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Sanofi Pasteur Begins Shipments Of Fluzone(R), Influenza Virus Vaccine For 2009 - 2010 Seasonal Influenza
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY), announced that it has shipped the first doses of the 2009-2010 formulation of Fluzone((R)), Influenza Virus Vaccine. Fluzone vaccine is indicated for active immunization in people 6 months of age and older against influenza disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and type B contained in the seasonal influenza vaccine. Fluzone vaccine is the only vaccine licensed in the United States for children as young as 6 months of age through adults.
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Long Term Care Forms Part Of Health Plan
Long-term care plays a role in the Senate HELP committee health plan released Tuesday by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. The Associated Press reports that "Americans would be able to buy long-term care insurance from the government for $65 a month under a provision tucked into sweeping health care legislation that senators will begin considering next week."
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Study Links Recurrence Of Abnormal Cervical Cells To Age, Treatment Type
Older women, women with a higher grade of precancerous cells and women who undergo a freezing procedure known as cryotherapy to remove abnormal cervical cells are at a higher risk than other groups that the problem cells will return or develop into cervical cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Reuters reports. For the study, Joy Melnikow of the University of California-Davis and colleagues compared 37,000 women who were treated for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia -- abnormal cervical cells -- from 1986 through 2000 with 71,000 women who had no history of abnormal cervical cells.The researchers found that the risk of cervical cancer and recurrence of medium to severe degrees of CIN was highest for women who were older than age 40, who had been previously treated for severe CIN or whose abnormal cells were treated using cryotherapy. The women underwent cone biopsies a surgical procedure to remove abnormal cells were least likely to have a recurrence of CIN. According to Melnikow, recurrence was most likely to occur within the first six years after treatment. Melnikow said that women who have been treated surgically have higher risks of bleeding and preterm labor. Therefore, younger women who are planning to become pregnant might prefer cryotherapy, she said, adding that younger women"s "risk of recurrence is lower, and a recurrence can be treated again" (Steenhuysen, Reuters, 5/12).
Mental Health

HIV Antibody Tests Unreliable For Early Infections In Teens

A previously healthy teenager shows up at the doctor"s office with a sore throat, fever, aches and general malaise. Routine blood tests are normal, an HIV test comes back negative, and the pediatrician sends the patient home with a diagnosis of acute viral infection. Two weeks later, the teen returns complaining of lingering symptoms and persistent high fevers. This time, a repeat HIV test comes back positive. What happened? The most commonly used rapid HIV test resulted in a false negative the first time around, which happens quite often during the earliest - and most contagious - stages of HIV infection, known as acute retroviral syndrome (ARS), explains Allison Agwu, M.D., a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Children"s Center. Because the rapid HIV screening tests are designed to detect antibodies to the virus, not the virus itself, such tests will only pick up infection in those who have developed antibodies, which most people don"t make until several weeks to several months after infection. Agwu cautions that "if a teen engages in risky behaviors and has symptoms of flu or mononucleosis, pediatricians should look further and not be lulled into a false sense of security by a negative rapid HIV test." Because an estimated 14 teenagers become infected with HIV every day in the United States, because ARS is both under-reported and underdiagnosed and because early infections are highly contagious, ARS should be on every pediatrician"s radar screen, Agwu says. To rule out HIV in teens deemed to be at high risk for sexually transmitted infections, Johns Hopkins HIV experts recommend the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which directly detect the virus" genetic markers, rather than antibodies to the virus. PCR tests, while more expensive than standard antibody tests, can detect the virus within two to three weeks after it enters the body. "Am I suggesting that every teen with flu-like symptoms should get a PCR? No. But I am suggesting that pediatricians take an extra minute to ask probing questions about risk behaviors and exposures in the last two months," Agwu says. "If the answers make you suspicious, then order the PCR." Consider ordering a PCR test if the patient is sexually active or has used injectible drugs and has two or more of the following symptoms: -- enlarged lymph nodes, a particularly telling sign -- night sweats, another key finding -- malaise, fatigue, headaches or a rash -- fever and chills -- persistent or recurrent sore throat and/or cough Johns Hopkins Medicine


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