health news

Complex stent procedure performed on one-month-old baby

Complex stent procedure performed at Fortis Escort Heart Institute, New Delhi on a month old, 1.8 kg baby. (L-R) Dr S Radhakrishnan, director, paediatric and congenital heart diseases, FEHI and Dr Neeraj Awasthy, paediatric cardiologist, FEHI with the patient’s family.

Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI) has conducted a life-saving complex stent procedure on a one-month-old premature baby weighing 1.8 kg by a team of doctors comprising of Dr S Radhakrishnan, director, pediatric and congenital heart diseases and Dr Neeraj Awasthy, pediatric cardiologist. According to Fortis Escorts, this is the first case in India, with the lowest recorded weight and age of a baby undergoing a complex stent procedure. Her treatment has been funded by FEHI.

The baby was referred to FEHI by a government hospital in Delhi when she stopped breathing and showed signs of heart problems. The baby was immediately put on ventilator and was oxygen dependent for three weeks.

The artery going towards her lungs were found obstructive and this made her treatment complicated and high risk.

Explaining the complexity involved in the operation, Dr Radhakrishnan said, “Initially we kept the baby under ventilation for few days and when she started responding to our treatment, we decided to wean her off the ventilation. On further examination, it was found that the right ventricular outflow track was blocked and stent procedure should be performed. The baby would need a future surgery once she weighs 8-9 kg.”

Dr Awasthy said, “Given the multiple complexities of the case, her prognosis has been very good. When the case first came to us, her survival was a question. Such a case had never been attempted before anywhere in India. Today, after the surgeries, she is responding well to her treatment protocol.”

He added, “As the hospital is technologically equipped with advanced smaller size equipment to manage such complex cases, we were confident to go ahead and perform such a complex procedure which demanded additional vigilance and support.”

Source: India Medical Times

Sarepta shares plunge 60 percent after FDA questions drug trial

A view shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) logo at its headquarters in Silver SpringSarepta Therapeutics Inc lost more than 60 percent of its market value after it was advised by the U.S. health regulator to find new ways to test its flagship treatment for a rare muscle disorder.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), citing new data and the failed trial of a competing drug, said the design and goals of Sarepta’s current trial might not be sufficient to win marketing approval for its drug.

Sarepta’s shares fell 62 percent, wiping more than $750 million off the company’s market value and making the stock the biggest percentage loser on the Nasdaq on Tuesday afternoon. At least three brokerages downgraded the stock.

“Everything I thought could have gone wrong has gone wrong – and then more stuff has gone wrong,” said Chad Messer, an analyst at investment banking and asset management firm Needham & Co, who downgraded Sarepta’s stock to “hold” from “buy”.

Sarepta is developing the drug, eteplirsen, as a treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a degenerative disorder that hampers muscle movement and affects one in 3,600 newborn boys.

Investors had been betting on a breakthrough.

Before Tuesday’s fall, Sarepta’s stock had more than doubled since October 2012, when data from a mid-stage trial showed that eteplirsen significantly improved walking ability in DMD patients.

But the FDA has now suggested that eteplirsen be tested against a placebo in a new, and potentially larger, trial, Sarepta said on Tuesday.

A placebo-controlled trial, it said, would be better than current trials in removing bias in walking ability that might be susceptible to individual effort or patient care.

“…It seems worthwhile to consider selection of other endpoints and/or populations for the next trial of eteplirsen,” Sarepta said it was told by the FDA in a meeting last week.

In its remarks, the FDA cited the recent failure of the trial of a rival drug, drisapersen, being developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Prosensa Holding NV.

That drug, like eteplirsen, works by increasing the production of a protein called dystrophin, the lack of which is the chief cause of DMD.

It failed to show a statistically significant improvement in the distance that DMD patients could walk in six minutes compared with placebo in a late-stage trial in September.

Prosensa’s shares, which had lost about 85 percent of their value since the announcement of drisapersen’s trial failure, were up 19 percent on Tuesday.

DOWNGRADES

Sarepta, previously known as AVI Biopharma, has gone more than three decades without bringing a drug to market. Analysts had previously said that they expected the company to ask for eteplirsen’s approval to be accelerated.

Sarepta said the FDA request would delay the initiation of dosing in a confirmatory study until at least the second quarter of 2014. A follow-up meeting with the regulator to discuss the confirmatory study design is scheduled this month.

“The likelihood of an accelerated approval at this point is very low. It seems like a long shot to me that the FDA is going to reverse position,” said Edward Tenthoff, analyst at Piper Jaffray.

Tenthoff, who cut his price target on the stock to $20 from $58, said he expected the FDA to require a confirmatory study with a two-year follow-up, which could delay the potential approval of eteplirsen to late 2017 or early 2018.

Both Tenthoff and Needham & Co’s Messer said the FDA and Sarepta would probably need to agree a new endpoint for trials, given the regulator’s concerns about the six-minute-walk trial.

“They thought they will be able to file early on limited data,” said Messer. “The FDA is not only saying forget about that, they probably also cannot do a full filing, and now it’s even questionable as to what the next study has to look like.”

Janney Capital Markets also downgraded Sarepta’s stock to “sell” from “neutral,” while Leerink Swann cut its price target to $17 from $44.

Sarepta’s shares were down 62 percent at $14.06 in early afternoon trading.

Source: Reuters

 

How 17th Century Fraud Gave Rise To Bright Orange Cheese

The news from Kraft last week that the company is ditching two artificial dyes in some versions of its macaroni and cheese products left me with a question.

Why did we start coloring cheeses orange to begin with? Turns out there’s a curious history here.

In theory, cheese should be whitish — similar to the color of milk, right?

Well, not really. Centuries ago in England, lots of cheeses had a natural yellowish-orange pigment. The cheese came from the milk of certain breeds of cows, such as Jersey and Guernsey. Their milk tends to be richer in color from beta-carotene in the grass they eat.

So, when the orange pigment transferred to the cow’s milk, and then to the cheese, it was considered a mark of quality.

But here’s where the story gets interesting.

Cheese expert Paul Kindstedt of the University of Vermont explains that back in the 17th century, many English cheesemakers realized that they could make more money if they skimmed off the cream — to sell it separately or make butter from it.

But in doing so, most of the color was lost, since the natural orange pigment is carried in the fatty cream.

So, to pass off what was left over — basically low-fat cheese made from white milk — as a high-quality product, the cheesemakers faked it.

“The cheesemakers were initially trying to trick people to mask the white color [of their cheese],” explains Kindstedt.

They began adding coloring from saffron, marigold, carrot juice and later, annatto, which comes from the seeds of a tropical plant. (It’s also what Kraft will use to color its new varieties of macaroni and cheese.)

The devious cheesemakers of the 17th century used these colorings to pass their products off as the full-fat, naturally yellowish-orange cheese that Londoners had come to expect.

The tradition of coloring cheese then carried over in the U.S. Lots of cheesemakers in Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and New York have a long history of coloring cheddar.

The motivation was part tradition, part marketing to make their cheeses stand out. There was another reason, too: It helped cheesemakers achieve a uniform color in their cheeses.

But Kindstedt says it’s not a tradition that ever caught on in New England dairy farms.

“Here in New England there was a disdain for brightly colored cheese,” Kindstedt says.

And that’s why to this day, we still see lots of naturally white cheddar cheese from places such as Vermont.

With the boom in the artisanal food movement, we’re starting to see more cheese produced from grass-fed cows.

And as a result, we may notice the butterlike color in summer cheeses — similar to what the 17th century Londoners ate.

“We absolutely see the color changes when the cows transition onto pasture in early May,” cheesemaker Nat Bacon of Shelburne Farms in Vermont wrote to us in an email. He says it’s especially evident “in the whey after we cut the curd, and also in the finished cheese. Both get quite golden in color, kind of like straw, with the beta-carotenes the cows are eating in the fresh meadow grasses.”

Source: npr

 

Researchers warn medical tourism ‘myths’ unfounded

A team of British researchers is warning governments and health care organizations around the world not to fall for the myths and hype surrounding medical tourism.

With the promise of a lucrative market and huge global market opportunities, the appeal of medical tourism is hard to miss.

But researchers from London, York, Sheffield and Birmingham, UK, challenge the view that there is an ever-growing number of people prepared to travel across national borders to receive medical treatment.

They caution that all that glitters may not be gold, saying:

“Our message is: be wary of being dazzled by the lure of global health markets and of chasing markets that do not exist.”

The researchers say medical tourists are typically from affluent countries who will be treated as private patients and will cover their own medical costs.

They are not to be confused with health tourists, who may not always intend to pay for their treatments.

The report, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), looks at the flow of medical tourists between countries and the interaction between the demand for, and supply of, these services.

Medical tourists can access the full range of medical services but most commonly opt for dental treatments, cosmetic surgery, elective surgery or fertility treatment.

There has also been a shift toward patients from developed countries traveling to less develop ones for lower-cost treatments than would be available at home – helped by cheap air fares and better research opportunities through the internet.

Patients beyond Borders, which claims to be “the world’s most trusted source of consumer information about international medical and health travel,” estimates there are 8 million cross-border patients worldwide, spending on average between $3,000 and $5,000.

And using their statistics about potential savings, it is easy to understand why they estimate 900,000 Americans will travel out of the US for treatments.

Potential savings by traveling to various countries are as follows:

  • Brazil: 25-40%
  • Costa Rica: 40-65%
  • India: 65-90%
  • Malaysia: 65-80%
  • Mexico: 40-65%
  • Singapore: 30-45%
  • Thailand: 50-70%
  • Turkey: 50-65%

Historical links influence destination choice

Price is not the only determining factor when it comes to choosing a destination. The authors argue that in terms of medical tourism, there is not necessarily a level playing field, and they challenge the view of open and global markets. They say it is not as simple as building facilities and expecting patients to come.

Networks, history and relationships may also explain a great deal about the success of particular destinations.

Dr. Daniel Horsfall, from York’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work, who carried out the statistical analysis for the study, explains:

“We found that historical flows between different countries and cultural relations account for a great deal of the trade.”

“The destinations of medical tourists are typically based on geo-political factors,” he adds, “such as colonialism and existing trade patterns. For example, you find that medical tourists from the Middle East typically go to Germany and the UK due to existing ties, while Hungary attracts medical tourists from Western Europe owing to its proximity.”

But the British research warns that there is not enough evidence “to enable us to assess who benefits and who loses out at the level of system, programme, organisation and treatment.”

Lead author Dr. Neil Lunt, from the University of York, explains:

“What data does exist is generally provided by stakeholders with a vested interest rather than by independent research institutions. What is clear is that there exists no credible authoritative data at the global level, which is why we are urging caution to governments and other decision-makers who see medical tourism as a lucrative source of additional revenue.”

But if the promise of financial savings is too attractive to dismiss, remember that different countries may also have different standards of care. Companies brokering medical tourism do not have standard accreditation, so it may not be clear what is covered and what is not.

The study also points out that there is currently no overarching legal or ethical strategy for medical tourism, and the researchers call for more information and understanding before even considering what regulations are needed.

But as to whether medical tourism is a good or bad thing, the researchers decline to call. The report concludes:

“On balance there is a pressing need to explore further as to whether medical tourism is virus, symptom, or cure.”

 

Source: Medical news today

Closer to cryopreservation: obstacles to freezing human tissues

In order to preserve biological materials over an extended period of time, doctors rely on a process known as cryopreservation – a procedure that involves cooling human tissues to sub-zero temperatures.  This frozen state effectively blocks chemical reactions from occurring and causing any damage to the materials, allowing them to remain viable for medical use later on.

However, cryopreservation is a risky process and is often reserved for the conservation of smaller groups of tissues or individual cells – such as embryos and stem cells.  Freezing larger biological tissues is much more difficult. These materials often contain large amounts of water, which form ice crystals when frozen, causing significant damage to the cells and tissue.

But now, freezing larger amounts of human tissue may soon become a feasible option. Researchers from Villanova University have discovered how ice crystals invade and damage biological material during the freezing process – a significant discovery that could lead to new methods of preventing tissue injury during cryopreservation.

By overcoming this obstacle, freezing complex human tissues such as full-sized donor organs or artificially engineered replacement tissues could be a very real option for physicians.

“If you can cryopreserve tissue or even organs, then you have a way of storing them and of transporting them,” senior author Dr. Jens Karlsson, of the department of mechanical engineering at Villanova University, told FoxNews.com.  “Now if you want to do a (lung) transplantation, you’re rushing the harvest organ from one hospital to another by helicopter, and you only have a few hours to do it. But if you’re able to preserve the tissue, then you have as much time as you want and you can really find the best match for the tissue and transport it over much longer distances.”

To better understand how ice interacts with cells as they freeze, Karlsson and his team utilized a video cryomicroscrope, which allowed them to observe the freezing process using high-speed imaging.

“We could record what happens and play it back in slow motion and really see in great detail what the interactions are between the ice, and cells in the tissue,” Karlsson said.

With this microscope, the team monitored the freezing events of genetically modified cells, some of which contained certain junction proteins and some of which did not.  These junction proteins either suppressed or encouraged the formation of the cells’ gap junctions and tight junctions– channels that connect adjacent cells together.  Gap junctions directly connect the cytoplasm of two cells, while tight junctions provide an even closer connection by firmly stitching together the cells’ plasma membranes.

The researchers found that when the gap junctions were suppressed in the cells, the ice still spread freely throughout the tissue.  This meant that the extremely snug tight junctions played a significant role in allowing the ice to infiltrate the cells.

“What we found was that the ice is able to enter through these pathways that are between cells,” Karlsson said.  “When cells are connected to each other, normally it’s a pretty tight connection, but the ice can actually find its way through nanoscale pores or openings that are in these seams that hold the cells together.  Once the ice finds its way into those spaces, then it can trigger the cells themselves to crystallize.”

With this newfound knowledge, Karlsson said it may be possible to develop new techniques for cryopreservation that involve blocking ice from entering these cell pathways or diverting ice so that it grows in other directions.

“Certainly for the part of the medical industry that deals with living biological materials as a tool in treating illnesses, the ability to cryopreserve is essential,” Karlsson said.  “It can make or break that industry.”

The research was published in the November 5 issue of theBiophysical Journal, a Cell Press publication.

Source: Viralnewschart

Sleepless surgeons operate as well as refreshed ones

All surgery has its risks, but the prospect of being cut open by someone who has not slept the night before may not necessarily be cause for alarm. Researchers from the University of Western Ontario claim that there is no correlation between lack of sleep and adverse patient outcomes.

 In a study, published in JAMA, researchers challenged the idea that sleepy surgeons do not perform as well as their sleep-refreshed counterparts.

In a retrospective cohort study using administrative health care databases in Ontario, Canada, Dr. Christopher Vinden and colleagues set out to establish whether surgeons operating the night before experienced more complications in elective surgery performed the next day.

 The research says:

“Lack of sleep is associated with impaired performance in many situations. To theoretically prevent medical errors, work-hour restrictions on surgeons in training were imposed. There are now proposals for similar work-hour restrictions on practicing surgeons.”

Drawing on data collected from 102 community hospitals, Dr. Vinden and his team identified 2,078 patients who had undergone elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy (keyhole surgery to remove the gallbladder) where the surgeon had operated the night before.

 Working extra hours

Terming these “at-risk” surgeries, the researchers randomly matched them with four other similar operations carried out by the same surgeon in the same year, on days when there was no evidence of having operated the night before. This resulted in a total of 10,390 operations performed by 331 different surgeons.

The most common outcome was conversion from keyhole surgery to open cholecystectomy – involving a large incision into the abdomen to take out the gallbladder.

Although this may not be viewed as a complication, most patients would prefer the keyhole option and view open surgery as an unwelcome outcome. It is also noted that this may serve as an aggregate end point for many complications.

Other adverse outcomes included iatrogenic injury (an injury caused by the surgery), such as accidental puncture or laceration to the bile duct, bowel or major blood vessel, and death within 30 days of surgery.

Dr. Vinden and his researchers did not find any statistical difference between conversion rates to open operations whether or not the surgeon had operated the previous night – 2.2% versus 1.9% with no overnight operation.

Findings for iatrogenic injuries were again similar, with 0.7% versus 0.9%, and death rates were less than or equal to 0.2% for surgeons who had worked the night before, compared with 0.1% for those who had not.

Surgeons ‘must self-assess fatigue level’

The researchers conclude their study by noting:

“Several studies found no association between surgeon sleep deprivation as assessed by operating the night prior to an operation or when surgeons report few hours of sleep and patient outcomes. Prior studies were limited because of small sample sizes and being from single academic institutions. Consequently, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that surgeon performance is compromised by insufficient sleep the night prior to performing surgery.”

“Restructuring health care delivery to prevent surgeons operating during the day after they operated the previous night would have important cost, staffing and resource implications.”

The study does not comment on how often the surgeons skipped sleep, or indeed, if they did sleep on the nights they were not operating. But it makes sense that physicians will appraise their own capabilities before any surgery.

Dr. Michael J. Zinner and Dr. Julie Ann Fresichlag say in an editorial accompanying the study:

“Just as each patient undergoing an operation requires an individualized assessment and operative plan, each surgeon must objectively self-assess fatigue level and honestly determine whether the surgical skills necessary for daytime operations following operating the night before will be comparable to those skills and capabilities following a good night’s sleep. Patient safety and surgeon well-being deserve no less.”

Source: Regator.com

Wombs for Rent: India’s Surrogate Mother Boomtown

Madhu Makwan asks a reporter to translate a card in English she received from a Canadian family for whom the Indian laborer spent nine months gestating their son for them.

The letter reads in part: “Without your help and sacrifice, we would not be able to have our family. Please know we will tell him about you and how special you are to us. We will never forget you, you will always be in our hearts.”

Makwan delivered the boy two weeks ago. “Of course I feel bad — I kept the child in my womb for nine months,” she said. “But she needs a child; I need money.”

Surrogacy in India is booming, thanks to the low cost of the procedure, availability of surrogates in the world’s second most populous country and the fact that India is one of the few countries in the world that allows commercial surrogacy.

In one hostel in Anand — a small city known as the “milk capital” of India in the far western state of Gujarat — there are 50 surrogate mothers living together, each who will earn around U.S.$8,000 for carrying a baby.

“It’s a lot of money,” said a woman who identifies herself as Manjula. “For people like us who have never seen money, it’s a lot of money.”

This is the second time Manjula — a 30-year-old who has a son and two daughters of her own — has carried a child for profit. Before surrogacy, she and her husband used to earn less than $2 a day working in the fields. “The first time I came, I made a house,” she said. “Now I have come for my daughter. I have to educate her, I have to get her married.”

“I want to teach my daughters computers; I have to educate them — get (them) married to a nice boy,” she added.

The number of skilled doctors has made India a global Mecca for couples seeking someone to carry their baby for them. At this hostel, all the women are under the care of Dr. Nayana Patel. She began caring for surrogates in 2003, when she helped a grandmother who was carrying twins for her daughter.

“That’s when I started commercial surrogacy because not everyone is lucky to have a mother or a sister or a friend to carry their child,” she said.

“The surrogate is getting the life that she dreamed of, because otherwise she could not get this kind of money or change the life for her husband, her children, get a house, educated her children,” said Patel, who has delivered close to 700 babies from surrogates for 580 couples since 2004. “And the couple could never have had a child if the surrogate had not helped them. So — the ultimate result is a baby has come into this earth, which is beautiful.”

Read more: http://bit.ly/173WwxT

Malaria cases hit 40-year high in US

Nearly 2,000 people were diagnosed with malaria in the U.S. in 2011, a 40-year high for the infection, health officials reported Thursday.

 Most were among U.S. residents or citizens and virtually all cases were brought back from other countries, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. People need to watch out for the mosquito-borne infection, the CDC cautioned.

“In 2011, 1,925 malaria cases were reported in the United States,” CDC said in a statement.

“This number is the highest since 1971, more than 40 years ago, and represents a 14 percent increase since 2010. Five people in the U.S. died from malaria or associated complications.”

In 1970, 4,247 malaria cases were reported in the U.S., almost all of them among U.S. military personnel. That was the height of the Vietnam War. In 1971, 3,180 cases were reported.

In 2011, just 91 cases were in military personnel. Soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen deployed in malaria-ridden zones are now given drugs to prevent infection. New York City had the most cases in 2011, with 238 cases, the CDC team said.

Almost all the cases were imported, 69 percent of them from African countries where malaria is common. One of the infected people got the parasite through a blood transfusion, two babies were born infected and one case cannot be explained.

The malaria parasite is spread by mosquitoes and can live for years in the human body. When a mosquito bites an infected person it can pick up parasites and then transmit them to someone else – meaning malaria can be introduced by an infected traveler. It also means blood transfusions can transmit infections – that’s happened in 97 cases since 1963, CDC says.

“Malaria isn’t something many doctors see frequently in the United States thanks to successful malaria elimination efforts in the 1940s,” CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said in a statement.

“The increase in malaria cases reminds us that Americans remain vulnerable and must be vigilant against diseases like malaria because our world is so interconnected by travel.”

Malaria killed 660,000 people globally in 2010. Symptoms include fever, headache, back pain, chills, sweating, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and cough.

“Malaria is preventable. In most cases, these illnesses and deaths could have been avoided by taking recommended precautions,” said Dr. Laurence Slutsker, director of CDC’s division of parasitic diseases and malaria.

CDC lists drugs approved to treat and prevent malaria. They include Malarone, chloroquine and the antibiotic doxycycline. There’s no vaccine yet.

Another drug, mefloquine hydrochloride, sold under brand names including Lariam, Mephaquin or Mefliam, can cause severe side effects including hallucinations and is considered a drug of last resort. The Food and Drug Administration strengthened warnings about the pill in July.

Source: http://nbcnews.to/1801hIQ

Preterm birth rate drops to 11.5%

The number of premature babies born in the US dropped to 11.5% in 2012 – a 15-year low, according to the March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card. However, the change was not enough to alter the overall grade given to the nation – that remains a “C.”

There is no room for complacency, as March of Dimes points out 1 in 9 babies – 450,000 a year – are born too soon.

March of Dimes defines preterm birth as before 37 weeks of pregnancy, and babies born too soon have higher rates of death and disability than full-term babies.

Early babies may face serious and sometimes lifelong health issues – including breathing problems, developmental delay, vision loss and cerebral palsy.

Even babies born at 37-38 weeks have a higher risk of health problems than those born at 39 weeks. Physicians from the University of Buffalo highlighted this in a recent study reported inMedical News Today.

As well as the health implications, there are the financial costs. As March of Dimes President Dr. Jennifer L. Howse explains:

“A premature birth costs businesses about 12 times as much as an uncomplicated healthy birth. As a result, premature birth is a major driver ofhealth insurance costs not only for employers.”

The National Center for Health Statistics says that the national preterm birth rate peaked in 2006 at 12.8%. Since then, March of Dimes estimates that 176,000 fewer babies were born preterm – with a potential saving of $9 billion in health and societal costs.

Dr. Howse continues:

“Although we have made great progress in reducing our nation’s preterm birth rate from historic highs, the US still has the highest rate of preterm birth of any industrialized country. We must continue to invest in preterm birth prevention because every baby deserves a healthy start in life.”

Since 2003, March of Dimes has been campaigning to reduce premature births nationally and has set a goal of 9.6%. Across the US, only six states – Alaska, California, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont – met this target and achieved an “A” grade.

Top marks for state with highest birth rates

March of Dimes singles out California’s achievement as being particularly noteworthy, pointing out that not only does it have the highest birth rate of all the states – with 500,000 births each year – it also has a racially diverse population living in urban, suburban and rural communities.

According to the Report Card, the grade ranges were established in 2011 using a specific formula. Scores were then rounded to one decimal point, resulting in the following scoring criteria:

Grade     Preterm birth rate

A             Less than or equal to 9.6%

B             Higher than 9.6% but less than 11.3%

C             Greater than or equal to 11.3% but less than 12.9%

D             Greater than or equal to 12.9% but less than 14.6%

E              Greater than or equal to 14.6%

March of Dimes 2013 Report Card shows that 31 states saw improvements in their preterm birth rates, with the grades breaking down as follows:

  • Six states achieved grade A
  • 19 states achieved grade B
  • 17 states and the District of Columbia received grade C
  • Five states achieved grade D
  • Three states – Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama – and Puerto Rico received grade F.

Non-Hispanic black infants remain at greatest risk of preterm birth at 16.8%, although this number has fallen from 18.5% in 2006. And while the gap between blacks and whites is narrowing, preterm birth rates among non-Hispanic black  babies is still more than 1.5 times higher than non-Hispanic whites.

March of Dimes also looked at some contributing factors to early birth and noted reductions in the number of women of childbearing age who smoke in 35 states. They also recorded reductions in the percentage of uninsured women of childbearing age in 37 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/268339.php

 

3 Kids Get E. Coli Infections from Dayton Petting Zoo

At least three Minnesota children are recovering from E-coli infections after visiting a pumpkin patch and farm. The Minnesota Department of Health is investigating after they say the children had been in contact with animals at Dehn’s Pumpkins in Dayton, Minn.

The department is following up with groups that have visited the farm since Oct. 12.

The three cases were all children, ranging in age from 15 months to 7 years and are residents of the Twin Cities metro area. One child is hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious complication of an E. coli infection characterized by kidney failure. The others were not hospitalized and are recovering, according to the MDH.

The MDH says E. coli is common around animals like cattle and goats and that this is not unique to Dehn’s Farm. Access to cattle and goats at Dehn’s farms has been closed pending the investigation, but the pumpkin patch remains open. The owners are cooperating with the investigation.

MDH Officials stress if you come in contact with animals such as cows and goats that you should wash hands thoroughly with soap and water immediately after.

Symptoms of E. coli include severe stomach cramps and diarrhea with a low-grade or no fever.

Source; http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3200943.shtml