Ultrasound Outperforms Symptom Analysis In Detecting Ovarian Cancer.

Doctors at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center-Markey Cancer Center compared symptom analysis to ultrasound in predicting ovarian cancer. They selected 272 women participating in annual trans-vaginal screening (TVS) from 31,748 women enrolled in a free screening project at the university, comparing symptom results to ultrasound and surgical pathology findings. They found TVS performed better than symptoms analysis for detecting malignancies (73.3% versus 20% sensitivity). While symptoms analysis performed better for distinguishing benign tumors (91.3% versus 74.4% specificity), adding symptom analysis to TVS actually resulted in poorer identification of malignancy (sensitivity = 16.7%), even as it improved the ability to distinguish benign tumors (specificity = 97.9%). The authors say the data indicates that while symptoms do identify ovarian malignancies, they are not as accurate as TVS. They add that informative symptoms can be expected to be absent in 80 percent of ovarian malignancies.

Protect Yourself From Tick And Mosquito Bites To Prevent Illness.

Summer is the peak time for people to be bitten by ticks and mosquitoes, which may carry diseases that can infect humans. The Department of Health tracks cases of these diseases and has noted a recent increase in human cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and ehrlichiosis, both of which are transmitted through tick bites. TDOH urges Tennesseans to follow commonsense precautions to protect themselves and help reduce the risk of illness. Statistics from the TDOH Communicable and Environmental Diseases Services show a moderate increase of 65 confirmed cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever statewide for this year, compared to 46 for the same period last year. CEDS also reports 17 confirmed cases of ehrlichiosis statewide so far this year, compared to 14 for this time in 2008. "Increases in these illnesses typically occur during the summer months.

El Salvador And Benin Become 1st To Order Asthma Drugs From Asthma Drug Facility (ADF).

El Salvador and Benin have marked World Asthma Day by placing orders with the Asthma Drug Facility (ADF). Through the ADF these and other low- and middle-income countries will be able to obtain quality-assured essential asthma medicines at affordable prices for the first time. El Salvador and Benin become first countries to order from Asthma Drug Facility In late April El Salvador became the first country to order from The Union"s Asthma Drug Facility (ADF). The El Salvador Ministry of Public Health placed an order for asthma inhalers for its Asthma Management Project, which aims to improve and expand the standardised management of asthma in the country"s general health services. Benin will be the second country to benefit from the ADF"s services. Its National Tuberculosis Programme placed its order on 4 May. A number of other countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America have expressed their interest after consulting ADF"s website for the prices of the HFA (non-CFC) medicines it has recently approved.

H1N1 Pandemic Flu Virus More Virulent Than Previously Thought.

Researchers from the US and Japan studying the new H1N1 pandemic flu virus suggest that it is more virulent than previously thought. They found the virus seizes hold in cells deep inside the lungs, leading to pneumonia and in more severe cases, death, whereas seasonal flu viruses only infect cells in the upper respiratory tract. University of Wisconsin-Madison virologist and leading authority on influenza, Dr Yoshihiro Kawaoka led the international team of researchers in a detailed investigation of the pandemic H1N1 virus and its pathogenic properties and wrote about their findings in a fast-track report published online on 13 July in the journal Nature. The researchers wrote that the spread of the new strain of influenza A virus that the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on 11 June is probably due to the fact there are many humans with little or no pre-existing immunity.