Health Highlights: April 21, 2003

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of The HealthScout News Service:

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SARS All But Closes Major Canadian Hospital

Canada is reporting its 14th death from acute severe respiratory syndrome (SARS), and a major Toronto hospital has all but closed in an attempt to contain the outbreak, the Associated Press reports.

Sunnybrook Hospital’s critical care, cardiovascular intensive care, and SARS units remain closed Monday after more employees began to show symptoms of the illness. The staff members probably were exposed to the virus last week while treating a patient, administrators say.

The near-closing is expected to have a “huge” impact on the city’s already ravaged health care system, hospital president Leo Steven tells the AP.

Worldwide, the flu-like illness has sickened more than 3,800 people and killed at least 211. Hardest-hit China has reported 1,800 victims and 79 deaths, while Hong Kong reports 1,400 illnesses and 94 deaths.

In China, state-run newspapers have confirmed the firing of Beijing’s mayor and a key national health minister for failing to report the outbreak earlier and for not tracking people who might have been exposed. The government also said it was canceling its week-long May Day vacation, hoping to stop millions of potential travelers from spreading the illness.

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Medicare Putting Limits on Drug Costs

Cost has become a significant factor in whether Medicare pays for certain drugs and procedures, The New York Times reports of major policy changes imposed by the Bush administration.

The moves illustrate how Medicare will try to contain spending if President Bush and Congress agree on legislation to provide more prescription drug benefits to the elderly, federal officials tell the newspaper.

The Times cites recent examples, including:

– Medicare has informed doctors that they shouldn’t prescribe the new heartburn drug Nexium, saying its older generic cousin, Prilosec, is essentially the same medication. This has infuriated the maker of both drugs, who says the new medication is superior.

– Medicare has refused to pay full price for a new drug to treat anemia in cancer patients, contending it’s “functionally equivalent” to an older, cheaper medication.

– Medicare says before it agrees to pay for a new test for colon cancer among people with no symptoms, it will analyze the drug’s cost-effectiveness.

Medicare officials say the government is not so much imposing price controls as it is becoming a “prudent purchaser,” the newspaper reports.

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Contact Lens Prototype Measures Blood Sugar

If you’re diabetic, imagine forgetting the daily ritual of pricking your finger and squeezing out droplets of blood to test your glucose levels. University of Pittsburgh researchers say they’re working on devices that would make testing your blood sugar as easy as glancing in the mirror.

Look no further than specially equipped contact lenses, reports the Associated Press. They would contain chemical sensors that would change color depending on the user’s blood sugar levels. And anyone could wear them, even if there’s no need for vision correction.

Doctors, long worried that many of the 17 million American diabetics don’t test their glucose levels often enough, are intrigued with any non-invasive device that does the job.

But don’t head for the local pharmacy just yet. The researchers say with all of the perfecting and testing they need to do, the devices are at least three years away, the AP reports.

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Bird Flu Claims First Human Victim

A Dutch veterinarian has become what officials believe is the first human victim of a mysterious bird flu outbreak that has led to the slaughter of millions of chickens.

The Associated Press reports that the unidentified doctor died Thursday from pneumonia.

“It is very likely the man died of the bird flu because the virus was found in his lungs and there is no other explanation for his symptoms,” the AP quotes from an Agriculture Ministry statement.

The outbreak began in February, and since then it has infected more than 50 health workers, according to the AP account. But their symptoms have often been mild, such as an eye infection. Avian influenza, though almost always fatal in birds, is rarely deadly in humans.

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High Asthma Rate in Harlem Stuns Officials

One child in every four in Central Harlem is asthmatic, a prevalence much higher than expected and one of the highest rates in any neighborhood in the United States, experts say.

The New York Times writes that the findings bolster the case that asthma is a serious problem in poor, urban neighborhoods.

The Times reports that the asthma rate is about double what experts had expected. The report comes from the Harlem Hospital Center, which tested every child in a 24-block area in Harlem.

Asthma afflicts about 6 percent of all Americans, but the rate has doubled since 1980, according to the Times article. It kills 5,000 people every year.

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