Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
U.S. Signs Canadian Firm to Develop Plague Vaccine
The U.S. National Institutes of Health, concerned over the possibility of a bioterrorism attack, has enlisted a Canadian firm to develop a vaccine against the plague.
The plague wiped out one-third of the population of Europe in the 14th century, and the NIH wants a vaccine in the event that terrorists may have the highly infectious germ, Agence France-Presse reports.
The NIH has awarded an $8 million grant to Vancouver-based ID Biomedical Corp. to find a vaccine that can be delivered using the company's Proteosome nasal spray to deliver the drug.
The NIH is concerned that bioterrorists will release the plague in the US. The problem with bio-terrorist agents: they're killers. Once you get them, virtually nothing can be done to save your life," company president Anthony Holler told AFP. "The economic impact of these things are so great to a society, that you should have a preventive treatment if there is a risk of that happening." Plague can be treated with antibiotics if symptoms show within 24 hours, but most people don't identify the early symptoms.
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City Sues to Compel HIV Treatment for Prostitute
The city of Amarillo, Tex., is trying to compel an HIV-infected prostitute to get treatment for the virus because she has spread it to at least one other person through her activities.
The lawsuit, which would pit civil liberties against public safety, is believed to be the first of its kind, at least in Texas, reports the Amarillo Globe-News.
"The Public Health Department assists many people with AIDS, and this single case is the very rare exception where a person who is HIV contagious is noncompliant with the health authority," City Attorney Marcus Norris told the Globe-News. "We believe that by her conduct, she poses a health threat to the community, and so we're going to have to try to get the court to intervene and help."
The woman, identified in court papers only as T.T., contracted the virus in 2000, and did not disclose her status to the patient she infected, the newspaper reported. She has refused to seek treatment.
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Violence Begets Disease in Iraq
An outbreak of hepatitis E, a virulent form of the liver-damaging virus that is particularly harmful to pregnant women, is striking poor areas of Iraq, and officials are blaming violence that has damaged water and sewage systems.
The New York Times reports that 150 cases have been counted so far in Sadr City, a slum in northwest Baghdad, and another 60 in the poverty- and violence-marred town of Mahmudiya, which is 35 miles south of the Iraqi capital. However, the equipment to test for the disease is crude, and officials fear that the count could be much higher. Officially, five deaths have been reported.
Officials told the Times that the water supplies in those areas have deteriorated since the U.S. invasion. Attempts to rebuild those systems have been beaten back because both areas have been hotspots of violence, and engineers fear to venture out because they fear for their safety.
Residents of the areas have made crude taps into the main water lines, but the virus can seep into the water supply because of the failed sewage systems, the paper reported.
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U.S. Health Funds for Children Go Unspent
During the Republican National Convention, President Bush promised a $1 billion initiative to enroll millions of children in two health programs. But the Washington Post reports that the administration's actions don't square with its words because it intends to return $1.1 billion in unspent funds back to the U.S. Treasury.
The loss of that federal money means that six states taking part in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) face budget shortfalls next year, or enough money to provide health coverage for 750,000 uninsured youngsters nationwide, according to the Post account.
The move prompted child advocacy groups to criticize the president.
If the Bush administration really cared about covering uninsured children, one of the things it could do immediately is make sure this $1 billion is used for SCHIP," Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, told the newspaper. "The irony is this president talks constantly about not leaving any child behind and how he is going to cover so many kids. In truth, that ended up being false. He's just moving money around."
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Vitamin E Can Rebuild Hearing
Vitamin E can help restore hearing in people who suddenly go deaf for unexplained reasons, a small new study suggests.
The BBC reports that researchers in Israel gave the antioxidant to half of a small group of 66 patients who lost their hearing in the previous eight days. Those on vitamin E fared the best.
These patients showed an improvement in their hearing of 75 percent or better by the time they were discharged from the hospital, and had even better improvement at later follow-up, according to the BBC account.
In as many as 15 percent of cases of what is called idiopathic sensorineural hearing hearing loss, no obvious cause can be cited. Some scientists say they've found evidence of oxygen damage in the inner ear of animals exposed to noise, or to drugs known to harm hearing, according to the news service. |
