A physician has been suspended from practice, and found guilty of incompetence, after misdiagnosing two internal medical problems as “infections,” according to the provincial College of Physicians and Surgeons. The college ruled last week that a Cape Breton doctor was guilty of both “incompetence and professional misconduct.”

Dr. Stani Osif practiced at Northside General Hospital in North Sydney from 1996 until last June. A college review board spent 14 days last fall probing dozens of complaints involving patients, most of them children.

The college is setting a date for her disciplinary hearing, which could result in the loss of her Canadian license to practice medicine.

“We have found that Dr. Osif failed to exercise the degree of care and skill which could reasonably be expected of a normal, prudent practitioner with the same experience and standing in the number of the charges that have been presented to us,” states the report from the college, released Thursday.

According to the college’s findings, Dr. Osif misdiagnosed two potentially life-threatening illnesses, in 2003 and 2005.

* The first involved a 71-year-old amputee who arrived at Northside General in 2003 complaining of hemorrhoids, garbled speech, and bedsores. She diagnosed the man as having an ear infection and hemorrhoids and sent him home with an antibiotic. But a few days later, he developed breathing difficulties, slurred speech and lower back pain and wasn’t eating.

* In another case, the college says the physician also “failed to conduct a proper exam and tests on an 11-year-old girl who arrived with a parent at emergency in 2005 bent over, holding her hypochondrial region. Dr. Osif concluded the ailment was a throat infection, but the girl came back to the hospital days later with a ruptured appendix, requiring emergency surgery.

If a proper physical examination had been performed, symptoms in keeping with appendicitis ought to have been discovered, the board stated, according to a Canadian press report.

– The Editors

http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1033957.html

Logo of College of Physicians & Surgeons.

Posted: January 31st, 2008 under Hand Hygiene, Infection Protection, Wound Management.
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A new study has determined that 13% of samples in Europe are resistant to the influenza drug Tamiflu, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Early results from an ongoing study have revealed resistance to Roche’s Tamiflu in H1N1 strains.  Tamiflu is used for the treatment and prophylaxis of influenza. Tamiflu blocks neuraminidase, one of the two surface proteins on the influenza virus, thus preventing the spread of the virus to other non-infected cells. The new evidence of resistance might shift the focus to alternative options for influenza, experts speculate, including use of disinfectants, hand sanitizers, gloves, and masks, to thwart the spread of the disease.¼br> ¼br> The ECDC this week released preliminary results showing strains of H1N1 being resistant to Tamiflu (oseltamivir). Tamiflu is approved for treatment and prophylaxis of influenza types A and B.

Results demonstrated by the ECDC indicate that out of 148 samples of influenza A viruses isolated in November and December throughout 10 European countries, 19 showed resistance to Tamiflu.

Early results from the U.S. also reveal resistance to Tamiflu, though much lower: six out of 204 samples showed resistance

The H1N1 viruses in Europe that are resistant to Tamiflu have a gene mutation called H274Y. An older class of anti-virals, GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza (zanamivir) and amantadine, are approved to battle this mutation, according to a report in Pharmaceutical Business Review, a trade journal.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

http://www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com/article_feature.asp?guid=195DB877-B348-4492-8957-5100ECE5830D

Tamiflu is approved for treatment of influenza A and B. Image source: Tamiflu-direct.com.

Posted: January 31st, 2008 under Avian Flu, Developing Diseases, Feature Stories, Influenza.
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New figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that approximately 0.47% — less than one-half of 1% — of American households have someone living there with HIV.

The statistic is representative of the number of homes with 18 to 49-year-olds diagnosed with the AIDS-causing virus between 1999 and 2006. The rate is about the same as it was between 1988 and 1994.

What’s more, the CDC found men are more likely to be infected with HIV than women, just as in the early days of the virus. Scientists also say adults infected with the Herpes simplex type-2 virus are fifteen times more likely to be infected with HIV than others, according to news reports.

– The Editors

http://www.nbc12.com/news/healthcast/14903641.html

Global view of HIV infection rates around the planet. Source: World Health Organization.

Posted: January 30th, 2008 under HIV.
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Scientists at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in Tanzania are conducting a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and potential of a malaria vaccine, called MSP3-LSP. The primary investigator for the trial, Dr John Lusingu, says the launch of the new vaccine will take place in Korogwe District of Tanzania, in East Africa.  The term MSP3-LSP stands for merozoite surface protein 3-long synthetic peptide.

Two different dosages — 15 and 30 microgrammes –  of MSP3 are now being tested in a staggered process among young populations to demonstrate the drug’s safety or any adverse effects.  The study involves 45 healthy, randomly selected children aged one to two years, and each child will receive a total of three immunizations.  Malaria accounts for 80 per cent of deaths among children under five in Tanzania.  The main mechanism of infection is the protein of the malaria parasite — Plasmodium falciparum.

That protein is the primary target of the vaccine, according to press reports.

– The Editors

http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news2801200810.htm

 

Route of malaria infection. Source: World Health Organization.

Posted: January 30th, 2008 under Malaria.
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The director of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department for the government of Malta, Charmaine Gauci, says there have been two new outbreaks of infectious diseases, rubella, also known as German measles, and scarlet fever, which are both very rare illnesses in Malta.

The rubella outbreak occurred in Malta, an island nation, and part of Europe, and concerns three people who fell ill after having been in each other’s company. All three, aged between 23 and 28, did not have a history of vaccination against the disease, health officials said.

The World Health Organization advises that:

*  Following any confirmed outbreak of rubella, surveillance should be conducted to identify suspected congenital rubella syndrome cases in infants up to 11 months in age.
* Surveillance should continue until nine months after the end of the outbreak.

The department is enhancing the surveillance of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome, according to international press reports. 

On the scarlet fever outbreak, the department, has recommended that children in the same class be excluded from school for the coming seven to 10 days until results of the tests that are to be performed are available, in order to limit the possible spread of the disease.
 

– The Editors

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=63698
 

German measles. Source: World Health Organization.

Posted: January 29th, 2008 under Measles, Rubella.
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The Centers for Disease Control is reporting that an outbreak of norovirus has surfaced on a cruise ship run by Carnival Cruise Lines.  The group left Mobile for Mexico late last week, but less than a day into the trip, 121 passengers and 22 crew members came down with the norovirus, CDC reports.

CDC says norovirus is a virus that’s often spread through:

* Food
* Water
* Surfaces such as stair rails, door handles, and elevator buttons

One passenger on the ill-fated trip told a TV reporter she couldn’t eat anything during the brief cruise, and, when she sought medical attention, there was a line of passengers in the ship’s infirmary. This ruined her vacation, she said, adding that she didn’t want to ever go on another cruise, as she did not feel that this ship was clean, and never saw anybody wiping down the handle bars or railings with disinfectant.

Carnival Cruise lines reports that it has “sanitized the ship and is working closely with the CDC” to determine what caused the norovirus outbreak.
 

– The Editors

See, http://wkrg.com/news/article/norovirus_ruins_cruise_ship_vacation/9601/
 

 

Norovirus image — Source: National Agricultural Biosecurity Center.

Posted: January 29th, 2008 under Norwalk-Like Viruses.
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Addressing the eighth annual congress of the Society of Hepatology, the governor of the Punjab Province, Khalid Maqbool, yesterday said liver diseases were posing a “great challenge” to the health sector of Pakistan. “At least 15 million people in the country are suffering from Hepatitis-B,” Maqbool said.

The governor said the federal government there had allocated funds to provide free treatment to low-income hepatitis patients at district headquarters hospitals. A hepatology ward will also be established at Sheikh Zayed Hospital to handle the worst cases of Hepatitis-B infection.

A  campaign will also be launched to create awareness about this fatal disease, which can cause liver cancer, amongst the masses. He said the government had made the free vaccination of Hepatitis-B a regular part of the extensive program of immunization (EPI) for children. He said now the treatment was available to Hepatitis-C patients too, and was much less expensive than interferon therapy. — The Editors

Hepatitis-B is just one form of infection that can strike the liver. Source: Department of Health, Government of state of Indiana.

Posted: January 28th, 2008 under Hand Hygiene, Infection Protection.
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A pair of students and one employee at Snow College in Utah are now “under quarantine” after preliminary tuberculosis tests showed they might be carrying the disease, health officials say.

Physicians screened about 350 students after an international student returned to her home in Taiwan on Dec. 21 and was hospitalized for TB on Christmas Day. Officials say the student had begun presenting symptoms of infection with the disease whilst she was still in Utah, according to several media reports.

Other important facts are as follows:

* Of the 350 Snow students and employees screened, 70 tested positive for exposure and require further testing.

* Officials are still seeking another 30 to 50 at-risk students for testing.

Physicians say they could know as early as this week whether the three potentially infected people have confirmed cases of TB. – The Editors

An x-ray of a man infected with TB. Source: World Health Organization.

Posted: January 28th, 2008 under Tuberculosis.
Comments: 1

More than 100 people have been hospitalized nationally in the largest recorded outbreak of Salmonella carried by tiny pet turtles, federal health officials reported Thursday.

Cases were reported in 33 states, mostly in Illinois, California, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Most of the patients have been children.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-salmonella_natjan25,1,7415257.story

Some patients have experienced severe symptoms from the turtle-bourne disease, including the following:

* Acute kidney failure.
* Bloody diarrhea.
* Cramping.
* Fever
* Vomiting.

No one has died in the latest outbreak, which began in August. Don’t buy a pet turtle now, public health doctors say. If you do, make sure you disinfect your hands frequently. – The Editors

Salmonella outbreak seen among pet turtles. Source: Marine Conservation Society of the U.K.

Posted: January 27th, 2008 under Pet Diseases.
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A sudden outbreak of skin infections has led Ames High School to postpone a wrestling meet with Fort Dodge, Iowa. The high school’s athletic director Judge Johnston says last night’s meet was canceled as “a precaution.” Health officials say five cases of either staph infection or impetigo have been identified among the Little Cyclones wrestling team.The team’s practice room, locker room and training room have been disinfected, the Associated Press is reporting.Staph bacteria are a common cause of skin infections, from pimples and boils, and even more severe problems. Impetigo is also a common type of skin infection. It’s caused by common bacteria and often starts as a minor scratch. According to the Mayo Clinic, impetigo starts as a red sore that quickly ruptures, oozes for a few days and then forms a yellowish-brown crust that “looks like honey or brown sugar.” This skin disease is highly contagious, and scratching the sores is most likely to spread the infection to other parts of the body, and to other people.Minor infections may clear on their own in two to three weeks, the clinic said. However, since impetigo can sometimes lead to complications, a child’s doctor may choose to treat it with an antibiotic ointment or oral antibiotics. The child can usually return to school or a child care setting as soon as he or she isn’t contagious — often within a full day of starting antibiotic therapy.Parents can help prevent the infection by taking proper care of their child’s skin. Use soap and water when bathing the child, and pay attention to seemingly minor cuts, rashes, insect bites and allergic reactions.

– by Gene J. Koprowski, Editorial Director

 

Impetigo is caused by strains Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes.

Image courtesy of GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK).

Posted: January 25th, 2008 under Feature Stories, Infection Protection.
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