Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
More Canadians fall sick in huge E. coli beef recall
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Ten people have now fallen
sick from contaminated beef products from a Canadian plant that
sent its meat across Canada and the United States, more than
twice the number earlier reported, health officials said on
Saturday. The latest cases, linked to one of Canada’s
largest-ever meat recalls, include three more illnesses in
Alberta, where the giant XL Foods beef processing plant is
located, two in Quebec and one in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Deadly meningitis outbreak increases to 91 cases
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – U.S. health officials on
Sunday reported an additional 27 cases in a fungal meningitis
outbreak linked to steroid injections that has killed seven
people and now infected 91 in nine states. The U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention reported the new total of 91
cases in an update on its website, up from 64 on Saturday. Most
of the new cases were reported in Michigan, where the total
increased to 20 from eight. Virginia’s total increased to 18
from 11.
Running away common with autism
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Almost half of children with
autism in a new study had run away at least once – and many of
them were missing long enough to cause concern. Researchers
found that kids most often wandered off from their home, school
or a store, and some tried to run away multiple times a day.
Study finds “dramatic” rise in kids’ CT scans
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Emergency rooms across the U.S.
have seen a steep increase in CT scans of kids presenting with
belly ache, while the appendicitis rate hasn’t budged, new
research shows. The x-ray-based scans offer doctors a
high-resolution peek into the body, but their growing
popularity has been trailed by concerns over cancer risks down
the road.
Generic antidepressant not equivalent to original
Wellbutrin: FDA
2012-10-06T180132Z_1_BRE8950BF_RTROPTC_0_US-FDA-ANTIDEPRESSANT.
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Novartis CEO keen to keep dividend, big M&A; not likely:
paper
ZURICH (Reuters) – Novartis is keen to maintain
its dividend and is looking to boost growth via mid-sized
acquisitions, though big deals are unlikely, the Swiss
drugmaker’s chief executive said in a newspaper interview on
Sunday. Like many of its rivals, Novartis is struggling to grow
in the face of patent expiries on key drugs, particularly
Diovan for high blood pressure. It is relying on new products,
like multiple sclerosis pill Gilenya, to fill the gap.
Radiation from Idaho fire posed no health risks: officials
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – Smoke from a wildfire in Idaho
that burned mining sites with traces of uranium and thorium
contained elevated levels of radiation, but none that posed a
risk to human health, state officials said on Friday. The state
Department of Environmental Quality last month took air samples
in North Fork, a town in the burn zone in east-central Idaho,
after the so-called Mustang Complex fire swept through a former
uranium mine and two abandoned gold mines.
