Yourlawyer.com (Diseases News)

Microwave Popcorn Ingredient Tied to Lung Disease

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

A unusually high incidence of bronchiolitis obliterans among workers at microwave popcorn factories is likely the result of their exposure to diacetyl, a new study says. The study, conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (NIOSH) concluded that diacetyl, a chemical that gives microwave popcorn its butter flavor, needs further study so that workers in the flavorings and snack industry are no longer at risk of the fatal disease, also known as Popcorn Workers Lung.

Popcorn Workers Lung is a potentially life threatening ailment, for which the only cure is a lung transplant. The disease was thought to be limited to people working in the flavorings industry. But last July, Dr. Cecile Rhodes informed the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) that one of her patients had contracted the disease. The patient had been consuming several bags of butter-flavored microwave popcorn on a daily basis for at least 15 years. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this is the first report of Popcorn Workers Lung in a consumer. That victim has since filed a lawsuit against the company that produced the microwave popcorn he favored.

In 2003 and 2004, NIOSH found an association between the toxic substance and the development of Popcorn Workers Lung among hundreds of workers at six Midwestern popcorn factories. Last April, the CDC reported that workers at food flavoring factories, as well as popcorn plants, were at risk for the disease.

Diacetyl is easily vaporized at temperatures used in microwave popcorn production, which results in high concentrations in the workplace. The NIOSH research examined the acute toxicity of inhaled diacetyl in rats, and compared different exposure patterns. It was one of the very first studies to evaluate the respiratory toxicity of the chemical flavoring agent at levels relevant to human health. The researchers found that diacetyl -- including just its vapors -- can injure lungs.

In the study, lab mice were made to inhale diacetyl vapors over a three month time period. The mice developed lymphocytic bronchiolitis — a potential precursor of Popcorn Workers Lung. None of the mice, however, developed that disease.

In 2007, several makers of microwave popcorn, including ConAgra, General Mills and American Popcorn Co., took steps to remove diacetyl from their products. There has also been a movement to convince federal regulators to police the use of diacetyl in the workplace, but those efforts have had mixed results. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which sets limits on how much of a dangerous substance a worker can be subjected to, said in 2000 that it had no standards for the flavoring and that it wasn’t a problem because the FDA considered diacetyl “safe.” For its part, the FDA has maintained that it has no jurisdiction to evaluate hazards posed by breathing vapors from food additives. It was only last year that OSHA started to investigate diacetyl exposure in snack food industry workers, and that agency is expected to look into setting standards for workers next month.

Lip Glosses Contributing to Skin Cancer Epidemic

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Some dermatologists are saying that glopping on shiny lip glosses without appropriate SPF protection—and lip gloss rarely offers adequate protection—can actually increase your risk of developing skin cancer because the shiny nature of the gloss could be making the sun’s UV rays hit harder. “These lip glosses can make more of the light rays penetrate directly through the skin instead of getting reflected off of the skin’s surface,” says Dr. Christine Brown, a dermatologist at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

Some dermatologists say that in the worst case, the resulting sun damage can lead to potentially fatal forms of skin cancer. An estimated 3,500 new cases of skin cancer of the lips are diagnosed yearly with 90 percent being squamous cell carcinoma. Although not very serious, it can strike more aggressively on the lips than on other parts of the skin and, if untreated, can cause disfigurement. In some cases, the cancer can fatally spread to other organs.

Less serious effects include non-cancerous disfigurements on the lips such as actinic keratosis, a small, scaly patch of skin that can become a wart-like bump if untreated. Also called “farmer’s lip” or “sailor’s lip,” actinic keratosis often leads to squamous cell carcinoma. Early treatment includes multiple laser treatments to deconstruct affected skin cells, which can leave lips raw, swollen, and oozing for weeks on end.

Sun exposure can also cause small brown spots that look like freckles on the lips; premature aging; and further thinning of the lips’ already thin skin, which can lead to rips and tears. UV light takes away skins’ elasticity, leaving the skin lax, which—in lips—can prevent the upper and lower lips from lining up properly and can cause pools of saliva to collect at the mouths’ corners.

Dr. Bruce Robinson, a Manhattan dermatologist says that the moisture in lip gloss is the culprit because lips have a protective outer layer; however, the hydration of a lip gloss, "kind of smooshes that down." Once that happens, it's easier for UV rays to penetrate deeper into the skin. "Instead of having to travel through that thicker layer, it's more condensed," Robinson says. "So, the UV rays are reaching deeper layers of epidermis and dermis because you don't have this force field."

The shine factor of lip glosses can also be a problem. “Take a magnifying glass and put it over your lips,” Robinson says. When you apply lip gloss and go out in the sun, “that’s essentially what you’re doing.”

No studies have been released on the skin cancer-lip gloss link and there are critics. “The only way I could see it is if you’re thinking you’re protected, and you stay out in the sun longer, that may increase your risk,” says Robin Ashinoff, a dermatologist in Hackensack, N.J.

Some dermatologists recommend women choose lip balm with an SPF of at least 30, mix lipstick with zinc oxide, or layer lip balm with SPF 30 under their gloss. Since most lip gloss offer no higher than SPF 15 protection, always wear a lip balm with SPF 30 under gloss.

Flu-MRSA a Dangerous Combo

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

There has been a recent and disturbing increase in the number of children who have fallen ill and died from both the flu and MRSA. State and federal disease investigators are tracking the situation and Massachusetts’s health authorities have linked two recent childhood flu deaths to the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus germ, known as MRSA. Nationally, of the 74 children known to have died from the flu in the United States in 2006-07, 22 also had staph infections. Most of those staph infections were of the fast-moving, drug resistant MRSA.

Authorities at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have expressed deep concern for this issue and are planning on executing a monitoring network for patients co-infected with flu and MRSA during the next flue season. Experts say that data and other findings could assist doctors in preventing flu-MRSA cases from turning fatal.

MRSA, the mutated form of staph which was once seen chiefly in hospitals, MRSA is now striking healthy people outside of hospitals and nursing homes and has emerged as a community-based—as opposed to hospital-derived—disease. Among patients infected with community-based methicillan-resistant Staphylococcus aureus—MRSA—over 20 percent were dead within one year, according to new research conducted at McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Canada. Since MRSA began migrating more broadly a decade ago, it has endangered otherwise healthy children and adults.   Also, scientists suspect the flu is playing a deadly role in MRSA cases: The flu virus acts like a doorman for MRSA, causing changes in the respiratory tract that allow the lethal germ to enter and devastate.

According to 2005 CDC figures, nearly 19,000 people died in the U.S. from MRSA infections alone with an additional 94,000 were seriously sickened. Of the 19,000 patients studied in 2005, 2,000 patients were healthy people contracting community-based MRSA. In Canada, about 220,000 people are sickened and an additional 8,000 to 12,000 die each year. Also, well-known but not widely publicized, patients surviving MRSA often require amputations to cure the infections. MRSA—without associated flu—has infected players from four NFL teams, some NYC firefighters, and has infected or killed a growing number of school children. After one year of follow-up, 21.8 percent of the MRSA patients studied had died compared to only five percent of those in the non-MRSA research group. "Our study suggests that MRSA can be a potentially serious infection in the community leading to increased mortality," the investigators concluded, adding that the "judicious use of antibiotics is essential to prevent these quite deadly commu
nity-acquired MRSA infections," given the emergence of antibiotic resistance when antibiotics are used indiscriminately.

Today, super bugs are epidemic, incurable, and deadly diseases that stemmed from easy-to-treat infections such as the mutated form of staph. In the case of MRSA, if the infection is not treated early, it becomes resistant to all but the one antibiotic of last resort. Formerly this antibiotic was used in only the most potent of cases; however, today, this drug is being used more and more and—as a result—MRSA is showing signs of developing resistance to this last drug.

Pork Workers Disease Said to be New Illness

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic say an illness seen in pork industry workers is likely a new disease. While the pork workers disease is similar to some known conditions, is not an exact match to any; neither is its cause. Apparently, the seemingly new illness is a result of inhaling microscopic flecks of pig brain.

Eighteen pork plant workers in Minnesota, at least five in Indiana, and one in Nebraska have come down with a mysterious neurological condition they seem to have contracted while removing brains from slaughtered pigs, according to U.S. researchers and health officials. The new disorder causes a range of symptoms; patients complain of burning sensations, numbness, and weakness in the arms and legs. For some, walking is difficult and work impossible and, while symptoms have slowly lessened in severity in some, it has not completely disappeared in any of the patients.

In one such case, a slaughterhouse worker came down with fever, malaise, and rapidly progressing weakness and was ultimately unable to walk and had evidence in his bloodstream and spinal fluid of inflammation. Over the course of a few months he regained most of his function. Last April, he returned to work and within two months, developed widespread pain and sensation or weakness. He was taken off work in June and recovered over the summer, returning to the plant in September. By November, his painful symptoms returned.

"As far as we are aware it is a brand new disorder," said Dr. Daniel Lachance of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who presented his findings at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Chicago. Lachance has followed the 18 Minnesota patients, who all suffer from nerve issues that typically affect the legs. Lachance said tests revealed patients had damage to the nerves at the root level near the spinal cord and at the far reaches of their motor nerves, where the nerves connect with muscle. The first cases of the condition were reported in November of last year at Quality Pork Processors Inc. in Austin, Minnesota, where workers used compressed air to blow pork brains out of the animals’ skull cavities. Lachance feels this process is eliciting an inflammatory response. Lachance thinks it is possible that bits of pig brain stimulated an immune response in the bodies of the workers, causing their immune systems to improperly attack their own nerve tissue. "It is a very strong association—the fact that we are talking about harvesting (pig brains) and potentially exposing workers to nervous system tissue and then they are coming down with a neurological syndrome," he said.

So far, no infectious agent has been found that could explain the illness. Dr. James Sejvar of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta said it is unlikely the condition could be passed from person to person. "It doesn't appear this is in any way a food borne illness," Sejvar told a media briefing, saying the processing technique used appears to be very uncommon. "We canvassed 25 of the largest pork processors in the United States," Sejvar said. "We have identified only these three plants that use this process." All three plants have suspended the processing practice as a precaution.

Trans-Fats Implicated in Breast Cancer

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

European researchers reported this past Friday that trans-fats may raise the risk of breast cancer. The study found that women with the highest blood levels of trans-fats had about twice the risk of developing breast cancer as compared to women with the lowest levels. "At this stage, we can only recommend limiting the consumption of processed foods, the source of industrially produced trans-fatty acid," the researchers wrote in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer killer of women, after lung cancer and will be diagnosed in 1.2 million people globally this year, killing 500,000.

Trans-fats or trans-fatty acids are made when creating artificially hardened fats, such during hydrogenization and were initially meant to be a healthful alternative for artery-clogging saturated fats such as butter and lard. But, the process of making vegetable oil behave like butter made it as unhealthy as butter. Trans-fats are being phased out of food because of their artery-clogging tendencies; New York and California have already banned trans-fats in restaurant foods, Canada and Britain have considered it, and many food companies have dropped trans-fats as an ingredient. Trans-fats can be found in cooking fats, baked goods, snacks, and a variety of other prepared foods. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish such as salmon, walnuts, and leafy green vegetables.

Veronique Chajes of the French national scientific research center at the University of Paris-South and colleagues studied women taking part in a large European cancer trial and reviewed blood samples collected between 1995 and 1998 from 25,000 women who had volunteered to report on their eating and lifestyle habits and to also be tracked for years to see if they developed cancer. They research group studied 363 women diagnosed with breast cancer, comparing their blood levels of fatty acids with those of women without cancer. Chajes and colleagues found that the higher the levels of trans-fatty acids, the more likely a woman was to have cancer. The researchers also found that women with higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, being studied for their potential benefits to health, were not any less likely to have breast cancer; obese women are more likely to develop breast cancer, among other types of cancer; and high-fat diets are linked with breast cancer.

Meanwhile, in another recent US study, data from over 184,000 women revealed a link between alcohol consumption and an increased risk of the most common type of breast cancer in post-menopausal women. The study is the largest of three major studies to conclude that drinking raises the risk of breast cancer for older women, according to Jasmine Lew, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute and the study's lead investigator. The research found that women who consumed one to two small drinks daily were 32 percent more likely to develop a hormone-sensitive tumor. The risk increased to 51 percent if the women consumed three or more drinks a day. "Regardless of the type of alcohol, the risk was evident," said Lew.

Drinking Increases Breast Cancer Risk

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

In a huge US study analyzing data from over 184,000 women, a link has been discovered between alcohol consumption and an increased risk of the most common type of breast cancer in post-menopausal women. The study is the largest of three major studies to conclude that drinking raises the risk of breast cancer for older women, according to Jasmine Lew, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute and the study's lead investigator. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer killer of women, after lung cancer and will be diagnosed in 1.2 million people globally this year, killing 500,000.

The research found that women who consumed one to two small drinks each day were 32 percent more likely to develop a hormone-sensitive tumor. The risk increased to 51 percent if the women consumed three or more drinks a day. "Regardless of the type of alcohol, the risk was evident," said Lew. Lew presented the findings at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Other studies have linked light consumption of alcoholic drinks, especially red wine, to heart protection.

About 70 percent of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have tumors that are positive for both the estrogen and progesterone receptors. Lew said results from the NCI study lend credence to the theory that alcohol's interference with the metabolism of estrogen raises the risk of cancer and, although Lew said it was too early to make public health recommendations; women should consult with their physicians to assess risk factors and to also consider lifestyle changes.

Meanwhile, this past September, one of the largest individual studies of the effects of alcohol on the risk of breast cancer concluded it makes no difference whether a woman drinks wine, beer or spirits (liquor), the alcohol itself (ethyl alcohol) and the quantity consumed is the likely trigger to the onset of cancer. That study also found that the increased breast cancer risk from drinking three or more alcoholic drinks a day is similar to the increased breast cancer risk from smoking a pack of cigarettes or more daily. Dr. Arthur Klatsky—adjunct investigator in the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, Oakland, California--said, "Population studies have consistently linked drinking alcohol to an increased risk of female breast cancer, but there has been little data, most of it conflicting, about an independent role played by the choice of beverage type." Klatsky and his colleagues studied the drinking habits of 70,033 multi-ethnic women who supplied information during health examinations between 1978-1985. By 2004, 2,829 of these women were diagnosed with breast cancer. Researchers found no difference in the risk of developing breast cancer between wine, beer, or spirits and did find a relationship between breast cancer risk and total alcohol intake. Women who drank between one and two alcoholic drinks per day increased their risk of breast cancer by 10% compared with light drinkers who drank less than one drink a day; the risk of breast cancer increased by 30% in women who drank more than three drinks a day.

Information: What Is Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) / Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD)

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Keywords: Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) | Side Effects | Information | Help | Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD)

NSF (Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis), also known as NFD (Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy) has been linked to the use of Gadolinium MRI contrast dye in people with pre-existing kidney problems. NSF or NFD first appeared in 1997. Because of it sudden appearance, some researchers speculated that NSF or NFD resulted from exposure to a new type of toxin that people with poor kidney function could not eliminate from their blood stream. Since 2006, research has been able to directly link the use of Gadolinium MRI contrast dye in kidney patients to this serious Gadolinium side effect. The Gadolinium MRI contrast dye side effect attorneys at Parker Waichman Alonso LLP are currently evaluating Gadolinium MRI Contrast dye injury cases where victims have been afflicted with NSF and NFD.

While it only appears in patients with pre-existing kidney problems, according to The International Center for Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy Research, there is no evidence that NSF/NSD is caused by kidney disease, medications, microorganism or dialysis. But in 2006, NSF/NSD researchers made an intriguing discovery. It was at that time that researchers linked the use of gadolinium based contrast agents used in MRIs with the development of NSF/NSD. Following the 2006 discovery, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned healthcare professionals that gadolinium based agents had been tied to multiple cases of NSF/NSD. Then, in 2007, the FDA went even further and requested that the manufacturers of the five gadolinium based contrast agents used in MRIs include a boxed warning on product labels highlighting the risk they posed to patients with kidney problems.

Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) / Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD) Symptoms

Symptoms of NSF/NSD can appear anywhere from a few days to 18 months after a patient has been exposed to a gadolinium based contrast agent. Most patients eventually diagnosed with NSF/NSD are first found to have high blood pressure. That is followed by other symptoms, including:

Tightening and swelling of the skin
Thickening of the skin around the joints, restricting movement
Extremely hard or rough skin has the texture of an orange peel
Red or dark patches of skin
Burning, itching, and/or sharp pains in affected areas
Symmetrical skin lesions
Muscle weakness
Deep bone pain in the hips and ribs
Calcification of soft tissues
Yellow plaques near the eyes

NSF/NSD can progress to the point of causing severe stiffness in joints, and it can lead to death. The progression of the disease can be slow, and it can take several years for all of the symptoms associated with NSF/NSD to appear. However, some patients have a form of NSF/NSD that progresses so quickly that they often die of complications brought on by the disease.

Treatment for Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) / Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD) Symptoms

There are no consistently successful treatments for NSF/NSD but symptoms can be improved with several methods. Physical therapy, oral steroids and some other drug therapies have shown promise in treating NSF/NSD. Improved kidney function can ease symptoms, and in some NSF/NSD patients this seems to reverse the disease overtime. Some NSF/NSD patients who have received kidney transplants have improved dramatically, but there is no guarantee that all patients will see such results.

Cancers Can Be Spread Through Organ Transplants

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When 15-year-old Alex Koehne died a year ago at Stony Brook University Medical Center, his parents donated his organs; and although Alex was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, his organs were deemed healthy for transplantation. A month later, the Koehne’s were told by Stony Brook that Alex had actually died of a rare lymphoma, a diagnosis in which his organs would not have been transplanted given the disease’s transmission strength. The Koehne’s recently learned two patients who received Alex's organs died last year of the same rare lymphoma and two other’s were undergoing chemotherapy.

The specialized medical teams involved in transplant procedures must move quickly to assess the suitability of organs for transplants and speed is even more critical given the growing organ waiting lists. In the months after their son's death, the Koehne’s remained in constant contact with the group that coordinates organ donations in the metropolitan area, the New York Organ Donor Network and hoped one day to be in touch with the recipients of their son's organs. They only learned of the recipients' deaths when they called the group themselves in January after they heard a reporter was making inquiries and wanted to understand why these deaths were kept from them for so long.

Matthew Cody, chairman of a Stony Brook patient-care monitoring board said he was surprised he only heard of the case in January. According to Stony Brook, "You should know that patients within any transplantation program throughout the United States—both organ donors and recipients—sign privacy, risk, consent, and confidentiality agreements, over and above those which protect their privacy under the statutes of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), to further protect their identities, health, rights, and health care information." Under transplant protocols, Stony Brook is not technically responsible for the healthiness of organs donated by its patients; the responsibility for that lies with the donor network which bases its decisions on the patient's medical records, tests, and information gathered from the family.

Alex's case began late in February of 2007 when he began suffering from nausea, vomiting, severe back and neck pain, seizures, and double vision. His parents took him to Southampton Hospital twice; his medical records show he was diagnosed there with "probable viral meningitis" and treated with antibiotics, even though viruses do not respond to antibiotics.  

From 1994 to 2006 nationwide, among more than 230,000 major-organ recipients, there were 64 cases in which people developed cancer as a result of their transplant, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, a national nonprofit organization that facilitates organ sharing. As for lymphomas, they have been transmitted through transplants a handful of times. A diagnosis of bacterial meningitis does not preclude donating organs because the recipients can be given antibiotics that will prevent infection, said Dr. Lewis Teperman, director of transplantation at NYU. But in the rare cases when lymphoma-diseased organs have been transmitted, the results have been "devastating" because organ recipients must be on drugs that suppress their immune systems. The drugs keep them from rejecting the new organs, but also make them vulnerable to infection and disease.

Typhoid Fever Scare Rocks Long Island

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

A kitchen worker at a Hicksville, Long Island Mama Sbarro’s pizzeria contracted typhoid fever, putting over 100 customers at risk for the potentially deadly bacterial infection, according to the Nassau County Department of Health. Customers who ate at Mama Sbarro's at 265 Broadway in Hicksville on March 14, 15, and 16—when the infected employee last worked—have a "low risk" of contracting the rare intestinal infection, the Health Department said, emphasizing that Mama Sbarro's passed two inspections since Friday evening, when the county was informed of the kitchen worker's condition. The restaurant, which did not know the employee had typhoid fever, had no major health violations in the last two years and would remain open, authorities said, because it was safe to eat there.

Cynthia Brown, a spokeswoman for the county Health Department, said current customers are not at risk, adding that the infected kitchen worker told authorities he always wore gloves while handling food, making it unlikely that the disease was transmitted. Also, the restaurant's employees were seen wearing gloves when preparing food during unannounced visits, Brown said. "We're hopeful that this is an isolated instance," said Stuart Steinberg, general counsel to the Long Island-based pizza chain Sbarro's, the parent company of Mama Sbarro's.

Authorities identified the infected worker only as a New York City man who worked without symptoms on March 14 and 15 and had some symptoms on March 16. He called in sick on March 17, Steinberg said. The disease may have been passed to him from relatives visiting from overseas, authorities said, though they would not say from what country or when the relatives visited. The man was treated at a hospital and released last week and is now undergoing treatment with antibiotic drugs, authorities said; he will be monitored by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for three months.

Typhoid fever, or Salmonella typhi, is a bacterial infection in the intestines contracted through eating food or drinking water contaminated by an infected person's feces or urine, said Dr. Ken Steier, the patient safety officer at Nassau University Medical Center. Symptoms include fever, headache, constipation or diarrhea, rose-colored spots on the torso, and an enlarged spleen and liver and generally appear one to three weeks after exposure. Cases can be treated with specific antibiotics; the fatality rate for those who don't get antibiotic treatment is about 20 percent, Steier said and less than one percent for those who do take antibiotics. Typhoid is rare in developed countries and there are about 400 cases of typhoid fever annually nationwide. Nassau County has seen between two and seven cases annually since 2003. About 75 percent of the time, the infected person contracted the disease while visiting a developing country, Steier said.

The county Health Department urged anyone who ate at Mama Sbarro's in Hicksville on March 14, 15, and 16 to wash their hands thoroughly after using the toilet and before and after preparing food. Also, they should use separate towels to dry their hands.

MRSA Associated Community Acquired Pneumonia Has Researchers Worried

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Preliminary research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that community acquired pneumonia (CAP), which is caused by the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium may be more common than originally suspected, including that caused by antibiotic resistant strains. "Over the last few years we have been receiving reports of a severe CAP caused by S. aureus. There are a lot of questions about this disease, but until now there have primarily been case studies which tend to highlight the severest of cases and may present a biased picture," says Alexander Kallen, a lead researcher on the study. Researchers are particularly concerned with CAP that is caused by methicillin-resistant Staphlycoccus aureus - also known as MRSA.

Kallen and his colleagues focused on three pediatric hospitals in the Atlanta area during the 2006-2007 influenza season and conducted surveillance for S. aureus CAP. They identified 53 cases, a higher number than expected. "No one really knows what the true incidence of S. aureus CAP is. People suspect that S. aureus causes three-to-five percent of all CAP cases, but the number of cases per month we found suggest that these rates of S. aureus CAP might be higher than previously estimated," says Kallen. The data also suggests that the case-fatality rate may be slightly lower than the rate reported in recent cases, which were between 30% and 50%. Kallen's study reports a case-fatality rate of about 13%, which is much lower than previous estimates.

Researchers also studied antibiotic resistance. "One thing that concerns us is methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) increasing in the community," says Kallen. As with mortality, they found that while the proportion of S. aureus CAP cases caused by MRSA was lower than the case series, it was still significant. Approximately half the S. aureus CAP cases were caused by MRSA, compared to 70%-80% suggested by recent case series. "Our study found about half the patients had MRSA, which is not unexpected, but quite concerning," says Kallen.

Even more concerning to Kallen was the fact that close to 40% of the children with MRSA CAP were not dosed with antibiotics for the resistant strain. "The fact that a lot of these kids who had MRSA were not treated with antibiotics that have activity against MRSA suggests that clinicians are not recognizing this organism as a cause of CAP during influenza season," says Kallen. Kallen said this study is just the first step toward a better understanding of the patterns of this disease and that much more study is needed.

The mutated form of staph—MRSA—when not treated early, is resistant to all but the one antibiotic of last resort. Formerly used in the most potent cases, this drug is being used more and more and, as a result, MRSA is developing resistance to this last successful medication. Last year alone, 94,000 Americans developed MRSA with most of them infected in healthcare facilities. Previously limited to hospital and nursing home patients, MRSA is now striking and killing in communities. CDC estimates place last year’s MRSA death toll at 19,000 Americans, with 2,000 of these people—healthy people—contracting community-based MRSA.

Nearly 100 Patients of Nevada Clinic Positive for HIV, Hepatitis, and More are Expected

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada could be responsible for blood borne infections diagnosed in at least 100 former patients. Most of those victims contracted hepatitis or HIV following treatment at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, and now health officials in that state are trying to determine if those infections originated with the clinic's unsanitary practices. What's worse, the 100 people already diagnosed with blood borne diseases might just be the tip of the iceberg, as health officials in Nevada fear as many as 40,000 people treated by the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada were exposed to infections.

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada has been under investigation since early January, after health officials learned of three people who had been diagnosed with hepatitis C. At that time the Southern Nevada Health District said a total of six people were known to have contracted hepatitis C after being treated at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada. Five of them were treated the same day in late September; the sixth is believed to have been infected in July, the district said. The Southern Nevada Health District investigation revealed that “unsafe injection practices related to the administration of anesthesia medication might have exposed patients to the blood of other patients.”

The hepatitis C virus may have been spread when clinic staff reused syringes and used a single dose of anesthesia medication on multiple patients, the district said. A syringe would become contaminated by the backflow of blood when patients with a blood-borne disease were injected with medication, health officials said. That syringe, in turn, would be reused to withdraw medication from a different vial. That vial could become contaminated and result in infection.

Several Nevada trial lawyers have told the Las Vegas Review Journal that they are representing hepatitis and HIV patients who believe they were infected at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada. These victims are among the first to have received test results back after the Southern Nevada Health District sent letters warning patients of the clinic to get tested for hepatitis and HIV. So far, more people have tested positive for these disease than anyone expected.

One lawyer told the Review Journal that he was now representing 52 people, while another is representing 20 clients. Still another attorney said he was representing 25 former patients of the Endoscopy Center. Most have tested positive for hepatitis C, although the lawyers said some were HIV positive.

Health officials have urged 40,000 patients of the Endoscopy Center to get blood tests for HIV and hepatitis strains B and C. Health investigators estimate 4 percent of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada's patients will end up testing positive for hepatitis C.

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada was closed and fined $3,000 because of these practices. The owner of the clinic, prominent gastroenterologist Dipak Desai, has refused to answer questions about the outbreak. Unlike some nurses at the clinic, Desai has not surrendered his medical license. He agreed to “voluntarily cease the practice of medicine” until the state Board of Medical Examiners completes its investigation.

Animal-to-Human MRSA Has Researchers Worried

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Researchers are beginning to see MRSA in family pets, which has slowed healing in some MRSA-afflicted pet owners. Suspicions about animal-to-human MRSA transmission are being raised this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a mutated form of staph called MRSA that, when not treated early, is resistant to all but the one antibiotic of last resort.

German scientists reported one woman endured a series of nasty abscesses caused by MRSA, until a veterinarian screened and treated the family cat for the same infection. Researchers in the U.S. and Canada are also studying the connection between pets, people, and MRSA, which has been linked to over 94,000 infections and nearly 19,000 US deaths in 2005. “We’ve found MRSA in dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs—even marine mammals,” said J. Scott Weese, an associate professor of pathobiology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Horses and cows are also routinely affected. Pet owners should be aware, but not worried, about the potential of MRSA transmission from their pets, said Weese, who is part of a team led by researchers at the University of Missouri, Columbia studying MRSA prevalence in humans and companion animals. “The big thing we need to get the mindset around is that we’re not a population of dogs, cats, and people; we’re a population of animals,” said Weese.

The question scientists are looking to answer is whether people and pets swap the MRSA germs, creating a continuous infection-re-infection loop. Humans and pets can be colonized with the MRSA bacteria, said John R. Middleton, an associate professor of food animal medicine and surgery at the University of Missouri. Which means they may not have active infections, but are carriers. An ongoing study of some 600 US people-pet households revealed that staph aureus germs were present in nearly 28 percent of people and 13 percent of pets; about 10 percent of households had both a human and an animal colonized. MRSA was detected in over five percent of humans and about three percent of dogs and cats.

What remains unclear is who transmits the infection first. One theory being considered is pets may pick up the bacteria from people and then serve as reservoirs, harboring the infection and re-infecting humans. “Pets could be innocent bystanders, or they could be significant sources of infection,” Weese said. “They’re probably somewhere in between,” he added

Often, the cycle is not serious; most infections are minor lesions cured quickly with proper hygiene and secure bandages. The bacteria become dangerous when it moves into the body, leading to bloodstream or surgical site infections or life-threatening pneumonia. In homes where people are suffering serial infections or surgical wounds that don’t heal, consider the non-human family members, scientists said. Most vets should be able to conduct the simple swab tests to determine whether a pet is colonized with MRSA, he added. It appears that animals will shed the bacteria on their own, Weese said, given enough time, good hygiene, and no re-infection by a human source. One effective cure for animals is a dose of antibiotic nasal cream.

Diacetyl Shown to Damage Lungs of Lab Mice

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Diacetyl, a chemical linked to the development of a serious disorder known as Popcorn Workers Lung, has been shown to cause lung damage in lab mice. Popcorn Workers Lung, also known as obliterative bronchiolitis, is a debilitating but rare lung disease, which has been detected recently in workers who inhale significant concentrations of the flavoring in microwave popcorn packaging plants.

Diacetyl is used to give microwave popcorn and other snacks a buttery flavor. In 2003 and 2004, the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health found an association between the toxic substance and the development of Popcorn Workers Lung among hundreds of workers at six Midwestern popcorn factories. Last April, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that workers at food flavoring factories, as well as popcorn plants, were at risk for the disease.

Popcorn Workers Lung is a potentially life threatening ailment, for which the only cure is a lung transplant. The disease was thought to be limited to people working in the flavorings industry. But last July, Dr. Cecile Rhodes informed the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) that one of her patients had contracted the disease. The patient had been consuming several bags of butter-flavored microwave popcorn on a daily basis for at least 15 years. According to the CDC, this is the first report of Popcorn Workers Lung in a consumer. That victim has since filed a lawsuit against the company that produced the microwave popcorn he favored.

This latest diacetyl study was conducted by scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Lab mice were made to inhale diacetyl vapors over a three month time period. The mice developed lymphocytic bronchiolitis — a potential precursor of Popcorn Workers Lung. None of the mice, however, developed that disease.

"This is one of the first studies to evaluate the respiratory toxicity of diacetyl at levels relevant to human health. Mice were exposed to diacetyl at concentrations and durations comparable to what may be inhaled at some microwave popcorn packaging plants," Daniel L. Morgan, Ph.D., head of the Respiratory Toxicology Group at the NIEHS said in a press release.

Dr. Morgan co-authored on the diacetyl study that appears online in the journal, Toxicological Sciences. The study was done in collaboration with Duke University researchers. The authors conclude that these findings suggest that workplace exposure to diacetyl contributes to the development of Popcorn Workers Lung in humans, but more research is needed.

In 2007, several makers of microwave popcorn, including ConAgra, General Mills and American Popcorn Co., took steps to remove diacetyl from their products. There has also been a movement to convince federal regulators to police the use of diacetyl in the workplace, but those efforts have had mixed results. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which sets limits on how much of a dangerous substance a worker can be subjected to, said in 2000 that it had no standards for the flavoring and that it wasn’t a problem because the FDA considered diacetyl “safe.” For its part, the FDA has maintained that it has no jurisdiction to evaluate hazards posed by breathing vapors from food additives. It was only last year that OSHA started to investigate diacetyl exposure in snack food industry workers, and that agency is expected to look into setting standards for workers next month.

Nevada Clinic at Center of Hepatitis Outbreak Under Investigation for Medicare Fraud

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada in now being investigated by the FBI and Nevada state officials for Medicare fraud. News of the Medicare Fraud investigation comes just weeks after the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada was closed, after it was learned that unsanitary practices employed by the clinic could have expose 40,000 people to hepatitis C, and other potentially deadly blood borne diseases. Already, six cases of acute hepatitis have been linked to the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada has been under investigation since early January, after health officials learned of three people who had been diagnosed with hepatitis C. According to the Southern Nevada Health District, a total of six people contracted hepatitis C after being treated at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada. Five of them were treated the same day in late September; the sixth is believed to have been infected in July, the district said. The Southern Nevada Health District investigation revealed that “unsafe injection practices related to the administration of anesthesia medication might have exposed patients to the blood of other patients,” the statement said.

The hepatitis C virus may have been spread when clinic staff reused syringes and used a single dose of anesthesia medication on multiple patients, the district said. A syringe would become contaminated by the backflow of blood when patients with a blood-borne disease were injected with medication, health officials said. That syringe, in turn, would be reused to withdraw medication from a different vial. That vial could become contaminated and result in infection.

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada was closed and fined $3,000 because of these practices. The owner of the clinic, prominent gastroenterologist Dipak Desai, has refused to answer questions about the outbreak. Unlike some nurses at the clinic, Desai has not surrendered his medical license. He agreed to "voluntarily cease the practice of medicine" until the state Board of Medical Examiners completes its investigation, the board said Friday.

Now the Endoscopy Center is being investigated for Medicare fraud. Officials from the FBI and the state of Nevada want to know if the Endoscopy Center charged for two vials of medication, when it was allowing vials to be shared between patients. Six other clinics associated with the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada were also served with search warrants in the Medicare fraud investigation.

Lawsuit Claims GE Omniscan Caused Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

General Electric Company has been named in a lawsuit over its Omniscan gadolinium contrast dye. The lawsuit alleges that Omniscan caused a Philadelphia man to develop Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF), a debilitating and often fatal disease. The plaintiff in the Omniscan lawsuit is represented by the law firm of Parker Waichman Alonso LLP.

NSF is a devastating condition that affects people with pre-existing kidney problems. There is currently no cure for NSF and no one understands its specific cause. However, the evidence that gadolinium contrast agents play a role in its development is fast becoming irrefutable. Dutch scientists made the first connection between NSF and gadolinium in 2006. Since then, researchers at Yale University have reported that 95-percent of those with NSF had undergone a Magnetic Imaging Resonance (MRI) procedure that involved a gadolinium contrast dye two to three months before their symptoms appeared. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital also have found that kidney patients who had undergone MRIs with gadolinium contrast dyes were 10 times more likely to develop NSF than patient who had not been exposed to such agents.

In September 2007, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) asked the manufacturers of gadolinium contrast dyes to add a black box warning to the product labels about its association with NSF. The FDA also warned that patients with kidney disease should avoid gadolinium contrast agents.

According to his lawsuit, Zbigniew Marcinczyk received two injections of Omniscan contrast dye in September and December 2005. Shortly after the administration of Omniscan, Marcinczyk developed NSF. The complaint states that Marcinczyk continues to suffer from the severe, debilitating and progressive fibrotic changes associated with NSF. NSF is characterized by high blood pressure, burning, itching, swelling and hardening of the skin. Other symptoms include red or dark patches on the skin; pain deep in the hip bones or ribs and muscle weakness. NSF can progress to the point of causing severe stiffness in joints, and it can lead to death.

The Omniscan lawsuit, which was filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleges that the chemical make-up of Omniscan makes it more likely that gadolinium will become free within the bodies of recipients, thereby making it more likely that kidney patients will develop NSF. The lawsuit further alleges that Omniscan is defective, and that the defendants, including General Electric, failed to adequately test Omniscan and failed to warn patients about its potential to cause NSF.

So far, around 68 lawsuits have been filed against the makers of gadolinium contrast dyes by victims of NSF and their families. Last month, the U. S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation designated the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio as the venue for the many lawsuits that have been filed against the makers of gadolinium contrast dyes.

Cell Phone - Cancer Link Seen in Israeli Study

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Another cell phone study has linked use of the devices to cancer. According to a Tel Aviv University study, prolonged use of cellular phones is linked to cancer and people who use cell phones for lengthy periods of time every day are 50 percent more likely to develop both benign or malignant tumors in their parotid gland, the main saliva-producing gland that is located between the jaw and ear, according to the Israeli study. Physician and epidemiologist Dr. Siegal Sadetzki, a lecturer and researcher at Tel Aviv University conducted this recent study. Dr. Sadetzki also found that mobile phone users living in rural areas that were far away from cellular antennas have a higher risk of cancer than people living in the cities, closer to cell phone towers. This finding is contrary to what has been traditionally believed, that proximity to cell phone towers increases cancer risks. In fact, the study revealed that the reason for this difference is that the cellular devices have to emit more radiation for effective communication with the distant towers.

Sadetzki said that Israel is a perfect place for such a study because Israelis were early adopters with regard to cellular technology. "Unlike people in other countries, Israelis were quick to adopt cell phone technology and have continued to be exceptionally heavy users,” she said. “Therefore, the amount of exposure to radiofrequency radiation found in this study has been higher than in previous cell phone studies. This unique population has given us an indication that cell phone use is associated with cancer.” Recent riots in the Druze village of Peki’in were spurred by locals’ belief that cell phone towers were the cause of the village’s burgeoning cancer rate. The refusal to allow nearby towers, coupled with the nearly 100 percent usage-rate of cell phones, may be the deciding factor.

Meanwhile, past studies have not found an increased risk of cancer among cell phone users, Sadetzki says, because they focused on brain tumors and did not include genuine long-term users. Sadetzki’s study included 500 Israelis diagnosed with benign and malignant tumors of the salivary gland. The research also involved studying the users cell phone habits and comparing them to a control group of 1,300 healthy Israelis. Sadetzki's findings were published in the American Journal of Epidemiology as part of the international Interphone Study, which is working to determine the risks caused by cell phone usage.

Sadetzki believes further study is necessary, but encourages precautions such as using the cell phone’s speaker phone technology, using ear-pieces, and keeping the phone away from the body while it is in use. "While I think this technology is here to stay, I believe precautions should be taken in order to diminish the exposure and lower the risk for health hazards," she said. “The question is not if we use it, but how we use it.”

Previous studies into the links between phones and cancer have generated conflicting results with a number of studies linking cell phone usage and cancers of the head and ear.

Nevada Hepatitis C Outbreak Tied to Las Vegas Clinic. Thousands Now At Risk for Hepatitis, HIV

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Hepatitis C and other blood borne diseases now threaten thousands of people in Nevada, thanks to the unsafe way anesthesia was administered at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. At least six people who received treatment at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada have already tested positive for Hepatitis C, but health officials in the state have urged another 40,000 to be tested for the virus, as well as HIV.

Hepatitis C is a blood disorder that is transmitted through blood-to-blood contact. Hepatitis C for the most part is asymptomatic and often leads to chronic, and long-term infection resulting in approximately 70% of those infected developing liver disease. Hepatitis C is a risk factor for liver cancer and can lead to the need for a liver transplant. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, and is transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids, including blood-to-blood contact.

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada Health has been under investigation since early January, after health officials learned of three people who had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C. According to the Southern Nevada Health District, a total of six people contracted Hepatitis C after being treated at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada. Five of them were treated the same day in late September; the sixth is believed to have been infected in July, the district said. The Southern Nevada Health District investigation revealed that “unsafe injection practices related to the administration of anesthesia medication might have exposed patients to the blood of other patients,” the statement said.

The Hepatitis C virus may have been spread when clinic staff reused syringes and used a single dose of anesthesia medication on multiple patients, the district said. A syringe would become contaminated by the backflow of blood when patients with a blood-borne disease were injected with medication, health officials said. That syringe, in turn, would be reused to withdraw medication from a different vial. That vial could become contaminated and result in infection.

The Southern Nevada Health District said that the unsafe practices had been in place for several years at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, and may have put others at risk. About 40,000 patients who received injections of anesthesia at the clinic will be told of the potential exposure in letters arriving next week. Anyone who received anesthesia at the clinic from March 2004 to Jan. 11 should be tested for the virus, along with Hepatitis B and HIV. The Southern Nevada Health Districts patient notification will be the largest of its kind in the country.

This is not the first time an outbreak of Hepatitis was blamed on medical practitioners who reused syringes or reused multidose vials of anesthesia on more than one patient. Late last year, the New York State Department of Health warned thousands of people treated by Long Island anesthesiologist Harvey Finkelstein that they were at risk for Hepatitis C, B and HIV. Finkelstein also was known to reuse syringes. At least one person is known to have contracted Hepatitis C as a result of Finkelstein's unsanitary practices, and another six patients tested positive for the disease, although it is not absolutely certain that the virus was the result of Finkelstein's treatment. Another six tested positive for Hepatitis B.

Hepatitis A Warning Issued for Madonna, Demi, Ashton and Others Who Frequent Socialista in NYC

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Hepatitis A was apparently the unwelcome guest at a star-studded party held at a posh New York City nightclub earlier this month. New York City health officials have reportedly warned Madonna, Demi Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow and other A-list attendees of star Ashton Kutcher's 30th birthday bash at Socialista that they may have been exposed to Hepatitis A. They -- and anyone else who made a visit to Socialista on three nights in early February -- have been advised to get a Hepatitis A vaccine as a precaution.

Hepatitis A is a contagious liver infection. The virus is found in the stool of infected people, and can be spread if they do not wash their hands thoroughly after using the bathroom. Symptoms of Hepatitis A include low-grade fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, yellowing of the skin, dark brown urine, loss of appetite and fatigue. Symptoms of Hepatitis A can last from two to nine months. Once someone has been infected with Hepatitis A, there is no real treatment. Usually, bed rest is prescribed, and efforts are made to make the patient’s symptoms more tolerable until the disease runs its course. In some instances, a patient will be hospitalized to treat dehydration or liver problems. Sometimes patients with a severe case of Hepatitis A will require a liver transplant.

According to the New York City Department of Health, a bartender who worked at the West Village nightclub on February 7, February 8 and February 11 has tested positive for Hepatitis A. Kutcher's birthday party was held at Socialist on February 7. A health department official told The New York Times that as many as 1,000 other people might have been at Socialista on those nights. The restaurant has turned over lists of names from 30 to 40 reservations made on those nights, but the department has not gone through credit card receipts.

Health officials said yesterday the department had learned of the case on Tuesday and on Wednesday had sent an inspector to Socialista, at 505 West Street, between Jane and Horatio Streets. According to the New York Times, the health department issued what it called a “precautionary notification” after the inspector reported that no soap was available for hand washing at the restaurant.

Immune globulin (IG), a preparation of antibodies can prevent Hepatitis A if it is administered within two weeks of exposure. The New York City Health Department is offering Hepatitis A vaccines to Socialista attendees. The department will give the vaccinations at Public School 41, at 116 West 11th Street on Friday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Outbreaks of Hepatitis A have been linked to popular restaurants in the past. The largest Hepatitis A outbreak in US history occurred in Pennsylvania in 2005. More than 500 people contracted Hepatitis A, and three died after eating at a Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurant. That outbreak was linked to tainted green onions.

MRSA Infections Turning Deadly

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

MRSA, the mutated form of staph infection, is even more dangerous than previously believed. Once seen chiefly in hospitals, MRSA is now striking healthy people outside of hospitals and nursing homes and has emerged as a community-based—as opposed to hospital-derived—disease. Among patients infected with community-based methicillan-resistant Staphylococcus aureus—MRSA—over 20 percent were dead within one year, according to new research conducted at McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Canada.

According to Dr. Samy Suissa, of McGill, doctors have to be on the lookout "for increasingly frequent community-acquired MRSA infections that too often turn out to be fatal." Suissa and colleagues used a United Kingdom general practice database to identify 1439 MRSA patients diagnosed in the community from 2001 to 2004. Each patient was compared with up to 10 matched patients without MRSA. All of the subjects were older than 18 years of age—the median subject age was 70 years—and none were hospitalized within the previous two years. The MRSA patients were more likely to have other medical conditions, the researchers report in the online medical journal BMC Medicine.

According to Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures for 2005, nearly 19,000 people died in the U.S. from MRSA infections and an additional 94,000 were seriously sickened. Of the 19,000 patients studied in 2005, 2,000 patients were healthy people contracting community-based MRSA. In Canada, about 220,000 people are sickened and an additional 8,000 to 12,000 die each year. Also, well-known but not widely publicized, patients surviving MRSA often require amputations to cure the infections. MRSA has infected players from four NFL teams, some NYC firefighters, and has infected or killed a growing number of school children.

After one year of follow-up, 21.8 percent of the MRSA patients studied had died compared to only five percent of those in the non-MRSA research group. "Our study suggests that MRSA can be a potentially serious infection in the community leading to increased mortality," the investigators concluded, adding that the "judicious use of antibiotics is essential to prevent these quite deadly community-acquired MRSA infections," given the emergence of antibiotic resistance when antibiotics are used indiscriminately.

Because bacteria want to survive, they adapt to antibiotics, mutating as we overuse them just enough to ensure drugs have no effect on them and allowing them to spread with increasing power. Today, super bugs are epidemic, incurable, and deadly diseases that stemmed from easy-to-treat infections such as the mutated form of staph. In the case of MRSA, if the infection is not treated early, it becomes resistant to all but the one antibiotic of last resort. Formerly this antibiotic was used in only the most potent of cases; however, today, this drug is being used more and more and—as a result—MRSA is showing signs of developing resistance to this last drug. The more we prescribe antibiotics the stronger the bacteria become, learning how to better adapt to emerging infections and medicines. New MRSA drugs are being developed; however, it’s just a matter of time before the superbug will become resistant to them, too.

Cell Phone Use Linked to Lower Sperm Counts

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Cell phone exposure - already a suspect in some types of cancer - has been linked to decreased fertility in some men. It seems, spending hours on a cell phone each day may affect the quality of a man's sperm based on finding from a study of 361 men seen at the infertility clinic at the Cleveland Clinic.

What the researchers learned was that—on average—the more time the men spent on their cell phones each day, the lower their sperm count. Not only did the study reveal a lowering of sperm count, researchers discovered that the men in the study who used cell phone heavily had a greater percentage of abnormal sperm. The findings did not find that cell phones damage sperm. "Our results show a strong association of cell phone use with decreased semen quality. However, they do not prove a cause-and- effect relationship," lead researcher Dr. Ashok Agarwal told Reuters Health. The findings, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, add to fuel to the ongoing debate and issues about and surrounding the potential health effects and risks of cell phones and other wireless devices. Some studies, for example, have linked long-term cell phone use to an increased risk of brain tumors.

The general concern is that, over time, the electromagnetic energy emitted from mobile phones could theoretically harm body tissue, for instance, by damaging DNA.

Agarwal and his colleagues based their findings on semen samples from the 361 men who came to their infertility clinic over the period of one year. All of the men providing samples were questioned about their cell phone habits. In general, the researchers found, sperm count and sperm quality tended to decline as daily cell phone hours increased. Men who said they used their phones for more than four hours each day had the lowest average sperm count and the fewest normal, viable sperm. "We infer from our results that heavy cell phone use...is associated with a lower semen quality," Agarwal said. It remains unclear if cell phones somehow directly affect men's fertility. Agarwal said he and his colleagues have two studies underway that are looking to clarify this issue. In one, researchers are exposing semen samples to electromagnetic radiation from cell phones to see what, if any, effects occur. The second study is a follow-up to the current study that is assessing a larger group of men. Agarwal said this study is more rigorously designed and will account for certain other factors such as lifestyle habits and occupational exposures that might also have an effect on sperm quality.

Last month the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) called for a re-examination of cell phone health risks saying that past studies related to cell phone radiation need to be re-examined given the recent rise in mobile devices and their use. This follows a recent suggestion from the U.S. National Research Council advising further studies should be conducted on children and pregnant women to determine if cell phones or other wireless devices could damage health.

Gadolinium MRI NSF Injuries are a Risk Kidney Patients Need to Know About

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Keywords: Injury | Gadolinium | Kidney | NSF | Dye | Contrast

Kidney patients need to know that MRI procedures that involve the use of gadolinium contrast dyes could put them at risk of developing Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF). Unfortunately, there are no alternatives for gadolinium contrast dyes available at this time, and sometime such an MRI is truly necessary. For that reason, doctors must take added precautions to lessen the chance that kidney patients undergoing MRI with gadolinium contrast dyes develop NSF

NSF is a debilitating disease that was first seen in patients in 1997, and it wasn’t mentioned in medical literature until 2000. NSF leads to excessive formation of connective tissue in the skin and internal organs. It is characterized by high blood pressure, burning, itching, swelling and hardening of the skin. Other symptoms include red or dark patches on the skin; pain deep in the hip bones or ribs and muscle weakness. NSF can progress to the point of causing severe stiffness in joints, and it can lead to death.

There is currently no cure for NSF and no one understands its specific cause. However, the evidence that gadolinium contrast agents play a role in its development is fast becoming irrefutable. Dutch scientists made the first connection between NSF and gadolinium in 2006. Since then, researchers at Yale University have reported that 95-percent of those with NSF had an MRI that involved a gadolinium MRI contrast dye two to three months before their symptoms appeared. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital also have found that kidney patients who had undergone MRIs with gadolinium MRI contrast dyes were 10 times more likely to develop NSF than patient who had not been exposed to such agents.

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) asked the manufactures of gadolinium contrast dyes to add a black box warning to the product labels about NSF risks in 2007. The FDA also warned that people with kidney disease should avoid gadolinium contrast agents. However, this is not always possible. If an MRI with a gadolinium contrast dye is required, the FDA has warned that the dose of the gadolinium contrast agent should not exceed that recommended in the product's label and that a repeat administration of the gadolinium contrast agent should not be performed until enough time has passed to allow for the gadolinium contrast agent from the first MRI to be eliminated from the body. The FDA recommends that patients already undergoing dialysis receive a dialysis treatment shortly following administration of a gadolinium contrast dye. Dialysis may help eliminate the gadolinium from the body, however it is not known if this will actually prevent NSF.

The FDA has also warned that the use of gadolinium contrast dyes in a procedure call Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) could put kidney patients at an even greater risk of developing NSF because these procedures often use far more gadolinium than a typical MRI. The FDA has not approved the use of gadolinium contrast dyes for use in MRA.

CDC Probes Mystery Disease Tied to Pig Brains

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

An illness among workers at pig slaughterhouses had the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) worried, and it has begun investigating the mystery ailment. The new disease has surfaced in 12 of 1,300 employees at the Quality Pork Processors factory near Minneapolis. Patients complain of burning sensations, numbness, and weakness in the arms and legs. For some, walking is difficult and work impossible and, while symptoms have slowly lessened in severity in some, it has not completely disappeared in any of the patients.

The CDC and they are looking into about 25 other large-scale pig slaughterhouses in 13 states to locate other cases. CDC investigators believe they found a few more at an Indiana slaughterhouse, one of only two places other than the Minnesota plant that use compressed air to empty pig skulls. All three establishments have ceased that activity.

The illness is similar to some known conditions, but is not an exact match to any, nor is its cause. The ailment—tentatively being called "progressive inflammatory neuropathy"—resembles Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune condition that sometimes follows fairly benign infections, particularly those caused by an intestinal bacterium called Campylobacter. In the Minnesota cases no germ is involved. Apparently, the seemingly new illness is a result of inhaling microscopic flecks of pig brain. "This appears to be something new," Minnesota's state epidemiologist, Ruth Lynfield, said last week.

Before it closed, the Minnesota packinghouse slaughtered 1,900 pigs a day, working two meat-cutting shifts and one clean-up shift. Virtually every part of the pig was used, including ears, entrails, and bone. The 12 Quality Pork workers stricken with the neurological illness are mostly Hispanic immigrants and all work at or near the "head table" where the animals' severed heads are processed. One of the steps in the process involves removing the pigs' brains with compressed air forced into the skull through the spinal cord entrance. Brains are then packed and sent to markets in Korea and China as food.

Investigators do not believe the meat was contaminated and have theorized that the harvesting technique—"blowing brains" on the floor—produces aerosols of brain matter. Once the matter is inhaled, the body’s immune system produces antibodies that attack the brain compounds. Apparently, the antibodies also attack the body's own nerve tissue because of its similarity to that of the pig.

In November 2006, a worker came down with fever, malaise and rapidly progressing weakness. When he was admitted to a Rochester hospital he was unable to walk. Weeks, or possibly months before, he was assigned the job of "blowing brains" on one of the shifts. Like many of the subsequent patients, he had evidence in his bloodstream and spinal fluid of inflammation and was given high-dose intravenous steroids, as is common for similar conditions. Over the course of a few months he regained most of his function, but the cause of the problem remained unknown. In April, he returned to work at the head table. Within two months, he developed widespread pain and sensation or weakness. He was taken off work in June and recovered over the summer, returning to the plant in September. By November, his painful symptoms returned.

Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) Study Finds Link Between Gadolinium Used in MRI and Debilitating Disease

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Keywords: NSF | Lawyer | Side Effects | Information | Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis | NFD | MRI | MRA

Another Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) study has tied the debilitating condition to Gadolinium contrast agents used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This latest NSF research was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which examined a cluster of NSF patients at one unidentified St. Louis Missouri Hospital. The CDC found that the exposure to Gadolinium contrast dyes during MRI was independently associated with the development of NSF.

NSF (sometimes called Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy or NFD) was first seen in patients in 1997, and it wasn’t mentioned in medical literature until 2000. NSF leads to excessive formation of connective tissue in the skin and internal organs. It is characterized by high blood pressure, burning, itching, swelling and hardening of the skin. Other symptoms include red or dark patches on the skin; pain deep in the hip bones or ribs and muscle weakness. NSF can progress to the point of causing severe stiffness in joints, and it can lead to death.

There is currently no cure for NSF and no one understands its specific cause. However, the evidence that Gadolinium MRI contrast agents play a role in its development is fast becoming irrefutable. Researchers at Yale University have reported that 95-percent of those with NSF had an MRI that involved a Gadolinium MRI contrast dye two to three months before their symptoms appeared. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital also have found that kidney patients who had undergone MRIs with Gadolinium MRI contrast dyes were 10 times more likely to develop NSF than patient who had not been exposed to such agents.

Gadolinium contrast dyes are used in MRI because they make it far easier for a diagnostician to differentiate between normal and abnormal tissue. While the tests can be done without the Gadolinium based contrast agent, they are nowhere near as effective. The FDA has warned that patients with kidney problems not be given Gadolinium based MRI contrast dyes unless it is absolutely necessary because of their association with NSF. Unfortunately, there are not yet any alternatives to gadolinium based MRI contrast agents.

The CDC study of the St. Louis NSF cases only reinforces the link between NSF and Gadolinium. According to the CDC, in May 2006, nephrologists at the St. Louis hospital reported a cluster of NFS among patients treated in their dialysis units. The CDC conducted an investigation to determine the number of affected patients and identify risk factors for NFS. Of the 19 patients eventually included in the study, only five had no identified gadolinium exposure within 1 year preceding NFS diagnosis. However, of these, four had gadolinium exposure from 16 to 68 months preceding diagnosis. Thirteen patients had multiple gadolinium-containing contrast exposures during the preceding year.

According to the CDC, the study indicated that exposure to Gadolinium-containing contrast agents during MRI studies was linked with the development of NFS. The CDC cautioned that clinicians should be aware of the potential for NFS, and when possible, should avoid use of Gadolinium-containing contrast agents in patients with advanced kidney disease.

Morgellons Disease Research Gaining Momentum

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Morgellons Disease, a mysterious disease marked by strange skin eruptions, if finally getting attention from researchers. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is paying California-based Kaiser Permanente $338,000 to test and interview patients suffering from Morgellons, a bizarre and recently emerging skin disorder. The CDC began the collaborative study to determine whether Morgellons is a legitimate illness or patient imagination. Both Kaiser and the CDC will gather information about the illness, including common symptoms, possible causes, and risk factors and will look only at patients in northern California, the state with the highest number of self-reported cases.

Biochemist Vitaly Citovsky of Stony Brook University has been studying Morgellons for a year. A range of symptoms, including non-healing skin eruptions, characterizes the disorder, called Morgellons by some and fiber disease by others. Patients report stringy, fibrous, and seed-like granules and/or black speck-like material emerging from lesions. Lesions range from minor to disfiguring and may not heal. "It's not recognized officially as a medical condition," Citovsky said Monday. "Our dermatology department does not recognize it. Many people who are affected have bizarre, inconceivable symptoms." Citovsky said doctors have no idea whether to categorize it as a disease with a specific cause, a syndrome with several components, or an emotional problem.

Patients also report odd skin sensations, such as stinging, crawling, and biting; some cite joint pain, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia; others cite problems with concentration and memory, including changes in cognition, memory loss, mood disturbance, and neurological manifestations. A few report live worms or fibrous material bursting through their skin.

Morgellons is a poorly understood condition a growing number of physicians believes to be a chronic infectious disease, but which is not yet fully recognized by the medical community. "Many consider it a psychiatric problem," Citovsky said. "However, there might be something that they develop," he added, whose laboratory analyses discovered the chemical make-up of the fibers. "They're made up of polysaccharides, sugars; long chains of sugar molecules. The problem is the people who deny the existence of the disease. They say this is lint or dirt that people find on their skin, but it's not dirt, it's not lint, it's not twigs. But on the other hand, it is not a living creature."

Citovsky received samples of the fibrous material last year from San Francisco physician Raphael Stricker. Stricker wrote the first paper on Morgellons, along with biologist Mary Leitao, whose son suffered from the disorder and who named the disorder after she found a medical history book reference on a 17th century disease in which fibrous material emerged from people's skin. She now runs a Morgellons foundation in Pennsylvania. Stricker sent samples of the material to Citovsky's lab because he thought the Stony Brook biochemist could produce answers. Citovsky received a small grant from Morgellons Research Foundation and said the CDC rebuffed him when he offered to share his research, hoping to join the effort. "I said, 'We're doing a little work on this, and do you want to know what we're doing?'  They said no.”

At this time, the cause of Morgellons is unknown and there is no cure.

Hand Gel Sanitizers Not Much Help in Hospitals

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

A study of sanitizing hand gels that have become popular with doctors and nurses turned up interesting results. The Nebraska Medical Center’s found alcohol-based hand gels do not offer sufficient protection in killing germs and slowing the spread of hospital acquired infections.

Doctors and nurses will often skip soap and water in favor of hand gel believing that gels work quicker and better on killing bacteria than traditional soap and water; however, hand gels In the Nebraska Medical Center, medical workers nearly doubled their use of the alcohol-based gel but doing so had no impact in decreasing the rate of hospital acquired infections among patients. Dr. Mark Rupp, the doctor who let the study, pointed to a variety of issues, including rings and fingernails that are too long and hard to clean, poor catheter handling, and treatment areas that had not been sanitized. "Hand hygiene is still important, but it's not a panacea," said Rupp, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Rupp’s study contradicts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hospital guidelines that say better hand hygiene—whether by frequent washing or use of sanitizing gels—has been shown to cut the spread of hospital infections, a growing problem in the U.S. The spread of infection-causing germs in U.S. hospitals is responsible for an estimated 1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths annually, according to the CDC and include drug-resistant staph, urinary tract infections, and ventilator-related pneumonia, among others. "There are many factors that influence the development of hospital-acquired infections. It would be naive to think that a single, simple intervention would fix this problem," Rupp said. Rupp’s study appears in the January issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

Some research has shown that alcohol-based hand gels are more effective, faster, and easier to use than soap and water. The findings of the new study were based on 300 hours of hand hygiene observations of nurses and doctors in two comparable intensive care units over a two-year period.   More gel dispensers were placed in the ICUs; usage rose from 37 percent to 68 percent in one unit and 38 percent to 69 percent in the other. Compliance for hospital hand washing is estimated to be about 40 percent. Every two months, bacteria samples were taken from health workers' hands, which were found to be cleaner when using gels. Infection rates in both ICUs were relatively low, according to the study and researchers found no significant relationship between hand gel use and infections among patients. In fact, in one unit, the infection rate rose when hand gel was widely available and its use promoted.

Rupp said hospital-borne infections cannot be stopped by better hand hygiene alone since infections are not limited to person-to-person contact and suggests hand gels be combined with other measures, such as better cleaning of hospital units, proper insertion and maintenance of catheters, and antibiotic use only when necessary to help curb the incidence of drug-resistant bacteria and super bugs. Rupp suggested workers not wear rings and trim nails more than CDC recommendations; bacteria are present when the nail only extends just beyond the fingertip.

MRSA Strain Spreading Voraciously, Shows Antibiotic Resistance

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

MRSA—methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus—is so prevalent that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates about 32 infections for every 100,000 people. Now, the MRSA linked to infections in communities appears to be caused by one strain that is spreading with voracity, say federal scientists studying the epidemic in two federally sponsored investigations and a third smaller one, funded by the state Health Department and taking place on Long Island. Researchers agree that understanding MRSA is important because of the disease’s ability to elude the effects a variety of very potent antibiotics. In the past, when someone was infected with staph, the cure was simple: A few doses of penicillin. This is no longer the case; fears of mutation and an antibiotic resistant superbug are reality. Infectious diseases become resistant to bacteria because of antibiotic overuse and abuse. Bacteria want to survive, and they do, learning to adapt and mutate just enough to ensure antibiotics have no effect on them and giving them a wide berth to spread with increasing power.

Reporting in today’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, microbiologist Frank DeLeo found that MRSA USA300 is the epidemic strain responsible for many of the infections isolated in communities nationwide and is the same strain recently discovered in San Francisco’s gay community. DeLeo said USA300 has numerous subtypes or clones which emerge from the parent strain, "We anticipate that new USA300 derivatives will emerge within the next several years and that these strains will have a wide range of disease-causing potential." DeLeo conducts MRSA research at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' facilities in Hamilton, Montana and his research is the first to compare DNA fingerprints of MRSA from various parts of the country and rules out the theory that multiple MRSA strains emerged randomly with similar characteristics

With early and proper diagnosis—when there is a small eruption on the skin and before reaching the bloodstream—MRSA is easily treated. But MRSA spreads rapidly and can lead to respiratory failure, attacking vital organs. Survivors are not always returned to pre-MRSA condition, losing limbs, hearing, and full organ use. Hand hygiene is the best way to avoid MRSA infections.

At one time, MRSA was a hospital-acquired organism. Today, it is spreading in communities and being introduced into hospitals from the outside. Last year, 94,000 Americans developed MRSA; 20% died. Dr. Bruce Farber, who is receiving a $200,000 NY State grant to analyze hospital-acquired MRSA said, "We all know that MRSA is an important, if not the most important hospital-acquired and community-acquired organism."   Farber, head of infectious diseases at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, and colleagues will screen for MRSA strains before patients are admitted to the nine intensive care units in five of North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System's hospitals; research will likely involve over 5,000 patients. The second federal study, reported in the Journal of Immunology, reveals how MRSA eludes the human immune system, avoiding destruction by the voracious white blood cells called neutrophils that ingest and destroy microbes and release hydrogen peroxide and hypochlorous acid, a chemical similar to household bleach.

Cell Phone Studies Urged Amid Health Fears

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Cell Phones are continue to raise health concerns. On Thursday, researchers from the U.S. National Research Council advised that further studies should be conducted on children and pregnant women to determine if cell phones or other wireless devices could damage health. A few studies have indicated that there is a possible link between mobile telephone use and brain tumors, although far more show no connection. But because wireless devices have become almost ubiquitous, researchers want to ensure they aren’t responsible for cancer or other diseases.

In a recent series of studies, three separate European research groups looked at the effects of cell phone radiation emission on the brain. The research revealed there is an increased risk of brain tumors in people who used cell phones for at least ten years. Two studies found a link between brain tumor location and the side of the head where people reported they held their phones. One study suggested the greatest risk for disease was is in people who began using cell phones prior to age 20. Two of the studies—one conducted in England and the other in Germany—are part of a larger 13-nation Interphone Study, an effort sanctioned by the World Health Organizations. These studies found an increased risk of a fatal cancer called glioma in people who had used cell phones 10 years or more.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked the National Research Council for recommend on future studies. The Council, which advises Congress and the federal government on scientific matters, held a meeting with engineers and biologists—among others—and has released the full report which states that most studies have looked only at short-term effects on healthy adults and additional study needs to be conducted on multiple, long-term, low-intensity radiofrequency (RF) exposure. "Measuring the amount of RF energy received by juveniles, children, pregnant women, and fetuses from wireless devices and RF base station antennas could help define exposure ranges for various populations," the council said in a statement. "Although it is unknown whether children are more susceptible to RF exposure, they may be at increased risk because of their developing organ and tissue systems," it added. "Additionally, Specific Absorption Rates for children are likely to be higher than for adults, because exposure wavelength is closer to the whole-body resonance frequency for shorter individuals." The report also notes that children today will experience a longer period of RF field exposure from mobile phones than adults, because they will most likely start using them at an early age.

Researchers should also analyze the different types of antennas for the amount of RF energy they deliver to different parts of the body.

Most studies have looked at the way the electromagnetic fields created by phones warm tissue; however, the levels of the fields are thought too small to have a heating effect. Instead, some researchers believe the fields have the power to disrupt chemical bonds within cells or damage DNA. Graham Philips of PowerWatch—a nonprofit, independent advocacy group working in the United Kingdom’s electromagnetic field and microwave radiation health debate—states that "This is more evidence - and strong evidence too - that mobile phones have a biological effect."

Morgellons Disease to Get CDC Scrutiny

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Morgellons disease, a mysterious skin ailment that some doctors aren’t even sure is a real disease, is now the subject of a national study. On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began a study—in collaboration with Kaiser Permanante—Morgellons disease, which causes a crawling sensation and lesions that won't heal. This is the agency’s first attempt to determine whether Morgellons is a legitimate illness or caused by patient imagination.

Dr. Michele Pearson, principal investigator for the CDC, would not acknowledge that the illness is real, but said the agency has received enough inquiries during the past year that it deserves to be considered and, hopefully, explained saying, "Clearly the suffering that these patients are experiencing is real." The two groups will work to gather information about the illness, including common symptoms, possible causes, and shared risk factors. Researchers will look only at patients in northern California, the state with the highest number of self-reported cases.

Morgellons disease is a poorly understood condition a growing number of physicians believes to be a chronic infectious disease, but which is not yet fully recognized by the medical community. Symptoms include itching, biting, and crawling sensations; filaments, fibers, seed-like granules, and/or black speck-like material which emerge from the skin; skin lesions which range from minor to disfiguring and may not heal; Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia (ME), joint pain, and significant problems with concentration and memory, including changes in cognition, memory loss, mood disturbance, and serious neurological manifestations. At this time, the cause of Morgellons disease is unknown and there is no known cure.

Many patients report feeling abandoned by the medical community, because they experience increasingly bizarre, disfiguring and painful symptoms, while often being unable to receive medical treatment. Also, because they can no longer work, a large number of patients become financially devastated and without health insurance. Most people who suffer from Morgellons report feeling frightened and hopeless. Added to this is the skepticism in the medical community about whether the illness actually exists; many doctors believe patients who show Morgellons’ symptoms suffer from delusional parasitosis, a psychotic illness in which patients believe they are infected with parasites.

It is unknown if Morgellons is contagious; however, multiple family members seem to be affected at the same time in many cases. As a matter-of-fact, many families in Houston, Texas are self-diagnosed with the condition, making the area a Morgellons hot spot, according to the Morgellons Research Foundation, a nonprofit group that has become the primary source of information about the disorder. Over 11,000 families have contacted the foundation indicating they believe they have the illness. "What needs to be done ultimately and quickly is that the cause of this illness needs to be identified," said Mary Leitao, a biologist who gave the disorder its name and founded the foundation in 2002 after her 2-year-old son began showing symptoms. "It's frustrating to have a sick child and not be able to get help, to have to find your own answers, fight through a system, and then to be treated in such a cruel way by certain groups that just cannot accept that this is real."

Pig Slaughterhouse Worker Disease Appears in Indiana

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

A mysterious disease affecting pig slaughterhouse workers appears to be spreading. Indiana slaughterhouse workers became ill with symptoms similar to an outbreak at the Quality Pork Processors, Inc. slaughterhouse in Minnesota. Those working in the area of the slaughterhouse where compressed air is used to remove pig brains, have neurological symptoms similar to those involved in the Minnesota outbreak, federal health officials said Wednesday. The employees who became ill in both slaughterhouses, worked in an area on the killing floors' known at the "head tables," where the animals' heads are processed, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokeswoman Lola Russell said. Both plants use the same method of shooting compressed air into the animals’ skulls to remove their brains, a noisy, smelly, bloody process. The number of those ill in Indiana and the name of the slaughterhouse remains undisclosed. Some scientists suspect inhaled brain matter—turned into mist when compressed—may have triggered the illnesses. "It may be associated with this particular technique of using high-pressure air to remove the pig's brain," Russell said.

The Indiana workers' symptoms included changes in sensation and weakness in their limbs, Russell said, similar to the symptoms reported among the 12 Minnesota workers. In the Minnesota case, health officials suspect workers were exposed to something in the brain tissue that triggered the illness. Officials are continuing to investigate, but so far they haven't identified any viruses or bacteria that could cause the disease. Five of the 12 workers afflicted have been diagnosed with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or CIDP, a rare immune disorder that attacks the nerves and produces tingling, numbness, and weakness in the arms and legs, sometimes causing permanent damage. CIDP attacks the lining of the nerves, slowing or blocking the brain’s signals to the muscles; exactly what triggers the attack is unknown. Dr. Kenneth Gorson, a neurologist at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, has said that victims can recover fairly quickly if the illness is caught early; however, at least one of the Minnesota workers was told she might never work again. In advanced cases, Gorson said treatment arrests, but does not reverse, the disease. In advanced cases, immune globulin infusions or a plasma-exchange technique are employed to remove antibodies from the blood; another option is the steroid prednisone. Typically, new cases of CIDP occur at the rate of one or two per 100,000 people annually, according the Mayo Clinic. Minnesota state epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield said the discovery of the Indiana illness could help her investigation. "That may help us figure out why these workers are getting sick," she said.

After the Minnesota slaughterhouse illness was reported, the CDC looked into slaughtering practices in 25 large pork processing plants in 13 states, and found only two other plants—one in Indiana, the other in Nebraska—that used compressed air to remove pigs' brains. Minnesota health officials said the pork plants in all three states have voluntarily stopped that practice.

Pork brains are sometimes fried and eaten in sandwiches or with gravy in some areas. But the market is small, and the American Meat Institute, which represents most U.S. pork processors, does not track sales.