Superbug CRE may endure in patients 1 year after initial infection: Study

Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
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Contact: Liz Garman
egarman@apic.org
202-454-2604
Elsevier Health Sciences

Washington, DC, February 27, 2013 -- Patients who tested positive for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) took an average of 387 days following hospital discharge to be clear of the organism, according to a new study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

The study was conducted in the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a 700-bed university-affiliated general hospital in Jerusalem, Israel. The research team analyzed follow-up cultures from 97 CRE-positive patients who had been discharged from the medical center between January 2009 and December 2010.

The average time until cultures became negative was 387 days. At three months, 78 percent of patients remained culture positive; at six months, 65 percent remained positive; at nine months, 51 percent, and at one year 39 percent of patients remained positive, meaning they could potentially become re-infected or transmit the germ to others.

Risk factors for extended carriage included the number of hospitalization days, whether and how often the patient was re-hospitalized, and whether the patient had an active infection as opposed to colonization without signs of active disease.

This is one of the first studies to determine length of CRE duration after hospital discharge and provides vital insight into treating formerly CRE-positive patients upon readmission as to limit the spread of this virulent and often deadly pathogen.

The authors state, "Patients with multiple hospitalizations or those who were diagnosed with clinical CRE disease should be assumed to have a more extended duration of CRE coverage and should therefore be admitted under conditions of isolation and cohorting until proven to be CRE-negative. These measures will reduce the hospitalization of CRE-positive patients among the general patient population, potentially preventing the spread of CRE."

CRE are extremely difficult-to-treat, multidrug-resistant organisms that are emerging in the United States. A CRE strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae recently spread through the National Institutes of Health hospital outside Washington, DC, killing six people. Because of increased reports of these multidrug-resistant germs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently alerted clinicians about the need for additional prevention steps to prevent transmission.

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Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Liz Garman
egarman@apic.org
202-454-2604
Elsevier Health Sciences

Washington, DC, February 27, 2013 -- Patients who tested positive for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) took an average of 387 days following hospital discharge to be clear of the organism, according to a new study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

The study was conducted in the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a 700-bed university-affiliated general hospital in Jerusalem, Israel. The research team analyzed follow-up cultures from 97 CRE-positive patients who had been discharged from the medical center between January 2009 and December 2010.

The average time until cultures became negative was 387 days. At three months, 78 percent of patients remained culture positive; at six months, 65 percent remained positive; at nine months, 51 percent, and at one year 39 percent of patients remained positive, meaning they could potentially become re-infected or transmit the germ to others.

Risk factors for extended carriage included the number of hospitalization days, whether and how often the patient was re-hospitalized, and whether the patient had an active infection as opposed to colonization without signs of active disease.

This is one of the first studies to determine length of CRE duration after hospital discharge and provides vital insight into treating formerly CRE-positive patients upon readmission as to limit the spread of this virulent and often deadly pathogen.

The authors state, "Patients with multiple hospitalizations or those who were diagnosed with clinical CRE disease should be assumed to have a more extended duration of CRE coverage and should therefore be admitted under conditions of isolation and cohorting until proven to be CRE-negative. These measures will reduce the hospitalization of CRE-positive patients among the general patient population, potentially preventing the spread of CRE."

CRE are extremely difficult-to-treat, multidrug-resistant organisms that are emerging in the United States. A CRE strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae recently spread through the National Institutes of Health hospital outside Washington, DC, killing six people. Because of increased reports of these multidrug-resistant germs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently alerted clinicians about the need for additional prevention steps to prevent transmission.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/ehs-scm022713.php

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Study: Same-sex cohabitors less healthy than those in heterosexual marriages

Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
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Contact: Daniel Fowler
pubinfo@asanet.org
202-527-7885
American Sociological Association

Findings may provide fuel for gay marriage proponents

WASHINGTON, DC, February 21, 2013 Same-sex cohabitors report worse health than people of the same socioeconomic status who are in heterosexual marriages, according to a new study, which may provide fuel for gay marriage proponents.

"Past research has shown that married people are generally healthier than unmarried people," said Hui Liu, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of sociology at Michigan State University. "Although our study did not specifically test the health consequences of legalizing same-sex marriage, it's very plausible that legalization of gay marriage would reduce health disparities between same-sex cohabitors and married heterosexuals."

Titled, "Same-Sex Cohabitors and Health: The Role of Race-Ethnicity, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status," the study, which appears in the March issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, compares the self-rated health of 1,659 same-sex cohabiting men and 1,634 same-sex cohabiting women with that of their different-sex married, different-sex cohabiting, unpartnered divorced, widowed, and never-married counterparts. The study of white, black, and Hispanic 18 to 65-year-olds used pooled, nationally representative data from the 1997 to 2009 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS). NHIS respondents rated their overall health as excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. As part of their study, Liu and her co-authors, Corinne Reczek, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati, and Dustin Brown, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, divided the respondents into two groups: those who reported excellent, very good, or good overall health and those who reported fair or poor overall health.

"When we controlled for socioeconomic status, the odds of reporting poor or fair health were about 61 percent higher for same-sex cohabiting men than for men in heterosexual marriages and the odds of reporting poor or fair health were about 46 percent higher for same-sex cohabiting women than for women in heterosexual marriages," Liu said.

As for why same-sex cohabitors reported worse health than people of the same socioeconomic status in heterosexual marriages, Liu said there could be several reasons. "Research consistently suggests that 'out' sexual minorities experience heightened levels of stress and higher levels of discrimination, and these experiences may adversely affect the health of this population," Liu said. "It may also be that same-sex cohabitation does not provide the same psychosocial, socioeconomic, and institutional resources that come with legal marriage, factors that are theorized to be responsible for many of the health benefits of marriage."

According to the researchers, it is possible that providing same-sex cohabitors the option to marry would boost their measures of self-rated health because they would experience higher levels of acceptance and lower levels of stigma. "Legalizing same-sex marriage could also provide other advantages often associated with heterosexual marriagesuch as partner health insurance benefits and the ability to file joint tax returnsthat may directly and indirectly influence the health of individuals in same-sex unions," Liu said.

The researchers also found that same-sex cohabitors reported better health than their different-sex cohabiting and single counterparts, but these differences were fully explained by socioeconomic status. "Without their socioeconomic status advantages, same-sex cohabitors would generally report similar levels of health as their divorced, widowed, never-married, and different-sex cohabiting counterparts," Liu said.

Interestingly, the study suggests that the pattern of poorer self-rated health of same-sex cohabitors in comparison with those in heterosexual marriages does not vary by gender and race-ethnicity. In contrast, results comparing same-sex cohabitors with different-sex cohabiting and single women, but not men, revealed important racial-ethnic patterns. "After we controlled for socioeconomic status, black women in same-sex cohabiting relationships reported worse health than black women of any other non-married union status, while white women in same-sex cohabiting relationships actually reported better health than both white women in different-sex cohabiting relationships and divorced white women," said Liu, who explained that black women in same-sex cohabiting relationships may experience significant social discrimination and homophobia, and such stressors may shape their health in especially detrimental ways.

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About the American Sociological Association and the Journal of Health and Social Behavior

The American Sociological Association, founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society. The Journal of Health and Social Behavior is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the ASA.

The research article described above is available by request for members of the media. For a copy of the full study, contact Daniel Fowler, ASA's Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Daniel Fowler
pubinfo@asanet.org
202-527-7885
American Sociological Association

Findings may provide fuel for gay marriage proponents

WASHINGTON, DC, February 21, 2013 Same-sex cohabitors report worse health than people of the same socioeconomic status who are in heterosexual marriages, according to a new study, which may provide fuel for gay marriage proponents.

"Past research has shown that married people are generally healthier than unmarried people," said Hui Liu, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of sociology at Michigan State University. "Although our study did not specifically test the health consequences of legalizing same-sex marriage, it's very plausible that legalization of gay marriage would reduce health disparities between same-sex cohabitors and married heterosexuals."

Titled, "Same-Sex Cohabitors and Health: The Role of Race-Ethnicity, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status," the study, which appears in the March issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, compares the self-rated health of 1,659 same-sex cohabiting men and 1,634 same-sex cohabiting women with that of their different-sex married, different-sex cohabiting, unpartnered divorced, widowed, and never-married counterparts. The study of white, black, and Hispanic 18 to 65-year-olds used pooled, nationally representative data from the 1997 to 2009 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS). NHIS respondents rated their overall health as excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. As part of their study, Liu and her co-authors, Corinne Reczek, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati, and Dustin Brown, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, divided the respondents into two groups: those who reported excellent, very good, or good overall health and those who reported fair or poor overall health.

"When we controlled for socioeconomic status, the odds of reporting poor or fair health were about 61 percent higher for same-sex cohabiting men than for men in heterosexual marriages and the odds of reporting poor or fair health were about 46 percent higher for same-sex cohabiting women than for women in heterosexual marriages," Liu said.

As for why same-sex cohabitors reported worse health than people of the same socioeconomic status in heterosexual marriages, Liu said there could be several reasons. "Research consistently suggests that 'out' sexual minorities experience heightened levels of stress and higher levels of discrimination, and these experiences may adversely affect the health of this population," Liu said. "It may also be that same-sex cohabitation does not provide the same psychosocial, socioeconomic, and institutional resources that come with legal marriage, factors that are theorized to be responsible for many of the health benefits of marriage."

According to the researchers, it is possible that providing same-sex cohabitors the option to marry would boost their measures of self-rated health because they would experience higher levels of acceptance and lower levels of stigma. "Legalizing same-sex marriage could also provide other advantages often associated with heterosexual marriagesuch as partner health insurance benefits and the ability to file joint tax returnsthat may directly and indirectly influence the health of individuals in same-sex unions," Liu said.

The researchers also found that same-sex cohabitors reported better health than their different-sex cohabiting and single counterparts, but these differences were fully explained by socioeconomic status. "Without their socioeconomic status advantages, same-sex cohabitors would generally report similar levels of health as their divorced, widowed, never-married, and different-sex cohabiting counterparts," Liu said.

Interestingly, the study suggests that the pattern of poorer self-rated health of same-sex cohabitors in comparison with those in heterosexual marriages does not vary by gender and race-ethnicity. In contrast, results comparing same-sex cohabitors with different-sex cohabiting and single women, but not men, revealed important racial-ethnic patterns. "After we controlled for socioeconomic status, black women in same-sex cohabiting relationships reported worse health than black women of any other non-married union status, while white women in same-sex cohabiting relationships actually reported better health than both white women in different-sex cohabiting relationships and divorced white women," said Liu, who explained that black women in same-sex cohabiting relationships may experience significant social discrimination and homophobia, and such stressors may shape their health in especially detrimental ways.

###

About the American Sociological Association and the Journal of Health and Social Behavior

The American Sociological Association, founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society. The Journal of Health and Social Behavior is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal of the ASA.

The research article described above is available by request for members of the media. For a copy of the full study, contact Daniel Fowler, ASA's Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/asa-ssc022113.php

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MYO senses your muscles, brings yet another way to control devices (video)

With visions of Minority Report, many a user's wildly waved at a Kinect in the hopes of controlling gadgets like a symphony conductor. Now there's another way to make your friends laugh at you thanks to the Thalmic Labs' MYO armband, which senses motion and electrical activity in your muscles to let you control your computer or other device via Bluetooth 4.0. The company says its proprietary sensor can detect signals right down to individual fingers before you even move them, which -- coupled with an extremely sensitive 6-axis motion detector -- makes for a highly responsive experience. Feedback to the user is given through haptics in the device, which also packs an ARM processor and onboard Lithium-Ion batteries. MYO is now up for a limited pre-order with Thalmic saying you won't be charged until it ships near year's end, while developers can also grab the API. If you're willing to risk some ridicule to be first on the block to grab one, hit the source.

Filed under: Wearables

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Via: Macrumors

Source: Myo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/26/MYO-armband-muscle-control/

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Search on for mystery California sailboat after distress call

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Coast Guard was searching the rough waters off Northern California on Monday for two adults and two young children missing after they radioed they were abandoning a sinking sailboat.

Someone aboard the vessel first made a distress call late on Sunday afternoon that the 29-foot (8.8-meter) craft was taking on water and sinking in the frigid waters south of San Francisco, roughly 65 miles west of Half Moon Bay, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard has so far been unable to identify those said to be aboard the boat, and no one has been reported missing, but Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer Mike Lutz said the agency was nevertheless taking the call seriously.

A little more than an hour after the first distress call, the vessel's operator reported that the four people aboard the boat were abandoning the craft, and the Coast Guard lost radio communications with the caller.

"The weather was pretty rough yesterday as it most always is in the Pacific. It's always rough and always cold. And they started taking on water," spokeswoman Petty Officer Pamela Boehland told CNN.

"Eventually, the water became too much for them and their electronics failed, their GPS failed, and they decided it was best to abandon ship," she added, describing the call.

Lutz said the boat reportedly had no life raft or electronic-positioning beacon. Some of the boaters were wearing life jackets, he said, but he was unclear how many.

The man from the missing vessel, possibly named the Charmblow, had indicated the group planned to use a makeshift life raft fashioned out of a cooler and a life preserver as a flotation device until they could be rescued , Lutz said.

MUCH OF CONTACT INAUDIBLE

But rescuers had not caught sight of the stranded boaters or their vessel by late Monday afternoon. Lutz said four helicopters and three boats would continue to search the ocean from Half Moon Bay to Monterey through the night and re-evaluate the effort Tuesday morning.

The San Francisco Chronicle identified those believed to have been on board the boat as a man, a woman, their 4-year-old son and his cousin, who was under age 8.

The caller maintained near constant radio contact with the Coast Guard between his first and last distress calls, Lutz said. Much of the contact was inaudible, though, making it difficult to be certain of the boat's name.

"Right now, we're really trying to get information about the people on board that were missing," Lutz said. He said officials have been unable to find neighbors, relatives or friends who know the four. The Coast Guard has been unable to find a boat registered under the name Charmblow.

Lutz released a staticky sound bite from the radio calls in the hope that someone would recognize the voice. A calm, male voice says, "Coast Guard, Coast Guard: We are abandoning ship. This is the Charmblow. We are abandoning ship."

The Coast Guard initially tracked the vessel off Pillar Point, at the northern end of Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco, but later tracked it south near Monterey, Lutz said.

Two sailboat wrecks killed nine people off the coast of California last year. Both occurred during races; one near the Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco and the other in one of the Coronado Islands off Southern California.

Twice last year, the Coast Guard also pursued time-consuming, high-profile searches that turned out to be hoaxes, one in Texas and another in New Jersey.

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/search-mystery-california-sailboat-distress-call-011928935.html

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Geeksphone Keon hands-on: a small Firefox OS phone that has big dreams (video)

Geeksphone may be an online phone seller based in Spain, but the name of its lower-end Firefox OS reference phone, Keon, appears to be Dutch. Regardless of the title's origin, the part of the phone that's most intriguing is the fact that it's one of the first to bear Mozilla's mobile platform. It isn't much in the way of specs, and that's easy enough to tell from just glancing at it, thanks to a 3.5-inch HVGA display. Still, the Keon's set of specs is actually on par with the Firefox protocol. This means that for roughly around 100 euros, we can expect to see a device with a 3MP camera, 512MB RAM, 4GB internal storage, a 1,580mAh battery and a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon S17225A CPU. Don't expect an earth-shattering experience on this kind of phone, as it's meant to reside strictly on the low end. The Keon will be making its way onto the official company store in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. In the meantime, we've made a lovely video and photo gallery below, so check them out.

Gallery: Geeksphone Keon hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/kqpAd9uJqcw/

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Dog Sledding Holidays: What To Expect

If youve ever dreamed of exploring the Arctic, dog sledding holidays provide a fantastic way to do so. There are few experiences as exhilarating as being drawn across the snow on a sled pulled by a team of huskies, and few landscapes as pristine and enchanting as the ones youll traverse while doing so. To help you get in the right frame of mind for such a trip, read on.

What Youll See

The details of your surroundings will, of course, depend on where you choose to go for your dog sledding holidays, but all the potential destinations share an incredible natural beauty. There are the soaring mountains and gleaming lakes of the Yukon, where bears, moose and caribou roam, and pike and trout dart through the waters while hawks, bald eagles and golden eagles soar overhead. North America also offers a plethora of other great locations, from stunning forest scenery in Prince Albert National Park to the sweeping beauty of Algonquin Park. In Europe, the icy wonders and ancient traditions of Lapland await, as well as the icebergs and remote settlements of Greenland.

What Youll Learn

Learning new things is one of the joys of travel, and this is especially true in this case. While the sights that surround you as you make your way across the snow on dog sledding holidays are enough of a magical new experience in themselves, there is also wonder and new knowledge to be gained from the activity itself. Youll learn more about the abilities, personalities and needs of the dogs, which are in many cases Siberian Huskies, although other breeds such as the Alaskan Malamute and the Mahikan are used in some places; each breed will have its own unique but equally interesting characteristics. You might also learn about the history of dog sledding, which predates our era by thousands of years, and about the principles of mushing which comes from the French order traditionally given to the dogs to start moving: Marche!

How to Prepare

While those who have previously embarked on dog sledding holidays will likely agree that they are a fantastic experience from start to finish, it can not be denied that some preparation is necessary to meet the conditions that you will be experiencing. The destinations for such holidays are some of the worlds coldest, so knowing how to protect yourself from the elements is important. When packing, be sure to include plenty of warm clothes, as well as a weatherproof outer layer and good boots. Synthetic fabrics are better than cotton, which retains moisture and can make the wearer cold. Specialist equipment and advice will usually be provided by your holiday operator, but dont forget the smaller essentials such as sunglasses and sunscreen, as the snow can reflect a considerable amount of sunlight.

Philippa Westwood is Marketing Manager at Windows on the Wild, a specialist of wildlife watching tours and dog sledding holidays. Destinations include Canada, Lapland and Sweden where dog sledding holidays can take you on adventurous experiences across the world.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/-Dog-Sledding-Holidays--What-To-Expect/4455003

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Eating well could help spread disease, water flea study suggests

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Plentiful food can accelerate the spread of infections, Edinburgh scientists have shown in a study of water fleas.

Scientists studying bacterial infections in tiny water fleas have discovered that increasing their supply of food can speed up the spread of infection. They carried out the study to better understand factors that affect how diseases are transmitted.

Researchers found that when a population of parasite-infected water fleas was well-fed, some of them became highly contagious, compared with when food was limited.

Epidemic spread

"If we have an idea of which individuals transmit a lot of disease, we will be better able to stop its spread," said Dr Pedro Vale, School of Biological Sciences.

Scientists say the discovery highlights that, under certain conditions, some individuals may be more prone to spreading disease than others.

Their findings could help inform ways to monitor and control the spread of infections, such as epidemics, in large populations.

Some well-fed water fleas were more infectious than others because they were able to survive for longer with the parasite, giving it more time to multiply.

Parasite growth

Scientists at the University studied the impact of food quantity on the spread of a bacteria parasite that grows in the water flea gut, releasing infectious spores when the water flea dies.

Among those water fleas that were well-fed, some were found to be carrying many more parasites than others, and so were more prone to spreading the disease.

The study, published in Biology Letters, was supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France.

"We know that contact between individuals is important; but now we know that, for some animals at least, nutrition may also play an important role in the spread of disease," said Vale.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Eating well could help spread disease.

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Journal Reference:

1. P. F. Vale, M. Choisy, T. J. Little. Host nutrition alters the variance in parasite transmission potential. Biology Letters, 2013; 9 (2): 20121145 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.1145

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/_9qJFDnuoBA/130226120551.htm

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