As Treatment Option In Women.(United States. Food and Drug Administration)(urinary incontinence)(Brief Article)
September 16, 2001... 2001 SEP 16 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- American Medical Systems (AMS) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the AMS SPARC Sling System for commercial marketing in the United States. The system is designed to...

Number Of Cases Are Increasing In Singapore.(dengue fever and other communicable diseases around the world)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cases of the sometimes fatal mosquito-borne disease dengue fever have surged in Singapore, the Environment Ministry said. A total of 953 new dengue cases were reported in the three months from...

Seizures Seen With DTP, MMR Do Not Increase Neurodevelopmental Risks.
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer - Children who receive the diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and whole-cell pertussis (DTP) and measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccines are at a significantly...

Drug Combination For Latent TB Infection Proves Deadly.(Brief Article)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has investigated reports of 21 patients who were hospitalized because of severe liver injury associated with a two-month treatment regimen of...

CDC Investigates Possible Outbreak In Texas.(Centers for Disease Control)(Brief Article)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Six members of a Sanger family believed to be suffering from botulism ate hot dogs and chili at a Denton, Texas, church supper that investigators believe is the source of the illness. The six ate...

U.S. Health Official Warns Of Explosive Increase Of AIDS In China.
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- China's AIDS epidemic, until now largely confined to drug users and others at high risk, could spread rapidly in the general population without swift and effective measures, a U.S. health official...

WHO Reports Progress In Eradication In South-East Asia.(World health Organization; poliomyletis)(Statistical Data Included)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Since the World Health Assembly resolved in 1988 to eradicate poliomyelitis globally, the estimated number of polio cases worldwide has declined 99%. During 1994, member countries of the South-East...

Number Of Cases Are Increasing In Singapore.(dengue fever)(Brief Article)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cases of the sometimes fatal mosquito-borne disease dengue fever have surged in Singapore, the Environment Ministry said. A total of 953 new dengue cases were reported in the three months from...

Prisons Grapple With Boom In Cases.(Hepatitus C)(Brief Article)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- When Charles White was sentenced to prison in Oregon for robbery five years ago, he knew nothing about hepatitis C. It was only after his release in December that he found out he was infected with the...

Outbreak Is Reported In Stavanger, Norway.(legionellosis)(Brief Article)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The first ever reported outbreak of legionellosis in Norway has been detected in the city of Stavanger, on the west coast, which has a population of 100 000. As of 29 August, 14 cases had been...

Community Water Fluoridation Is Safe And Effective.(Brief Article)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The following is a statement made by the American Dental Association (ADA) president, Dr. Robert Anderton, on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fluoride recommendations: ...

Prolonged Outbreak Of Rare Serotype Reported In Denmark.(Salmonella)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In Denmark, an unusually large number of patients have become infected with the otherwise rare Salmonella enterica serotype Bovis-morbificans. The Danish authorities first noted a rise in the...

Families Of Autistic Children Sue Vaccine Manufacturers.(Brief Article)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Two Massachusetts families are suing several vaccine makers, claiming the companies' use of a controversial preservative caused their children's autism. In the lawsuit filed in Middlesex Superior...

France Sets Up Nationwide Surveillance Program.(West Nile Virus)(Brief Article)
September 23, 2001... 2001 SEP 23 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- After the epizootic that occurred in the south of France (Petite Camargue area) last year, a seasonal West Nile (WN) virus surveillance system was set up in June 2001 to include human, equine, avian,...