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Researchers test experimental drug Neuprex on infants undergoing heart surgery

UT Southwestern Medical Center is the only institution in the nation approved by the Food and Drug Administration to test an experimental drug on infants undergoing heart surgery to see whether it can help them avoid potentially lethal infections and improve survival.

22 Aug 2005

Canary Database - animal diseases as early warning system for emerging human diseases

Yale School of Medicine has launched a state-of-the-art database funded in part by the National Library of Medicine, called the Canary Database, containing scientific evidence about how animal disease events can be an early warning system for emerging human diseases.

15 Aug 2005

Florida federal health agency worker charged with anthrax hoax

A woman who works at the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland, was arrested in Maryland on Monday, after making a threat to infect Florida property assessors with anthrax for revoking her tax exemption.

3 Aug 2005

Significant step forward in the search for a vaccine against Group B meningococcal disease

For a long time, doctors and scientists have suspected that Neisseria lactamica, a harmless germ carried mostly by children under the age of five years, is the key to the development of natural immunity to meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia (blood poisoning).

2 Aug 2005

FDA bans antibiotic use for poultry

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the use of a poultry antibiotic made by Bayer.

31 Jul 2005

Students and school employees are being poisoned by pesticide use at schools and from drift off of neighboring farmlands

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that students and school employees are being poisoned by pesticide use at schools and from drift off of neighboring farmlands. The public health advocacy organization Beyond Pesticides has called on Congress to respond by passing the School Environment Protection Act (SEPA).

27 Jul 2005

Illnesses associated with pesticide exposure at schools increased significantly in children from 1998 to 2002

"Exposure to pesticides in the school environment is a health risk facing children and school employees," background information in the article states. Pesticides continue to be used both on and around school property, with some schools at risk of pesticide exposure from neighboring farms. Currently, no specific federal requirements on limiting pesticide exposures at schools exist.

26 Jul 2005

Giving oxygen may do more harm than good

Doctors and paramedics who give their patients oxygen - the most commonly administered "drug" in the world - may be doing more harm than good, a Queen's University researcher contends.

11 Jul 2005

Showering in manganese-contaminated water could have permanent effects on the nervous system

A new analysis based on animal studies suggests that showering in manganese-contaminated water for a decade or more could have permanent effects on the nervous system. The damage may occur even at levels of manganese considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

6 Jul 2005

New study shows showering in manganese contaminated water could permanently affect the nervous system

1 Jul 2005

Twenty-seven per cent of accidental deaths in Britain were due to transport accidents in 2003

For males, transport accidents were the most common form of accidental death (37 per cent). For females, transport accidents comprised 15 per cent of accidental deaths. Where the cause of the accident was known, falls were the most common cause of accidental death for females (28 per cent).

30 Jun 2005

It's fright time again! - how to poison the country's milk

Despite fierce opposition, the National Academy of Sciences has published a report which says the U.S. milk supply is vulnerable to being poisoned with botulinum toxin.

29 Jun 2005

Hygiene squads all set to hit dirty hospitals

In an effort to reduce infections among patients, independent investigators are to carry out random spot checks on hospital hygiene.

20 Jun 2005

Venom of marine cone snails may provide an improved treatment for neuropathic pain associated with diabetes

A cone snail toxin discovered by Melbourne researchers has proven to have great potential for easing pain and could provide an improved treatment for neuropathic pain associated with diabetes.

12 Jun 2005

Hospital patients to be checked for MRSA infection before admission

According to a survey of hospital chief executives, released by the NHS Confederation, even though surgery is statistically more risky, patients are now more scared of catching an infection than of going under the knife.

12 Jun 2005

The bacteria that cause food poisoning, bubonic plague, and whooping cough all deploy the same weapon to infect the body

A molecular "syringe" sticks out of the bacteria, pokes a hole in a nearby cell, and squirts in venomous proteins that hijack the cell's machinery.

2 Jun 2005

Doxorubicin-docetaxel combination is associated with an increased risk of severe and life-threatening complications

Researchers in France say a study using two chemotherapy agents to treat breast cancer was halted after two women in the study died.

17 May 2005

Children with high blood lead levels often do not receive follow-up tests

Only about half of children who had an abnormal blood lead level screening had follow-up blood testing, according to an article in the May 11 issue of JAMA.

10 May 2005

Some children in the United States are still at risk for lead poisoning

Despite efforts to remove lead from many products, such as gasoline and paint, some children in the United States are still at risk for lead poisoning. A new study shows that children at the greatest risk for lead poisoning, and also those identified with elevated blood lead levels through screening, were the least likely to get follow-up testing needed for prevention.