Health & WellnessS


Health

Drug-resistant bugs on rise outside hospital-study


Reuters
Mon, 28 May 2007 22:41 UTC
Drug-resistant bacteria are infecting more people in community settings such as prisons and public housing, and not just in hospitals where such "superbugs" can run rampant, researchers said on Monday.

Over a five-year period, researchers at a Chicago hospital found a seven-fold increase in drug-resistant staph infections that had been contracted outside of any hospital.
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Health

Flashback Superbug outbreak imminent, MDs say


Canadian Press
Wed, 03 Jan 2007 13:02 UTC
EDMONTON – A superbug that causes infections resulting in lesions, bleeding pneumonia and, in rare cases, flesh-eating disease is poised to "emerge in force" across Canada, infectious disease experts warn.
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Health

Study: Superbugs Emerge Among Urban Poor

Carla K. Johnson
AP
Mon, 28 May 2007 22:29 UTC
Drug-resistant staph infections have spread to the urban poor, rising almost seven-fold in recent years in some Chicago neighborhoods, a new study finds.

Researchers said the crowded living conditions of public housing and jails may speed up the person-to-person spread of infection.
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Coffee

Flashback Dried food on dishes harbors bacteria


UPI
Tue, 27 Feb 2007 22:25 UTC
Leaving food on eating utensils and dishes could easily cause bacteria to grow on them, especially if it's moist, according to a U.S. study.

"The best thing you can do is wash your dishes off right away, before the food dries," said Melvin Pascall of Ohio State University. "It saves washing time and gets rid of places where bacteria can survive drying and washing."
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Health

Flashback Tuberculosis strain threatens 'uncontrollable' epidemic

Laura MacInnis
Reuters
Tue, 06 Mar 2007 04:45 UTC
GENEVA - Extremely drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis could spark a "practically uncontrollable" epidemic among HIV/AIDS sufferers in areas like Africa, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Tuesday.

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Health

Flashback Virulent new strain of tuberculosis sparks alert

M.A.J. McKenna
The Sydney Morning Herald
Fri, 24 Mar 2006 12:00 UTC
A STRAIN of tuberculosis that resists almost all of the drugs used to fight it is appearing around the world, including the US, the World Health Organisation and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have warned.
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Attention

Rare TB case on plane prompts warning

Mike Stobbe
AP
Tue, 29 May 2007 20:57 UTC
A man with a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis may have spread the disease to passengers and crew on two trans-Atlantic flights earlier this month, federal health officials said Tuesday.

CDC officials on Tuesday released information about the passenger, and called for people on the same flights to get checked for the infection.
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Wine

Alcoholic drinks in Britain to carry health warning labels


Associated Press
Tue, 29 May 2007 09:23 UTC
Bottles and cans of alcoholic drinks will carry health warnings on their labels next year, a health minister said Monday.

The Health Ministry and the drinks industry struck a voluntary agreement that will lead - by the end of 2008 - to labels detailing how many units of alcohol each drink contains and recommended safe drinking levels for men and women.

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint did not reveal the exact wording to be used on the labels, but said the warnings will not be as strong as those found on cigarette packets.
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Bomb

Bad Medicine: Ruthless Health Care Policy in America

Julie Winokur
AlterNet
Tue, 29 May 2007 08:47 UTC
Collateral Damage: Bad Medicine in Tennessee, a new film by Julie Winokur, explores the single largest Medicaid cuts in history -- a failed "reform" attempt that left 170,000 people without care almost overnight.
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Bomb

Man dies after crab nicks him


AsiaOne
Tue, 22 May 2007 08:28 UTC
Mr Tan Boon Hock, 83, was nicked on his finger by a crab on Feb 22 while preparing live crabs for his family's dinner. He died two days later from the infection of the flesh-eating Vibrio bacteria.

Mr Tan had put a plaster on the cut and continued with his work, but around midnight he began vomiting and had diarrhoea. He refused to go to the hospital despite pleaas from his wife and daughter.

©n/a
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