Sea Crest Health Care Center

Brace yourself – that’s the number of flu shots that may be necessary to protect oneself from the upcoming flu season. Two vaccines will be required for the H1N1 strain (swine flu) and one for seasonal flu.

As of yet, only 45 million swine flue vaccines will be ready by Oct. 15, a far cry from the 120 million doses originally anticipated. Pregnant women, public health workers and small children will be the first to be immunized and this priority group numbers approximately 160 million individuals, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After those considered high-risk are inoculated, U.S. health officials will recommend that people ages 25 through 64 receive H1N1 shots. It is interesting to note that those 65 and older are actually at lower risk of contracting swine flu, since the flu strains they encountered as children provides some protection.  As soon as the seasonal flu shot is available it is highly recommended that all seniors get them. Once all those under 65 receive the  swine flu vaccine, inoculations will be recommended for seniors.

The vaccine production is moving slower than expected due to the slow growth of the vaccine substance, as well as a shortage of manufacturers available to actually package the vaccine.

“The amount vaccine manufacturers are getting out of millions of eggs is less than expected, and it’s taking longer to make,” explained Dr. John Treanor, professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.

The second delay factor is being addressed by the government who has increased efforts to recruit more companies for packaging.

By Nechama Drillick

Will those stinging booster shots be a thing of the past, fading into oblivion together with walkmans, analog TV and Kodak film? With the advent of a new Band-aid-like painless patch lined with microneedles, our grandchildren may never know the ouch of a needle at an annual checkup.

Scientists have developed a patch that can simply be applied to a patient in place of using hypodermic needles, a big boon to diabetics and others suffering from diseases that require frequent pricks. This was presented at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C.

“If you can move to something that’s as easy to apply as a Band-Aid, you’ve now opened the door for people to self-administer their medicine without special training.” said Mark Prausnitz of Georgia Tech, one of the developers.

This development was enabled by advances in the electronics industry, which has microminimized all forms of technology – opening the door for the creation of needles that are only a few hundred microns long, about the width of a few strands of human hair.

Researchers are hopeful that the patch which will initially be used in a clinical setting could ultimately be self applied at home, replacing many other needle injections – even flu shots!

by Staff

Clostridium difficile.

The name might be unfamiliar, but the pathogen is on the rise. There has been a sharp increase in the prevalence of C. diff in hospitals around the country, according to a survey taken in 648 hospitals in 47 states.

As many as 13 out of every 1,000 patients tested positive for Clostridium difficile, with 94% showing symptoms of the accompanying disease: diarrhea, fever, appetite loss, nausea, and stomach pain. About 4% of patients will die from the disease.

How does this compare to C. diff levels in the past? Between 2000 and 2005, the number has more than doubled.

This may be partially due to prescription techniques. C. diff isn’t affected by most antibiotics, so broad spectrum antibiotics, which kill all other bacteria, give C. diff room to grow and thrive. Whenever possible, physicians should prescribe narrowly targeted antibiotics, to prevent C. diff from expanding unchecked.

Based on an article by Jacob Goldstein in the WSJ

by Staff

Clostridium difficile.

The name might be unfamiliar, but the pathogen is on the rise. There has been a sharp increase in the prevalence of C. diff in hospitals around the country, according to a survey taken in 648 hospitals in 47 states.

As many as 13 out of every 1,000 patients tested positive for Clostridium difficile, with 94% showing symptoms of the accompanying disease: diarrhea, fever, appetite loss, nausea, and stomach pain. About 4% of patients will die from the disease.

How does this compare to C. diff levels in the past? Between 2000 and 2005, the number has more than doubled.

This may be partially due to prescription techniques. C. diff isn’t affected by most antibiotics, so broad spectrum antibiotics, which kill all other bacteria, give C. diff room to grow and thrive. Whenever possible, physicians should prescribe narrowly targeted antibiotics, to prevent C. diff from expanding unchecked.

Based on an article by Jacob Goldstein in the WSJ