dmcanzi@watserv1.waterloo.edu (David Canzi) (03/08/91)
Medical News for Week Feb. 18, 1991 to Feb. 28, 1991
Copyright 1990: USA TODAY/Gannett National Information Network
Reproduced with Permission
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Feb. 19, 1991
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RISK OF HIV-1 EVALUATED:
The results of a 6-year study indicated that the risk of human
immunodeficiency virus type 1 transmission among health care workers appears
to depend on the kind of exposure. The risk of HIV-1 transmission with skin
exposure to blood from an infected patient is approximately 0.3 percent per
exposure. The risk associated with mucous membrane cutaneous exposures is
smaller.
PUBLIC HOSPITALS OVERWHELMED:
The nation's urban public hospitals are crumbling under the strain of
treating AIDS, drug addictions, gunshot wounds and uninsured patients,
according to a survey by the National Association of Public Hospitals. Public
hospitals lost an average of $40 million to care that was not reimbursed by
private insurance, Medicaid or Medicare.
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Feb. 20, 1991
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HEARING FOCUSES ON INFECTIONS:
The debate over what more should be done to protect patients from disease
will reach its peak Thursday and Friday in Atlanta at a hearing called by the
federal Centers for Disease Control. A decision - about how to improve
infection control and whether to require regular HIV antibody testing for all
health-care workers who risk blood-to-blood contact with patients will come in
weeks.
HBV POSES INFECTIOUS THREAT:
The debate over how to prevent HIV infection in the operating room and
dental office has focused new attention on another, more widespread infectious
threat, the hepatitis B virus. HBV infection spreads in all of the same ways
HIV does - sex, needle-sharing and other blood-to-blood contact. It leads to
chronic liver disease and causes several hundred deaths in the USA each year.
CDC RELEASES RISK FACTOR:
According to CDC, the risks of: hepatitis B infection from an infected
surgeon - 2,400 in 1 million; death from anesthesia - 100 in 1 million; HIV
infection from a transfusion - 7 to 25 in 1 million; death from penicillin -
10 to 20 in 1 million; and HIV infection from an infected surgeon - 2.4 to 24
in 1 million.
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Feb. 21, 1991
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DRUG ENHANCES IMMUNE RESPONSE:
A new drug that enhances immune responses in one rare disease shows promise
for more widespread use, researchers say. Injections of gamma interferon, a
protein produced naturally in the body, reduce infections in children with a
type of inherited immune deficiency, says a report in Thursday's New England
Journal of Medicine. (For more, see special Disease package below.)
SPECIAL PACKAGE ON DISEASE:
DRUG HELPS INFECTIONS:
Gamma interferon so far has not helped AIDS patients, but may yet prove
useful in preventing or treating some of their infections, says Dr. R. Alan B.
Ezekowitz of Harvard Medical School. "We know it clearly works in one disease
but we are optimistic it will be useful in other diseases," says Dr. John I.
Gallin, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
GENENTECH SEEKS FDA APPROVAL:
New research has prompted the FDA to approve sales of the drug made by
Genentech Inc., San Francisco. The study included 128 children with chronic
granulomatous disease, a disorder in which immune system scavenger cells do
not produce chemicals needed to kill most fungi and bacteria. Patients have
frequent, sometimes life-threatening infections, and suffer from tumor-like
growths.
DRUG AFFECTS CHILDREN MORE:
Gamma interferon is thought to improve production of the crucial microbe-
killing chemicals and boost immunity in other ways. Those who took the drug
had 70 percent fewer infections and spent less time hospitalized than those
who took placebos. Results were most dramatic for children under age 10: 81
percent who took the drug had no severe infections for a year. (End of
package.)
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Feb. 22-24, 1991
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AIDS INFECTIONS OVERESTIMATED:
Contracting the AIDS virus from an infected dentist is much less likely
than federal health officials have estimated, the American Dental Association
says. At worst, dentists may have infected seven patients in the past decade,
says an ADA estimate presented Thursday at a meeting called by the federal
Centers for Disease Control. (For more, see special AIDS package below.)
SPECIAL PACKAGE ON AIDS:
ADA REBUTS ESTIMATES:
The ADA rebuttal of AIDS infection estimates was among dozens of darts
thrown at a CDC draft report that estimated health professionals have infected
up to 100 dental patients and 28 surgical patients. The dental estimate was
too high, says the ADA's Enid Neidle, because officials wrongly assumed all
dental work poses some risk of blood-to-blood contact.
CDC ENCOURAGED NOT TO OVERREACT:
Before CDC's meeting ends Friday, CDC officials will have heard from more
than 100 health policy experts, dentists, physicians and activists - virtually
all of whom are urging the agency not to overreact to a small risk by forcing
all dentists and surgeons to take HIV tests and give up their work if they
test positive.
CDC GUESSES:
CDC officials concede their estimates are based largely on educated
guesswork. Current guidelines focus on measures such as use of gloves and
masks and proper disposal of needles. Proposed changes could come next month.
(End of package.)
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Feb. 26, 1991
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INTERFERON GETS FDA APPROVAL:
The Food and Drug Administration Monday approved the first treatment proven
to be effective for a common form of viral hepatitis. The genetically
engineered drug, interferon alpha, will be used for non-A and non-B hepatitis,
which affects 150,000 people a year. Interferon-A already is approved for
treating hairy cell leukemia, AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma and genital warts.
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Volume 4, Number 4 March 3, 1991
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Editor: David Dodell, D.M.D.
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
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--
David Canzi