Health News

WHO says global tally of swine flu cases nears 90,000
GENEVA - The World Health Organization says the number of officially confirmed swine flu cases worldwide has reached 89,921. The global body says 12,720 new cases have been reported since Wednesday - about half of them in the United States. WHO says Britain, Chile, Mexico and the Philippines also reported large numbers of new cases.
      

Swine flu transmission studies suggest new virus is here to stay:experts
TORONTO - Swine flu viruses are missing at least two key features seen in all flu viruses present and past that transmit well among people and yet the viruses are spreading quite efficiently, two new studies suggest. The research groups which produced the work differ slightly in their views of the degree to which the novel H1N1 virus is spreading, with one finding transmission isn't yet as efficient as with human flu viruses while the other finding transmission rates are in lockstep with those of seasonal flu cousins.
      

International study links aboriginal health, lifestyle, local decision-making
EDMONTON - Aboriginal people around the world are increasingly suffering from lifestyle-related illness such as heart disease, obesity and diabetes, according to a major new global study. The study, published Thursday in the prestigious British journal "The Lancet," also found that living conditions make aboriginals everywhere more likely to be infected with swine flu.
      

Alberta Medical Association warns province against rapid health care cuts
EDMONTON - The Alberta Medical Association is warning the provincial government not to make too many changes to the health care system too soon. AMA president Dr. Noel Grisdale says rapid budget cuts could short-circuit the ability of the system to deliver health services. In a letter to the Tory caucus, Grisdale says focusing too much on cutting staffing would reduce access to the health system and make it harder to recruit doctors, nurses, therapists and technicians.
      

Melanoma on the rise in young as number of dermatologists shrinks
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Brynessa Gradley's life changed just over a year ago when she scratched an itchy spot on her leg as she came out of the shower. The 21-year-old Queen's University student, a native of West Vancouver, found a tiny mole ringed with reddened skin and decided to have it checked out at the campus clinic.
      

Salmonella cases rise in B.C.; proper food cooking, refrigeration urged
VANCOUVER, B.C. - The B.C. Centre for Disease Control is warning about a jump in salmonella cases in the province and is reminding people to make sure they cook eggs and chicken properly. Dr. Colette Gauline of the Centre says there have been more than 56 cases of infection in the last two months, all from the same strain of salmonella.
      

Canada's in the spotlight as debate on health care reform rages in the U.S.
WASHINGTON - It's rare that anything to do with Canada is front and centre in the minds of Americans, but the Canadian health-care system has been a hot topic of discussion over the past few weeks as Capitol Hill legislators work on a massive health-care overhaul. From hair salons to hospital waiting rooms and Georgetown dinner parties, Americans have wanted to know: "What's health care really like in Canada?"
      

President's Choice meat recall and E. coli cases in London, Ont., not connected
LONDON, Ont. - Three cases of children with E. coli reported in the London, Ont., area last week aren't related to this week's voluntary recall of President's Choice fresh beef products at grocery stores across Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec. "There's nothing that would lead us to believe that there's a connection to the recall," Dan Flaherty, communications manager for the Middlesex-London Health Unit, said Thursday.
      

WorkSafeBC reports say hospital cleaning contractor violated safety standards
VICTORIA, B.C. - Saving time seems more important than worker safety to a private contractor responsible for cleaning two Vancouver Island hospitals, says a recent report by WorkSafeBC. Two separate reports by the provincial job safety organization found Compass Group Canada had violated health and safety standards at two Victoria hospitals by failing to provide "overtasked" staff with training, information and protective equipment.
      

Doctors nix idea of 'flu parties' to get immunity in case virus becomes deadlier
TORONTO - As a reason for a party, this one is getting a big thumbs down from public health officials. Rumours have emerged in Britain and elsewhere about people mixing with friends who have the new H1N1 virus and parents throwing "swine flu parties" so their children will get infected.
      

Heart patients in U.S. alternative medicine study not fully told of risks: probe
A U.S. federal investigation has found that heart attack survivors enrolled in a study of a controversial alternative medicine treatment were not told enough about potential dangers from the drug being tested, including death. The study is testing chelation - infusions of a drug that in this case has been removed from the market for safety concerns. A different type of chelation is used to treat lead poisoning.
      

Fawcett's death from rare disease may remove stigma from a taboo topic: experts
ATLANTA - In a perverse twist of medical fate, Farrah Fawcett has become the poster girl for anal cancer, a rare disease often linked to a sexually transmitted virus. Before her death last week, at age 62, the actress had come to terms with the illness and agreed to have her suffering and treatment chronicled for a television documentary.
      

President's Choice steaks, other meats, recalled due to possible E. coli
Canada's food inspection agency has issued a warning not to eat a wide selection of President's Choice fresh beef products because they might contain E. coli. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says in a news release that roasts, steaks and ground beef with best before dates of April 29 through June 16 are part of the alert issued Tuesday.
      

12 hospitalized in U.S. in connection with possible E. coli outbreak in beef linked to Colo. company
WASHINGTON - Federal health officials say at least 12 people have been hospitalized in connection with a possible E.coli outbreak in beef and two of them suffered kidney failure. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 23 people in nine states may have become ill after eating beef produced by JBS Swift Beef Co. of Greeley, Colo.
      

Few survive cardiac arrest even with hospital CPR; study finds little improvement over time
You don't have to be Michael Jackson to have this problem: The odds of surviving cardiac arrest after getting CPR in a hospital are slim and have not improved in more than a decade, a big Medicare study concludes. Only about 18 per cent of such patients live long enough to leave the hospital, researchers found. Blacks fared worse than whites - a disparity only partly explained by more of them being treated in hospitals that did a poorer job of CPR.
      

U.S. obesity rates still rising in 23 states, Medicare to brace for influx of fat boomers
WASHINGTON - Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighbouring Alabama: obese baby boomers. It's time for the United States' annual obesity rankings and, outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news. Obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states over the past year and didn't decline anywhere, says a new report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
      

FDA expert panel recommends eliminating Vicodin, similar drugs
ADELPHI, Md. - Government experts in the United States say prescription drugs like Vicodin and Percocet that combine a popular painkiller with stronger narcotics should be eliminated because of their role in deadly overdoses. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel on Tuesday voted 20-17 that prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen with other painkilling ingredients should be pulled off the market.
      

Acetaminophen may seem benign, but taking too much can harm liver
TORONTO - For most people, acetaminophen is likely considered one of the more benign drugs in their medicine cabinets. But take too much and this seemingly innocuous painkiller can cause potentially fatal liver failure. "The point about acetaminophen being perceived as benign highlights very nicely that it's the dose that differentiates a medicine from a poison," says Dr. David Juurlink, head of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
      

More women aged 50 to 69 having mammograms, Statistics Canada finds
OTTAWA - The proportion of Canadian women aged 50 to 69 having mammograms has almost doubled in the last two decades, says a new report by Statistics Canada. In 2008, 72 per cent of women aged 50 to 69 reported having had a mammogram in the previous two years - up from 40 per cent in 1990, the federal agency said Tuesday.
      

Canada-U.S. may go different routes on pandemic vaccine production
TORONTO - Canada and the United States may go separate ways when deciding whether powerful boosting compounds called adjuvants should be added to swine flu vaccines, experts suggest. Canada will likely use adjuvanted swine flu vaccine, says Dr. David Butler-Jones, head of the Public Health Agency of Canada.