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Real-Time Flu Forecast Predicts Outbreaks in Each US City

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Borrowing ideas from weather forecasting, researchers have developed a system to predict, weeks in advance, when a city will see the peak of its seasonal flu outbreak.

A reliable flu forecast could limit an outbreak by informing people and health officials so they can step up protective measures, the researchers said.

The researchers tested the model on 108 cities across the United States during the 2012-2013 flu season, and found they could accurately predict the timing of the influenza peak in more than 60 percent of the cities two to four weeks in advance, on average, according to the study, published today (Dec. 3) in the journal Nature Communications.
Source: Live Science

Cervical cancer: the top cancer-killer among Indian women

What is cervical cancer?

Cervical cancer is cancer of the cervix or cancer of the entrance to the uterus (womb). It can also be defined as a type of cancer that happens in the cells of the cervix. Cervix is the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.

What causes cervical cancer and how you get the disease?

Cervical cancer affects mostly women over the age of 30. It is believed that cervical cancer is caused by a virus called human papillomavirus or HPV. The disease can be contracted through sexual contact with someone who has it.

While there are different types of the HPV virus, not all types of HPV cause cervical cancer. Some of them cause genital warts, but other types may not show any symptoms.

About 132,000 cases of cervical cancer diagnosed in India yearly

Gravely, the disease kills more women in India than any other countries in the world. Cervical cancer affects approximately 132,000 Indian women annually, of which an astounding 72,000 die, according to the Cervical Cancer-Free Coalition.

Source: Zee News

 

FDA warns that some Philips HeartStart defibrillators may not work

Federal health regulators are warning the public that certain cardiac defibrillators recalled by Philips Healthcare may fail to deliver a needed shock in an emergency.

Defibrillators are used by emergency responders and others to restore normal heart function in people suffering a heart attack. The FDA says an electrical problem with recalled Philips’ HeartStart devices could cause them to fail to deliver a life-saving shock.

Philips recalled three models of its HeartStart devices in September 2012 due to an internal electrical malfunction. The recall affects about 700,000 defibrillators sold between 2005 and 2012. The recalled HeartStart FRx and HS1 (OnSite and Home) devices include an electrical part called a resistor that could fail when high voltage is applied, and that could prevent the device from delivering the necessary shock. If the resistor fails, the device will emit an audible triple-chirp alert.

Customers who have received the affected devices should contact Philips at 1-800-263-3342 to receive a replacement. Until a replacement is received, the agency does recommend keeping the recalled defibrillators in service because it considers the benefits of attempting to use the device in a cardiac arrest emergency greater than the risk of not attempting to use the defibrillator, said Steve Silverman, director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in a statement Tuesday.

In March the FDA proposed new requirements for companies that manufacture external defibrillators, which are found everywhere from hospitals to schools to airports. The proposed rules would require an FDA review of devices before their launch and are intended to curb years of recalls caused by design and manufacturing flaws.

Philips said Tuesday that it has not received any reports of patient harm due to this recall and has been working closely with regulatory authorities and with customers to address this issue.

Source: Fox News

Four California students sickened with meningitis bacteria

An outbreak of disease linked to bacteria that cause meningitis has sickened four students at a major California university, prompting discussions with federal regulators about hastening approval of a new vaccine.

The students, at the University of California at Santa Barbara, were all sickened within a three-week period last month with meningococcal disease, a sometimes fatal illness that can affect the brain or the blood, according to a spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health.

The students were stricken by a form of the bacteria that does not respond to the meningitis vaccine currently approved for use in the United States, said the spokeswoman, Susan Klein-Rothschild.

A vaccine known to be effective against this form of meningitis is approved for use in Europe, and Santa Barbara public health officials were in discussions with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about using it to protect students at the California university.

The discussions come after federal officials agreed to allow Princeton University in New Jersey to administer the European vaccine, Bexsero, after eight students there were diagnosed with similar infections since March.

Meningitis, which causes the brain and spinal cord to swell, is spread through coughing and exchanges of saliva, and people living in dormitories or other crowded living quarters are especially at risk.

The most severe cases can result in death, hearing loss, brain damage, kidney disease or amputation of limbs.

In the Santa Barbara cases, one student has been permanently disabled, Klein-Rothschild said, declining to provide further details on the case, citing privacy issues.

To prevent additional cases, Santa Barbara public health officials will provide the antibiotic Cipro to students and others who may have been exposed to the bacteria. Students will also be taught to recognize and respond quickly to signs of infection, which include fever and headache.

In addition, the university is suspending social events by fraternities and sororities, saying the parties put too many students in close quarters and could cause the outbreak to spread further.

Students and faculty can also protect themselves by maintaining good hygiene and nutrition, and getting plenty of sleep during the highly stressful exam period, which begins this month, Klein-Rothschild said.

Bexsero, a new vaccine made by Swiss drugmaker Novartis, is designed to protect against serogroup B, a strain of meningitis that is not as common in the United States as it is in other parts of the world, Reynolds said.

source: Yahoo News

First toll-free helpline for disabled launched

Now help is only a phone call away for people with speech and hearing disabilities in the eastern part of the country with the launch of a toll-free helpline Tuesday, the first in this region.

Ushering the International Day of People with Disability, Bengal Speech and Hearing Aid Pvt. Ltd. (BSHPL), the largest chain of clinics for hearing and speech disability patients in this part of the country, kicked-off the venture here.

“Previously the disabled were not able to access information due to lack of such measures. But now with the helpline, they can get any information they want,” said audiologist and speech language pathologist Somenath Mukherjee, managing director, BSHPL.

The Persons With Disability Act (PWD), 1995 extends equal status and opportunities for participation of people with different abilities.

However, due to a dearth of information, the speech and hearing-disabled people have not been able to exercise their rights.

“For anyone seeking any kind of help in the form of information on treatment, clinics and even information regarding the rights provided by the PWD Act of 1995, this toll-free number would come as a form of genuine assistance,” said Mukherjee.

The helpline number is 180030001620.

The relatives and friends of people with speech and hearing disability can call and enquire on their behalf.

Source: Business Standard

 

Dr J C Mohan elected as Honorary Fellow of American Society of Echocardiography

Dr J C Mohan, director of cardiology, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh has been elected as Honorary Fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE).According to a statement by Fortis Hospital, Dr Mohan is the first Indian to be nominated as the honorary fellow of this prestigious society.

While congratulating Dr Mohan, Jasdeep Singh, facility director, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, said, “It is a testimony to Dr Mohan’s commitment, dedication and comprehensive knowledge of echocardiography.”

The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is a professional organisation of physicians, cardiac sonographers, nurses and scientists involved in echocardiography.

Founded in 1975, ASE is the largest international organisation for cardiac imaging. Echocardiography is the use of ultrasound to image the heart and cardiovascular system.

Source: India Medical Times

International Day of People with Disability: Let’s Celebrate ability

The International Day of People with Disability is observed to celebrate people across the world who are living with any kind of disability. The International Day of People with Disability is coordinated by United Nations Enable, which works to support and promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities and mobilize support for their well-being. The symbol of Enable is the blue UN symbol and the word “enable”

General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 1981 as the International Year of Disabled People. The theme of the year was “full participation and equality”. After this, they proclaimed 1983 until 1992 as the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons.

Any disability results because of an impairment that may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or some combination of these. A disability may be present from birth, or occur during a person’s lifetime.

According to estimates, almost one billion in the world suffer from some or the other kind of disability. Due to this, they have to face social exclusion and prejudices, lack of employment opportunities and the inability to pursue personal fulfilment. These obstacles make their survival very challenging and they often fall into the pit of depression and misery.

In India, the situation is even grimmer where the problem of accessibility and inclusion of disabled persons into the mainstream of society remains a big challenge. Also the problem of unemployment for the disabled, physical abuse and inequality aggravates the situation further.

But let’s not lose hope and try to promote a more accessible world for the disabled people where they live without any stigma and thrive on their abilities.

Source: Zee news

Flight Delayed Because of Tuberculosis Scare

Authorities are trying to determine whether a man who flew into Phoenix has tuberculosis, but any risk to passengers on his flight is extremely low even if it turns out he does have the infectious respiratory illness, public health officials said Monday.

About 70 passengers on the US Airways Express flight on Saturday from Austin, Texas, were briefly kept on the plane until after responders boarded and removed the man, who was asked to put on a medical mask.

Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, medical director of the disease control division of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, said the man is being tested to determine whether he has TB or any another illness.

Sunenshine said test results should be available within a week or so. The man is being tested at a hospital to speed up the process, not because of illness, she said.

Even if he has the disease, the short flight coupled with the fact that he wasn’t coughing or sneezing on the plane means risk of transmission is extremely low, Sunenshine said.

During her own hour-long interview with the man, “he did not cough at all,” Sunenshine said.

Sunenshine declined to provide details about the man but said he was put on no-fly status by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after the federal agency was contacted by health authorities in Texas.

Unfortunately the airline wasn’t notified until the flight was in the air, Sunenshine said.

Though a responder who went on the plane reportedly suggested that passengers get tested for TB, Sunenshine and a CDC physician familiar with the case said the other passengers don’t need to do anything.

The absence of coughing by the man made “it almost impossible to transmit TB to these passengers,” Sunenshine said.

“There’s really no risk in this situation,” said Dr. Francisco Alvarado-Ramy, a supervisory medical officer assigned with the CDC’s division of global migration and quarantine.

Along with the flight’s duration and the absence of coughing, there are other medical indicators that point to “very low to no concern,” Alvarado-Ramy said from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Source: abc news

New Hampshire Hospital Worker Gets 39 Years in Hepatitis Case

A traveling medical technician was sentenced Monday to 39 years in prison for stealing painkillers and infecting dozens of patients in four states with hepatitis C through tainted syringes.

David Kwiatkowski, 34, was a cardiac technologist in 18 hospitals in seven states before being hired at New Hampshire’s Exeter Hospital in 2011. He had moved from job to job despite being fired at least four times over allegations of drug use and theft. Since his arrest last year, 46 people have been diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis C he carries.

Kwiatkowski admitted stealing painkillers and replacing them with saline-filled syringes tainted with his blood. He pleaded guilty in August to 16 federal drug charges.

He apologized Monday, saying he was very sorry what he done.

Prosecutors had pushed for a 40-year prison sentence, saying he created a “national public health crisis,” put a significant number of people at risk and caused substantial physical and emotional harm to a large number of victims.

Defense lawyers argued that a 30-year sentence would better balance the seriousness of the crimes against Kwiatkowski’s mental and emotional problems and his addiction to drugs and alcohol, which they said clouded his judgment.

In all, 32 patients were infected in New Hampshire, seven in Maryland, six in Kansas and one in Pennsylvania. Kwiatkowski, 34, also worked in Michigan, New York, Arizona and Georgia.

Two of the 16 charges stem from the case of a Kansas patient who has since died. Authorities say hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that can cause liver disease and chronic health problems, played a contributing role.

Linda Ficken, 71, of Andover, Kan., was one of two Kansas victims attending Monday’s sentencing hearing. She underwent a cardiac catheterization at Hays Medical Center in Hays, Kan., in 2010, and said she is haunted by the memory of Kwiatkowski standing at her bedside for more than an hour, applying pressure to the catheter’s entry site in her leg to control a bleeding problem.

Ficken told The Associated Press last week that while she has struggled with fatigue since her diagnosis, a bigger blow came last month when her brother was diagnosed with leukemia and was told he needs a stem cell transplant. While siblings often are the closest match, she can’t donate because of her hepatitis C status.

In a written statement to the court, she told Kwiatkowski she would like to see him spend the rest of his life “locked away from society, in a prison that provides you the ultimate hell on earth which you so deserve.”

Source: Time

Minimal access lung transplant performed at Chennai hospital

Lung transplant surgeons at Global Health City here claim to have performed India’s first successful minimal access transplant for lung on a 61-year-old recipient

According to the doctors, the surgery was performed on November 24 on Raja Babu Shah who was diagnosed to have Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis several years ago. It is a progressive interstitial lung disease and shows poor response to maximal medical management.

The patient, who had been confined to bed and wheelchair for more than a year, was on the waiting list for lung transplantation under the Cadaver Transplantation Programme of Tamil Nadu since July 2013.

On November 24, a suitable donor became available at Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore. So Raja was offered a lung transplantation, which would give him a near normal life without oxygen, according to a statement by Global Hospitals.

“Raja Babu Shah is the recipient of India’s first recipient of minimal access lung transplant. He is also the oldest patient in India to receive a lung transplantation and his recuperation is going to be reduced with less pain due to minimal access method adopted,” said Dr Vijil Rahulan, head of department of respiratory medicine and senior consultant pulmonologist, Global Health City.

Dr Jnanesh Thacker, senior consultant cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon and specialist in heart and lung transplantation for Global Hospitals Group, who headed the surgical team, said, “We did a minimal access anterior-axillary thoracotomy with an incision, 7 inches long, just below the nipple. We ensured that the internal mammary artery is preserved.”

Dr Nandkishore Kapadia, senior consultant, cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, Global Health City, added, “This was like a time bound mission shown in the movies, with the cadaver lung retrieval done at CMC Vellore, transported to Global Health City, Chennai, within a time span of 105 minutes, followed immediately by a four-hour recipient surgery.”

Dr Ravindranath, chairman and managing director, Global Hospitals Group, said, “I was pleased to know that the patient was off the ventilator on the next day and he walked inside his room on the third post operative day.”

Source: India medical Times