Health Highlights: April 9, 2003
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of The HealthScout News Service:
American Teacher in China Dies of SARS
An American teacher in China who was infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome has died in Hong Kong, officials announced Wednesday.
James Salisbury, 52, was take from the Chinese border city of Shenzhen to Hong Kong at his family’s request and pronounced dead at North District Hospital, according to the Associated Press. Salisbury’s 6-year-old son, Mickey, also was hospitalized and is in stable condition, a government spokeswoman said.
A friend of Salisbury’s, David Westbrook, told the AP that Salisbury, who taught English at a polytechnic institute in Shenzhen, had been ill for about a month with what he thought was the flu and only sought treatment nine days ago. Westbrook declined to reveal Salisbury’s hometown, saying Salisbury’s wife did not want the information released.
Salisbury’s death marked the second American fatality in the respiratory illness epidemic, which has so far infected 2,671 people in 17 countries and caused 104 deaths. One of the first people to die was a Shanghai-based American businessman, Johnny Chen, who was infected in Hong Kong’s Metropole Hotel and then spread the illness to dozens of hospital workers in Hanoi, where he was first treated, before returning to Hong Kong where he died last month.
Meanwhile, the AP also reports that Dr. Jiang Yanyong, retired chief of surgery for a Beijingmilitary hospital, said the outbreak in the Chinese capital might be five times greater than officially admitted. China’s government has only recently begun releasing information about outbreaks in the country, particularly Gunagdong province, where SARS is believed to have started.
And Samson Wong, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, warned that SARS might infect 80 percent of residents there within two years, according to the AP.
Health officials in Hong Kong, which has been the hardest-hit by the illness, were struggling to bring the epidemic under control, but 45 new cases reported Tuesday brought the territory’s toll to 928, with at least 25 deaths, according to the Washington Post.
Epidemiologists have traced most SARS cases to close person-to-person contact, which led officials to believe that they could break the chain by isolating patients and their contacts and by requiring health workers to use standard infection control measures in caring for patients, the New York Times reports.
Recently, however, epidemiologists have been unable to trace a number of SARS outbreaks in hotels, hospitals and apartment complexes in Hong Kong, Singapore and China to such person-to-person spread, and health officials now suspect that the disease can also be spread through contaminated objects like door knobs, or water and sewage.
But in a grim reminder of SARS virulence, officials in Singapore, which is also besieged, now say one former flight attendant is the link to most of the 118 cases there, reports the AP.
Esther Mok, 26, became ill early last month, before the medical community had identified the global illness. Very contagious, she was visited by scores of family and church members.
Though she has survived, both of Mok’s parents have since died from the illness, as has her pastor. And her uncle, brother, and grandmother are now battling the condition.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s receiving a record number of calls about SARS. CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding told Congress that the agency is getting up to 1,500 calls daily, more than during the 2001 anthrax-by-mail attacks, the AP reports.
While the federal government has tallied 150 suspected cases, no one in the United States has died from the disease. The CDC says it has devised three tests that could diagnose the virus, which the agency suspects is a new form of the same germ that causes the common cold.
—–
Hospital Stays Getting Shorter
Hospital stays in the United States continue to shrink, having dwindled to an average of 4.9 days in 2001, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. The most dramatic decrease was among elderly patients, whose average 5.8-day stay was less than half of what it was in 1970 (12.6 days).
In its annual survey based on an analysis of hospital discharges, the CDC says 32.7 million people were hospitalized in the United States in 2001, the vast majority for three days or less.
As in earlier years, heart disease was the most common reason for hospitalization, accounting for 4.3 million discharges. Cases of congestive heart failure among the elderly soared 62 percent between 1980 and 2001, the CDC says.
Other major reasons for hospitalization in 2001 included psychological problems (1.6 million), pneumonia (1.3 million), cancer (1.2 million), and bone fractures (1 million).
—–
Drug May Protect Against ‘Dirty Bomb’ Radiation
A U.S. company says it has developed a drug that could protect people against the effects of “dirty bombs” and other kinds of nuclear attacks.
The drug is called HE2100 and was created by Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals. The company says early tests on animals indicate the drug helps the body produce white blood cells much more quickly, BBC News Online reports.
High radiation levels destroy white blood cells, which the body needs to protect itself against infection, and can also destroy the body’s ability to form blood clots. The new drug may also help stop such radiation-induced bleeding, company officials say.
The test findings were presented at the annual scientific meeting of the British Society for Haematology. If larger trial test results are successful, the company will apply for permission to sell the drug in the United States, the news service says.
—–
California City Outlaws Cat Declawing
The city council in West Hollywood, Calif., voted 5-0 this week to scratch the practice of declawing cats.
The government representing the city of 3,500 people surrounded by Los Angeles and Beverly Hills says it wants to send a signal to other communities with the ban, which takes effect in 30 days. The city already has a law that declares its residents pet “guardians” rather than owners.
But not every resident may be in favor of the ban, the Associated Press reports. Diabetics and people with weakened immune systems fear being scratched. And some pet advocates say people who can’t prevent their feline companions from scratching the furniture may banish them to the nearest pound.
—–
Lead Candle Wicks Banned
Lead-cored wicks and candles with lead-cored wicks have been banned by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The federal ban, which becomes effective October 2003 and applies to all domestic and imported candles, allows the U.S. Customs Service to stop shipments of non-conforming wicks and candles. It also allows the CPSC to seek penalties against companies that violate the ban.
Despite a voluntary industry agreement in the 1970s to remove lead from candle wicks, a CPSC investigation found that some candles sold in recent years still had lead-cored wicks.
These wicks emit relatively large amounts of lead into the air when they’re burned, which poses a lead poisoning hazard to young children.
—
On the Net:
More science, space, and technology from RedNova
Copyright © 2003 HealthScoutNews. All rights reserved. The information contained above is intended for general reference purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice or a medical exam. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment. Medical information changes rapidly and while Yahoo and its content providers make efforts to update the content on the site, some information may be out of date. No health information on Yahoo, including information about herbal therapies and other dietary supplements, is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor.