| Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition Encourages Vaccination Throughout the Influenza Season
BETHESDA, Md. (Map) - BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- To raise awareness of the need to vaccinate more infants, children and adolescents against influenza, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in conjunction with Families Fighting Flu, declared today, November 27, as the first ever "Children's Flu Vaccination Day." The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases' (NFID) Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition commends this effort to emphasize the importance of annual influenza vaccination to protect children and their contacts from this serious and potentially deadly virus. "Influenza claims more American lives every year than all other vaccine- preventable diseases combined," said Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, Coalition Chair, 17th Surgeon General of the United States (2002-2006), President of Canyon Ranch Institute and Distinguished Professor of Public Health, The University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
Novel MRI technique shows secondhand smoke damages lungs
CHICAGO � For the first time, researchers have identified structural damage to the lungs caused by secondhand cigarette smoke. The results of the study, conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville and The Children�s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). �It�s long been hypothesized that prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke may cause physical damage to the lungs, but previous methods of analyzing lung changes were not sensitive enough to detect it,� said Chengbo Wang, Ph.D., magnetic resonance physicist in the Department of Radiology at The Children�s Hospital of Philadelphia. In recent years, secondhand smoke has emerged as a public health threat.
International Communication Award Recognises And Rewards Journalism Thatextends Public Awareness And Understanding Of ...
The independent judging panel of the Eloquium Award has named three journalists as winners of the 2007 competition for excellence in reporting on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) the fastest growing cause of death in the world's most advanced economies. Currently, 600 million people live with COPD which is projected to become the world's third-leading cause of death by 2020.1,2
The Boehringer Ingelheim Communication Award - Eloquium - attracted submissions from 13 countries, including Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, England, Japan, Lebanon, Sweden and Venezuela. Entries were judged by an independent panel of global COPD experts and leading journalists.*
The three winning entries of the Eloquium Award are:
1st: Annu Likkanen, Veteranen, Two cigarettes were Ulla-Britt's Undoing (Sweden)
2nd: Gilson Monteiro, Rádio Eldorado, Unknown enemy (Brazil)
3rd: María de los Ángeles González Izurieta, Vea, Tobacco is consuming you (Chile)
"It is important that patients seek early diagnosis and treatment for COPD and key to this is improving education and awareness about the disease," commented Professor Klaus Rabe, Chair of the Judging panel and Chairman of Pulmonology, Department of Pulmonology at Academisch Ziekenhuis Leiden, The Netherlands.
Placenta uses a cloaking device similar to that used by parasites
The placenta uses a cloaking device similar to that used by parasites to avoid detection by the mother's immune system. MRC funded scientists looking to develop a diagnostic test for pre-eclampsia, a major and potentially fatal cause of fetal and maternal illness, made the amazing discovery which could have far reaching implications. The team, based at the University of Reading, believe their findings will revolutionise our understanding of the placenta and research into recurrent miscarriages and pre-eclampsia. It is also hoped this method of avoiding immune rejection could be mimicked and used in other areas such as arthritis or even stem cell therapy. At the turn of 21 st century Professor Lowry and his team discovered that the small protein neurokinin B (NKB), which is secreted by the placenta, is raised significantly in mothers when pre-eclampsia develops.
Summary Report Of New Asthma Guidelines
More than 22 million Americans have asthma. It is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood, affecting about 6 million children. With these statistics in mind, The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released the 2007 asthma guidelines, Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR 3): Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma, a report in excess of 300 pages.
A summary of the guidelines will be published as a supplement to the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), the official journal of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI). The EPR 3: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma, Summary Report, 2007, will be available on the JACI's Web site, http://www.jacionline.org on November 8, 2007.
Courthouse guards to be given Tasers
Handguns are out. Tasers are in, at least for the 24 security guards at the Bucks County Courthouse, said county director of emergency management John Dougherty. The guards will also replace their traditional police officer uniforms with blazers, tan slacks, shirts and ties, Dougherty said. �What we looked at was the number of people who enter the courthouse every day. We felt that rather than having them armed with .40-caliber handguns in a crowded entryway, the Tasers would be safer because they�re a non-lethal means of control,� Dougherty said. He said that armed sheriff�s deputies are still available in the courthouse to respond to any incident that could call for lethal force. Bucks joins Delaware, Montgomery and Chester counties in providing what is called �soft security,� Dougherty said.
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