Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
South Africa's Tiger Brands to fight listeria class action
South Africa's leading food producer Tiger Brands said on Wednesday it will fight a class action lawsuit over its role in the world's largest ever listeria outbreak. The listeriosis outbreak, the infection caused by the bacteria, killed more than 200 people in South Africa last year and was traced back to a factory run by Tiger Brands-owned Enterprise Foods.
3D goggles may soon help surgeons see better
In a first, heart surgeons in Poland used 3D goggles to help them see inside a patient's chest as they opened up a narrowed heart valve, according to a report in the European Heart Journal. Although the imaging machines surgeons typically use to peer into the body collect data in three dimensions, the images are displayed on two-dimensional screens. That means surgeons doing minimally invasive procedures have no depth perception and need to periodically tap internal surfaces to get oriented.
St. Jude doctors claim cure for 'bubble boy' disease
Relying on the trickery used by the AIDS virus to infect people, doctors at two medical centers say they have cured 10 infants of so-called bubble boy disease, a genetic defect that leaves children, typically boys, without an immune system. The technique replaces a defective version of a gene the body needs to build cells that seek out and destroy invading germs. Earlier versions of the treatment have been less efficient and also posed a risk of triggering leukemia.
Ebola survivors comfort sick and frightened in Congo outbreak
Wearing a disposable gown and gloves for protection, Jeanine Masika cradles a 2-year-old Ebola patient and offers the listless toddler teaspoons of brown soup. Most health care workers need a surgical mask, goggles, hooded coveralls, an apron, rubber boots and two pairs of gloves to avoid catching the virus that typically kills around half those it infects.
Pleasant smells may curb cigarette cravings
Smokers may find cigarettes easier to resist when they smell things they enjoy like peppermint or chocolate, a small study suggests. Most adult smokers say they want to quit, and many try. But about half of smokers who attempt to stop smoking relapse within two weeks, researchers note in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
FDA orders transvaginal surgical mesh pulled from market
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday ordered makers of transvaginal surgical mesh implants to immediately stop their sale and distribution in the United States, the latest action by the agency to tackle safety issues related to the devices. The FDA said Boston Scientific Corp and Coloplast A/S did not demonstrate a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness of these devices in their premarket applications. The companies will have 10 days to submit their plan to withdraw these products from the market, the FDA said in a statement https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm636114.htm.
Yale study revives cellular activity in pig brains hours after death
Yale University scientists have succeeded in restoring basic cellular activity in pigs' brains hours after their deaths in a finding that may one day lead to advances in treating human stroke and brain injuries, researchers reported on Wednesday. The scientists emphasized that their work did not even come close to reawakening consciousness in the disembodied pig brains. In fact the experiment was specifically designed to avoid such an outcome, however improbable.
U.S. health officials probe multi-state Salmonella outbreak
U.S. federal health officials said on Tuesday an investigation is underway over a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Newport infections linked to frozen ground tuna, which were imported into the United States by seafood retailer Jensen Tuna. No deaths were reported so far, but seven people have been hospitalized, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a statement http://bit.ly/2VaoETq.
U.S. measles cases surge nearly 20 percent in early April, CDC says
The number of confirmed cases of measles in the United States this year jumped by nearly 20 percent in the week ended April 11, in the country's second-worst outbreak in nearly two decades, federal health officials reported on Monday. As of April 11, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 555 cases of the disease since the beginning of the year, up from 465 cases confirmed by April 4. The cases were found in 20 states spanning the country.
Dozens of doctors in Appalachia charged in opioid fraud bust
Dozens of medical professionals in Appalachia, a region hard-hit by the U.S. opioid crisis, have been charged with writing hundreds of thousands of illegal prescriptions and committing health care fraud, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. Sixty people, including 31 doctors, were accused of illegally prescribing opioid drugs in exchange for cash and sexual favors in the rural, mountainous region stretching from Pennsylvania and West Virginia to Alabama and Louisiana.
