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Here are some of the latest developments in health and medicine compiled by HealthDay's editors:
Infection Control Team sent to NJ Rehabilitation Center where 9 children died
Infection control experts are being sent to a rehabilitation center in New Jersey where an epidemic of adenovirus has killed nine children, health officials said Monday.
"A total of 25 pediatric cases were associated with this outbreak" at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell. "A staff member of the institution – who has since recovered – has also fallen ill as a result of the outbreak," said the state health department, NBC News reported.
The adenovirus usually causes cold-like symptoms, but can be fatal in debilitated patients. Wanaque children have developmental or immune deficiencies.
Infection control experts will also visit other similar facilities at the Wanaque Center, as well as a public hospital where a different type of infection occurred in four premature babies. One of the babies is dead, NBC News reported.
"The team will visit the University Hospital, the Wanaque Haskell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, the Voorhees Voorhees Pediatric Center and the Toms River and Mountainside Children's Specialty Hospital," said the team. announced the health department.
The team will strengthen basic infection control procedures, said Dr. Shereef Elnahal, state health commissioner, NBC News.
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Food labels may be needed to list sesame allergens: FDA
Sesame may become the last food allergen to be on labels, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.
At present, eight major food allergens have to be declared on the labels: eggs, fish, seafood, nuts, peanuts, wheat and soy. CNN reported.
"Unfortunately, we are starting to see evidence that sesame allergies may be a growing concern in the United States," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Monday. "A handful of studies, for example, suggest that the prevalence of sesame allergies in the United States is greater than 0.1%, equal to soy and fish allergies."
According to the FDA, the undeclared presence of allergens is a public health problem and one of the leading causes of food recall.
Research suggests that more than 300,000 Americans are allergic to sesame, according to Lisa Gable, CEO of the nonprofit group Food Allergy Research and Education.
"The consensus of doctors and advocacy groups that support people with food allergies is that sesame is becoming a national problem and must absolutely be added as one of the allergens to be on the label." "she said. CNN.
According to the group, allergic reactions to sesame vary from person to person and can range from mild to life-threatening.
Currently, sesame "could appear in a list of ingredients under a word like tahini or even under a very generic term such as" natural flavor ", so that it is feared that even a patient or a family very attentive may not know it's food, "said Dr. Robert Wood, president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology CNN.
The FDA seeks more information from allergies and food experts so we can learn more about the prevalence and severity of sesame allergies in the United States, as well as the prevalence of food sesame products sold in this country.Of these, regulations in force, may not be required to disclose sesame as an ingredient. "
"I think there is enough evidence to suggest that sesame allergy is as common as most other foods already included in the labeling law, if it is not enough." is more common, "said Dr. Scott Sicherer, director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute and professor. Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine Icahn, stated CNN.
"Including it in US labeling laws makes perfect sense," he said.
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NIH interrupts stem cell test for heart failure due to concerns over false data
A clinical trial evaluating the use of stem cells in the treatment of patients with heart failure has been suspended by the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, as it relies in part on data that may be falsified or manufactured from the laboratory of an institution affiliated with Harvard Medical School researcher.
The CONCERT-HF trial, worth $ 63 million, will remain on hold as its Data and Safety Oversight Committee conducts a review to make sure that it is safe. it meets the "highest standards of security and scientific integrity of the participants," announced Monday the NHLBI.
Patients participating in the study are informed and the trial follow-up protocol will be continued for all previously treated patients.
The trial was launched to determine if a certain type of cardiac stem cells, alone or associated with other bone marrow stem cells, is safe and benefits patients with chronic heart failure who have few treatment options.
Patients with heart failure have a poor quality of life and about half die within five years of diagnosis, according to the NHLBI.
The clinical trial is based on research from several laboratories, including that of Piero Anversa, a cardiology researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital, affiliated with Harvard. But the university recently announced that a multi-year investigation had uncovered "falsified and / or fabricated data" in 31 papers of the Antwerpa lab, the Washington Post reported.
Antwerpa worked at the hospital until 2015. Last year, the hospital reached a $ 10 million agreement with the Ministry of Justice to settle allegations that False data were used by the laboratory of Antwerpa in the applications for grant for federal funding.
Prior to working at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Antwerpa worked at New York Medical College. The college issued a statement that it had launched an investigation after "serious concerns" had been raised about a 17-year-old study, To post reported.
Last week, the New England Journal of Medicine retracted an Antwerpa laboratory paper and reported two others with an "expression of concern", and is waiting for more information on these two papers.
Before the NHLBI announcement, scientists had asked for the study to stop.
"I think the trial should be discontinued and that an external examination should be performed," said Darryl Davis, a cardiologist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. who is studying how to regenerate heart tissue. To post.
"The Antwerpa data is part of the rationale for this trial, and I think we need to better understand what these cells can actually do before subjecting patients to the risk of undergoing an invasive procedure," Davis said.
The Antwerpa lawyer said that his client was adamant with the findings of his studies and that Antwerpa had learned from the Harvard probe only if a long-time colleague who had left his lab in 2013 had altered the images, the To post reported.
In many cases, these images can be replaced by correct images, and the results will still be valid, according to Antwerpa, said his lawyer.
"There is nothing wrong with c-kit-positive cardiac stem cells, and the trial will answer questions about their efficacy in patients," Antwerpa said in an email. To post reported.
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