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Possible Link Between Pregnancy, The Flu And Schizophrenia
When mothers become infected with influenza during their pregnancy, it may increase the risk for schizophrenia in their offspring. Influenza is a very common virus and so there has been substantial concern about this association. A new study in the June 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier suggests that the observed association depends upon a pre-existing vulnerability in the fetus.
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President Obama Picks New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden For CDC Director
President Obama on Friday appointed New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden as CDC director, according to Obama administration officials, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, Frieden, an infectious disease specialist, has "cut a high and sometimes contentious profile" in his seven years as health commissioner in New York City, during which time he has advocated for a smoking ban in restaurants and bars, made HIV testing part of routine medical exams and protected a program that distributes 35 million condoms a year. According to the Times, Frieden is expected to take office next month. The Times reports that he will "inherit a host of immediate and long-term problems," including questions surrounding a vaccine for the H1N1 influenza virus, also known as swine flu, health care reform and organizational issues at CDC.The Times reports that a potential advantage for Frieden is a positive relationship with likely FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, who also was New York City health commissioner. Frieden would work with Hamburg to combat the H1N1 flu virus and to re-evaluate the U.S. food safety system (Harris/Hartocollis, New York Times, 5/15).
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Iran Reports First Confirmed Case Of H1N1 Swine Flu
The Ministry of Health in Iran has reported the country"s first confirmed case of H1N1 swine flu, in a 16 year-old Iranian boy who lives in the US
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Lancet Infectious Diseases Examines Spread Of XDR-TB

The journal Lancet Infectious Diseases examines the worldwide spread of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). Currently, about 500,000 of the 9 million new cases of TB that are identified each year are strains of XDR-TB. "Drug resistance is largely man-made - it is vitally important to review antibiotic treatment strategies and to ensure the Stop TB Strategy is fully applied to prevent further selection of drug-resistant mutants," Leonard Amaral of Universidade Nova de Lisboa said. XDR-TB - "which is resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin (two first-line TB drugs), any fluoroquinolone, and at least one of the three injectable second-line drugs: amikacin, kanamycin, and capreomycin" - is "widespread" in Europe and the Middle East, according to the journal. Data from the CDC shows the following countries have the highest percentage of XDR-TB among multi-drug resistant cases (MDR-TB): Azerbaijan (12.8 percent), Ukraine (15 percent) and Estonia (23.7 percent). In Western Europe, Portugal has the highest number of XDR-TB cases with more than 50 percent of the country"s MDR-TB cases being XDR-TB. Determining drug-resistant TB rates in other regions is difficult, according to the Lancet. Philip LoBue of the CDC said, "data from many parts of the world are limited or completely unavailable because of lack of access to drug-susceptibility testing." Using conventional methods, the diagnosis of XDR-TB takes between six and eight weeks, "but more rapid molecular tests are in development," the journal writes. LoBue said, "Research that leads to new rapid diagnostics could have a great impact and a database of TB drug mutations could contribute significantly to this." The article notes that researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health recently created such a database. William Bishai of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine highlighted the need for faster tests that are also usable at the location of treatment. "Diagnostics based on breath tests or fingersticks would be ideal - a recent Mç©decins Sans Frontiç¨res expert panel recommended that we aim for diagnostics that can be carried in a backpack, give same-day results, and function by battery for 24 hours," Bishai said. New drugs with "shorter treatment times are also needed," the Lancet writes. Although there are some "promising new" experimental drugs, "licensing and approval could take years yet, and any improvement in survival rates in the foreseeable future is unlikely," according to the journal (Senior, Lancet Infectious diseases, 7/09). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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