News tagged with 'BIO'

For more than 20 years, the FDA has been urging the drug and agriculture industries to stop using antibiotics in animal feed and water. With antibiotic resistance at epidemic proportions, the agency is giving the public 60 days to comment before it issues new industry guidance.

In 1990, members of an Arizona Indian tribe thought they were giving blood samples to study diabetes. The tribe has now won a lawsuit against Arizona State University for failing to adequately inform the donors what their DNA would be used to study.

A research team looked at 90 dispensed beverages and found 70 percent had bacterial contamination that would not be allowed in municipal drinking water.

Antibiotic resistant diseases are an urgent problem that has one immediate solution, backing off on feeding 70 percent of the U.S. antibiotics to farm animals, about 28 million pounds a year.

Birth defects are associated with the use of nitrofurantoins and sulfonamides, two antibiotics sometimes used during pregnancy.

The National Institute on Aging is researching ways to slow the aging process. In one experiment, lab mice given the antibiotic, rapamycin, were found to have their life extended, for females by 14 percent, even though the drug was given later in life, at the equivalent of age 60 in humans. 

A new vaccine given to cattle, may keep E. coli from shedding from the animal into our food supply. But getting to the root of the problem - the new documentary, "Food Inc." explores how agribusiness and factory farming methods have increased E. coli contamination and foodborne illnesses in the first place.  

Two of four antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, appear to be effective against the strain of swine flu circulating in the United States. But health officials warn to use antiviral medications cautiously.

Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza. While it normally does not infect humans, seven cases of human-to-human spread of an unusual strain of swine flu are being reported in the Southwest among people who had no contact with pigs.  

21 prized polo horses from Venezuela died suddenly in Florida this past weekend, and no one knew the cause until it revealed today they were given a vitamin supplement, erroneously mixed by an Ocala, Florida pharmacy that likely caused their deaths.   

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general’s office conducted a test of the food tracing system and found most companies don’t keep required records showing where products came from and to whom they are sold which undermines the FDA's ability to trace the source of a foodborne illness or bioterrorism attack.

The rate of dangerous staph infections has dropped dramatically in U.S. hospital intensive-care units, a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Prevention finds.

The dramatic story of a Brazilian model is bringing home the susceptibility even the young have to bacterial infections.  In this case, Mariana Bridi da Costa, 20, had an undiagnosed urinary tract infection which became a blood infection. Then her body began shutting down.

A new study reveals a super bacteria known as MRSA is spreading among children, causing a surge in head and neck infections. MRSA previously had been a major concern in hospitals, attacking patients who are already weakened by disease. But, recent outbreaks in the community, in otherwise healthy kids have raised new concerns.

This Beverly Hills plastic surgeon admits he turned body fat into fuel for his SUV. That revelation comes as a result of several lawsuits from patients dissatisfied with extensive lipo-suction, they say was performed by assistants. The doctor has since left the country.