Another author, Dr. Rachel Gorwitz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "I think no one was aware of the extent of the problem."

Skin infections can be life-threatening if bacteria get into the bloodstream. Drug-resistant strains can also cause a vicious type of pneumonia and even "flesh-eating" wounds.

The CDC paid for the study, published in Thursday's
New England Journal of Medicine. Several authors have consulted for companies that make antibiotics.

Researchers analyzed all skin infections among adults who went to hospital emergency rooms in 11 U.S. cities in August 2004. Of the 422 cases, 249, or 59 percent, were caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. Such bacteria are impervious to the penicillin family of drugs long used for treatment.

The proportion of infections due to MRSA ranged from 15 percent to as high as 74 percent in some hospitals.

"This completely matches what our experience at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital has been," said Dr. Buddy Creech, an infectious-disease specialist whose hospital was not included in the study. "Usually what we see is a mom or dad brings their child in with what they describe as a spider bite that's not getting better or a pimple that's not getting better," and it turns out to be MRSA.

The germ typically thrives in health-care settings where people have open wounds and tubes. But in recent years, outbreaks have occurred among prisoners, children and athletes, with the germ spreading through skin contact or shared items such as towels. Dozens of people in Ohio, Kentucky and Vermont recently got MRSA skin infections from tattoos.

The good news: MRSA infections contracted outside a hospital are easier to treat. The study found that several antibiotics work against them, including some sulfa drugs that have been around for decades. A separate study in the journal reports the effectiveness of Cubicin, an antibiotic recently approved to treat bloodstream infections and heart inflammation caused by MRSA.

However, doctors need to test skin infections to see what germ is causing them, and to treat each one as if it were MRSA until test results prove otherwise, researchers said.

"We have made a fundamental shift in pediatrics in our area" and now assume that every such case is the drug-resistant type, Creech said.

And, doctors need to lance the wound to get rid of bacteria rather than relying on a drug to do the job.

"The most important treatment is actually draining the pus," Gorwitz said. Many times that is a cure all by itself, she said.

The study was done in Albuquerque, N.M.; Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; Minneapolis; New Orleans; New York; Philadelphia; Phoenix; and Portland, Ore.

"What in the heck is going on in people that successfully control this virus?" Walker asked a news conference held at the 16th International Conference on AIDS.

"If we can figure out how people are doing that, we can try to replicate it."

So far Walker and colleagues have not been able to find out why certain people can live for 15 years and longer with the virus and never get ill. The AIDS virus usually kills patients within two years if they are not treated.

Some even appear to have weak immune responses, he noted. "Is it just that these people got infected with a wimpy virus? The answer to that is no," Walker said.

"Some of the people know who infected them," he added, and in those cases, the person who infected the "elite" patients always went on to become ill.

A few years into the AIDS epidemic, researchers identified people who were called "long-term non-progressors." These were patients infected with HIV who did not become ill.

Many have become ill as the years have gone by, and required treatment.

Walker said a few of the long-term non-progressors were now classified as "elite" patients. But the difference is that the "elite" status is clearly defined by how much virus they have circulating in their blood.

Loreen Willenberg, of Diamond Springs, California, is a newly designated "elite." Now 52 and healthy, she said she became infected in 1992.

BAD DREAM

"I dreamed that I was HIV positive," Willenberg told the news conference.

"I was really going through a very bad flu." She sought testing, and after getting an inconclusive result was later declared HIV positive.

HIV patients are not immediately put onto drugs that can keep them healthy, but wait until the virus reaches a certain level in the blood or until the virus kills a certain number of immune system cells called CD4 T-cells.

Willenberg, a landscape designer, never got to that point.

"I am in perfect health. I think I have had maybe only one cold in the past 14 years," she said.

Walker has tracked down 200 elite patients and has now joined up with other prominent AIDS researchers to find at least 1,000 "elites" in North America and as many as possible globally.

Based on research done so far, Walker estimates there are 2,000 of them in the United States.

His team wants to take blood and DNA samples to see what might be different about them. Confidentiality is promised.

The recently published map of the human genome will make this possible.

They will compare key genetic sequences of the "elite" patients to genetic readouts from healthy people and from other HIV patients. Maybe a few genetic variations can explain what is happening, Walker hopes.

"Every single dollar wasted puts a life at risk."

He called for balanced spending on prevention and treatment. In particular, he said it is necessary to get more people tested.

"Ninety per cent of those infected don't know their status," Mr. Clinton said, and that prevents them from getting prompt treatment, even where drugs are available.

Mr. Clinton did not hesitate to wade into some controversial areas, notably a call for public health officials to act on evidence that circumcision can sharply reduce the risks of transmission of HIV-AIDS. "If this saves lives, we have to get after it," he said, regardless of how uncomfortable the issue might make men.

He also criticized the U.S. administration for their support of abstinence-based program, which he deemed ineffectual and spoke out in favour of harm reduction measures like needle exchange programs and safe injection sites to reduce infections among intravenous drug users.

This is notable because as President he largely opposed harm reduction measures. "I think I was wrong," Mr. Clinton said candidly.

He also made another strong plug for investing more research dollars in developing effective microbicides.

The charismatic ex-politician, who now heads the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, said that to dealing with HIV-AIDS requires improving the health infrastructure in the developing world, notably training more nurses.

"Empowering people to protect themselves seems elemental," Mr. Clinton said.

Noting that he was about to turn 60, Mr. Clinton said: "I hate it, but it's true." After his speech, he was serenaded by delegates with a warbly version of Happy Birthday.

Stephen Lewis, United Nations special envoy for HIV-AIDS in Africa, introduced Mr. Clinton, and spoke of his work in glowing terms.

He said that most international groups in the field work with "supernatural acceleration - from inertia to paralysis" but Mr. Clinton was a man of action, who delivers programs as well as he speaks.

"What has filled my soul with admiration for the Clinton Foundation is their belief that in the battle against the virus, every minute lost is a life lost. That quality of urgently is desperately needed," Mr. Lewis said.

Mr. Clinton lavished praise on the Canadian icon, calling him the conscience of the world on HIV-AIDS and telling Mr. Lewis: "The world is in your debt."

Study co-author David Haussler, director of the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said his team found strong but still circumstantial evidence that a certain gene, called HAR1F, may provide an important answer to the question: "What makes humans brainier than other primates?"

Looking at 49 areas of the genome that have changed the most between the human and chimpanzee genomes, Haussler zeroed in on an area with "a very dramatic change in a relatively short period of time."

That one gene didn't exist until 300 million years ago and is present only in mammals and birds, not fish or animals without backbones. But across nearly all of the animals in which it exists, that gene looks alike from one species to the next.

For example, there are only two differences in the gene between a chimp and a chicken, Haussler said.

But there are 18 differences in the gene between humans and chimps, and they all seem to have occurred in the time since humans and chimps diverged from their common ancestor, according to the researchers.

"It looks like in fact it is important in the development of brain," said co-author Sofie Salama, a research biologist at Santa Cruz who led the efforts to identify where the gene is active in the body.

Andrew Clark, a Cornell University professor molecular biology who was not part of Haussler's team, said that if true, that quickly paced genetic change would be "terrifically exciting."

However, the reported genetic change is so fast that Clark said he has a hard time believing it, unless something unusual happened in a mutation. It's not part of normal evolution, he said.

The scientists still don't know specifically what the gene does. But they know that this same gene turns on in human fetuses at seven weeks after conception and then shuts down at 19 weeks, Haussler said.

They said the key was likely to be changes to the blood and circulation governed by internal body clock.

The study appears in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

The researchers, from Iwate Medical University, looked a patients suffering three different types of stroke.

Most common was an ischaemic stroke, caused by restricted blood flow to the arteries in the brain.

Haemorrhagic strokes, which are less common, occur when a blood vessel bursts inside the brain. There are two types: bleeding directly into the brain tissue (intracerebral), and bleeding in the arteries on the brain's surface (subarachnoid).

In all three cases, the researchers found that the risk peaked during the morning and early evening.

Ischaemic strokes were particularly likely to occur in the morning, and slightly less likely to occur during the evening peak slot.

Haemorrhagic strokes showed less of a peak in the morning, but a higher peak in the evening.

Sleep

The researchers suggest that fluctuation in blood pressure is likely to be a significant cause of the peaks and troughs in risk.

Previous studies have shown that blood pressure tends to be highest during the morning, and often peaks again during the evening.

However, they believe other properties of the blood may increase the risk of an ischaemic stroke, and decrease the risk of a haemorrhagic stroke in the morning.

For instance, platelets, the tiny solid particles found in blood are known to stick together more easily - and possibly form a clot - in the morning. The blood also tends to be thicker at this time.

When blood is less thick and sticky, excessive bleeding is more likely, raising the risk of a haemorrhagic stroke.

The study also found that one type of stroke - ischaemic strokes -were much more likely to occur during sleep than haemorrhagic strokes.

Around a fifth of ischaemic strokes occurred during sleep.

Most were concentrated in the period immediately before waking up, although the stroke would probably have begun earlier.

Joe Korner, of the Stroke Association said: "Previous studies have shown that stroke risk does vary over the 24 hour cycle and that occurrence during sleep is most common for ischaemic strokes.

"This new study confirms that finding. However, more information is required about the different subtypes of ischaemic stroke - there are several different types, each with very different causes."

The bear is also designed to monitor the patient, alert nearby nurses when the person may need help or more intensive, long-term care and even gather information about the interaction that can be used to better understand the relationship later.

"We are designing the Huggable to be much more than a fun, interactive robotic companion, but rather to function as a team member that works with both the patient or resident and the hospital or nursing home staff with the ultimate goal of promoting the well-being of the person," said Walter Dan Stiehl, a PhD candidate at the Institute and team leader for the project.

The first Huggable prototype, which Stiehl and his team plan on finishing in the next few months, will have more than 1,000 sensors located beneath the fur and a soft layer of silicone skin.

The temperature, force, and electric field sensors will work together to distinguish the presence of a human, pick up some of the physiological signs of the patient's condition, and discern whether the person is petting, scratching, slapping, or hugging the bear.

Cameras in the eyes will be used to scan the room, while face recognition technology in the robot's computer will help the Huggable detect familiar people. Microphones in the ears will allow it to hear and face the direction of a sound.

Stiehl and his team are programming the bear to exhibit different behaviors based on what it sees, hears, and senses.

If it sees someone familiar, it can raise its eyebrows in an expressive greeting and say hello. While being rocked or bounded, it will wear and expression of happiness and when being cuddled, it will nuzzle into the person.

But the concept for the Huggable does not focus on simply providing companionship. The technology will be designed to work with a separate computer located at a nurse's station, where video, audio, or other data collected by the bear's sensors could alert caregivers in times of potential crisis.

For example, if a patient is hugging the bear and then it falls to the floor, that action could prompt a nurse to check that all's well.

The Huggable can also collect information about the patient-bear interaction over a long period of time. Any changes, such as the patient suddenly becoming aggressive or showing far less activity, may offer subtle indications of a more serious problems.

"We've not adequately used technology to help older people and this is one potential in which we could do that," said Rebecca Johnson, professor of gerontological nursing at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Stiehl's group is finalizing the first prototype and hopes to have at least 10, if not 20, Huggables available for pilot trials by the summer of 2007.

"We do mean business. If they don't get off the streets voluntarily, we're going to take them off the streets," said Acting Transportation Secretary Maria Cino.

The $11 million advertising campaign targets male drivers ages 21-34, who had the highest percentage of drivers in fatal drunken driving crashes. The ads show authorities pulling over three men driving in vehicles filled with beer, wine or liquor, telling viewers: "Make no mistake: You will get caught and you will be arrested. Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest."

Law enforcement is stepping up its searches for drunk drivers through Labor Day, using sobriety checkpoints and additional patrols that target problem roads and sporting events, festivals or concerts where people may be drinking excessively.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, an advocacy group, estimated that more than 11,000 law enforcement agencies would be participating in the patrols.

A total of 16,885 people died in alcohol-related crashes in 2005, including pedestrians and cyclists, down just 0.2 percent from 16,919 in 2004. The figures have shown little improvement in recent years - in 1997, for example, 16,711 people were killed under those circumstances.

Alcohol-related traffic deaths increased between 2004 and 2005 in 25 states and the District of Columbia, including California, Florida and Pennsylvania. Twenty-three states had decreases, including Texas, New York and Illinois. North Carolina and Rhode Island figures were unchanged.

In 2005, fatal crashes involving at least one driver or motorcyclist with an illegal blood-alcohol level of 0.08 dropped more than 1 percent. But traffic deaths in crashes involving a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 - nearly twice the legal limit - were up nearly 1 percent.

Some critics contend that tactics such as sobriety checkpoints fail to catch repeat offenders and problem drinkers because those motorists typically know where the roadblocks are located, while those who have a glass of wine with a meal fall into the dragnet.

"It scares responsible adults who had a drink prior to driving," said John Doyle, executive director of the American Beverage Institute, which represents restaurants.

But law enforcement officials say they have struggled to fight drunken driving in recent years because alcohol seemingly goes hand-in-hand with sporting events, concerts and celebrations.

"It seems like it's fallen off the last few years. The public as a whole, I think, is starting to consider it acceptable behavior again, and that's certainly not the direction we want to go," said Wisconsin State Patrol Major Dan Lonsdorf, director of the state's Bureau of Transportation Safety.

Lonsdorf noted that Wisconsin authorities typically arrest more than 40,000 drunk drivers a year "and we barely think we are making a dent in the total number that are on our highways."

Kelly realised her son had been helping himself to her drugs yet did nothing to stop him, the judge added.

She failed to tell her psychiatrist about it and she lied to social workers and schoolteachers.

The boy was finally treated for his addiction after Kelly was arrested for shoplifting in January last year.

Judge Niblett also criticised East Sussex social services for failing to act.

He said: "Despite an increasing number of warning signs, no direct action or intervention was taken in relation to X until police intervened."

This was despite a social services case conference in 2004.

Kelly showed no emotion when she was sentenced.