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FDA and MHRA to cooperate efforts to address manufacturing concerns related Chiron's influenza vaccine

The FDA and the U.K's MHRA have announced their intent to continue in a cooperative effort to address the manufacturing quality concerns related to the production of Chiron's influenza vaccine, Fluvirin, at the company's Liverpool facility.

13 Oct 2004

Viruses from human sources occur in the La Crosse, Wisconsin municipal drinking water supply prior to its chlorination

Although the city's treated water meets or exceeds state and federal standards for drinking water, researchers and public health officials agree that more study is needed to pinpoint sources of the viruses and to determine if some viruses are surviving chlorination and making people sick with diarrhea and vomiting.

6 Oct 2004

Health Protection Agency investigates national outbreak of salmonella

The UK's Health Protection Agency, together with colleagues in the NHS and Local Authorities, has been carrying out an investigation into a national outbreak of Salmonella.

5 Oct 2004

A new study of Northwest women has found toxic flame retardants in the breastmilk of every woman tested

A new study of 40 mothers from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Montana found PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) in the breastmilk of every woman tested.

30 Sep 2004

New recommendations which will help pre-empt drinking water contamination

Ensuring drinking water is safe is a challenge in every part of the world, from water piped into people's homes, to rural wells and water provided to refugee camps in an emergency.

22 Sep 2004

FDA proposed new egg safety regulations to reduce Salmonella Enteritidis cases

When implemented, the production changes defined by the regulation will significantly reduce the number of illness caused by eggs contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis.

20 Sep 2004

WHO calls for effective partnerships to tackle zoonoses

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries to improve their capacity to respond to emergencies posed by natural, accidental and intentional contamination of food.

16 Sep 2004

Researchers keep milk free of contaminants

Dairy farms in the United States produced more than 170 billion pounds of milk last year. The more than 9 million cows that produced that milk occasionally need to be treated for various ailments

8 Sep 2004

Public call for legal age of smoking to be raised helps underline dire health-care consequences of long-term smoking

A new British report commissioned as part of BBC News' Healthy Britons poll has found that 80% of people want the legal age of smoking raised from 16 to 18. This follows a recent report in the journal Education and Health on the health-care consequences of long-term smoking.

6 Sep 2004

Air conditioning coil reduces over all sickness by 20%

Air conditioning coil reduces over all sickness by 20%, reduces respiratory symptoms by 40% and has resulted in a 99% reduction of microbial and endotoxin concentrations on irradiated surfaces within the ventilation system.

5 Sep 2004

Risk of thyroid cancer rises with increasing radiation dose

The risk of thyroid cancer rises with increasing radiation dose, according to the most thorough risk analysis for thyroid cancer to date among people who grew up in the shadow of the 1986 Chernobyl power-plant disaster.

2 Sep 2004

Low levels of contamination also influence mortality rate

Navarre doctor Rosa María Alás Brun has shown, in her PhD thesis defended at the Public University of Navarre, that, despite contamination rates in Pamplona being very low, these still have an influence on death rates.

23 Aug 2004

Toxic chemical in hand soaps, cleaner is deposited and remains in the environment long after the products are used

A toxic chemical used in hand soaps, cleaners and other personal care products to kill germs is deposited and remains in the environment long after the products are used, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

18 Aug 2004

The U.S. FDA approves 2 drugs for treating radiation contamination

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two drugs, pentetate calcium trisodium injection (Ca-DTPA) and pentetate zinc trisodium injection (Zn-DTPA) for treating certain kinds of radiation contamination. The FDA is approving these two drugs as part of its ongoing effort to provide the American public the best available protection against nuclear accidents and terrorist threats.

11 Aug 2004

New scientific white paper outlines why the current policy on stem cell research must be expanded

On the third anniversary of the establishment of federal support for stem cell research, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, released a new scientific white paper today that outlines why the current policy must be expanded.

9 Aug 2004

Food safety experts cannot concede that organic is safer than conventional food, as their research shows it is not

For many shoppers the word “organic” is synonymous with “safe.” But food safety experts cannot concede that organic is safer than conventional food, as their research shows it is not. Dialogue on the confusion between fact and myth highlighted the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo.

26 Jul 2004

Caulking found to be unrecognized source of PCB contamination

They conclude that a survey of masonry buildings from that era is necessary to determine where in the U.S. these materials had been used, and that caulking should be routinely analyzed for PCBs and managed appropriately to reduce potentially significant health risks.

21 Jul 2004

Report shows mixed results for lead screening rates in children

The New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has released a report finding that certain Medicaid and Child Health Plus (CHP) managed care health plans have lead screening rates for infants and young children below the statewide average.

15 Jul 2004

Cheap AIDS drugs may help prevent HIV in babies in Thailand

Aids is one of the principal causes of infant mortality in many developing countries. Viral transmission takes place during pregnancy (in utero), at the moment of childbirth or even during breastfeeding.

10 Jul 2004

HHS strengthen safeguards against mad cow disease

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman has announced three actions being taken to further strengthen existing safeguards that protect consumers against the agent that causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also known as “mad cow disease”).

10 Jul 2004