Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Plague-Infected Lab Mice Are Missing
Three laboratory mice infected with the bacterium that causes bubonic plague have been discovered missing from the campus of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), the Newark Star-Ledger reported Thursday.
The incident occurred two weeks ago and was confirmed only after the newspaper made inquiries to the facility, one of the state's top bio-containment labs, the Star-Ledger said. It remains unclear whether the animals were stolen, eaten by other lab animals, or simply misplaced.
The lab is run by the Public Health Research Institute, a leading center for research on infectious diseases, the newspaper said. The lab is now participating in a six-year federal project to research new vaccines for plague, which officials fear could be used by terrorists as a biological weapon.
An FBI spokesman said at this point the agency believes the risk to the public is minimal, the newspaper said. At least two dozen lab employees have been questioned, and in some cases, given lie detector tests, according to the Star-Ledger.
State Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs told the newspaper that mice infected with plague typically die very quickly, calling the risk to public safety "slim to none." He said the incident appeared to be the result of "internal sloppiness in the management of that lab." UMDNJ has responsibility for the lab's security, the Star-Ledger said.
The lab also works with germs that cause other deadly diseases including pneumonic plague, West Nile virus and typhoid fever, the newspaper said.
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Store-Bought Swordfish Test High in Mercury
Samples of swordfish purchased at leading U.S. grocery store chains have tested above the legal limit for levels of mercury, according to study results released Thursday.
Among 24 samples tested by researchers at the University of North Carolina, the average levels of mercury found were 1.1 parts per million, topping the federal government's limit of 1.0 ppm. Two samples from Maine and Rhode Island contained double the legal limit, the Associated Press reported. The fish was bought from supermarket chains including Safeway, Shaw's, Albertsons and Whole Foods.
Elevated levels of mercury have been found to cause learning disabilities and developmental delays in infants and children. The federal government advises that children, pregnant women and nursing mothers limit their intake of fish that tend to have high levels of mercury, including tuna, shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish, the AP said.
A spokeswoman for a trade group representing the supermarket industry said she wasn't surprised by the findings, noting that many stores already have signs warning of the risks. Karen Brown, senior vice president of the Food Marketing Institute, said the group wouldn't oppose increased testing of fish by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the AP reported.
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U.S. Orders Avian Flu Vaccine
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded Sanofi Pasteur a $100 million contract to produce avian flu vaccine in the event of a potential pandemic, the department said Thursday in a news release.
The exact number of doses is to be decided by clinical trials, but HHS plans to buy enough bird flu vaccine for 20 million people, the department statement said. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has led to the deaths of more than 50 people in Asia and millions of birds over the past two years. Experts worry that the lethal germ could mutate, making it more easily passed from animals to people.
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt also announced that the department has awarded a $2.8 million contract to GlaxoSmithKline for 84,300 doses of the antiviral drug Relenza (zanamivir), hoping to eventually acquire 20 million doses of antiviral drugs.
The vaccines and antiviral drugs will be added to the nation's Strategic National Stockpile, to be used in the event of a pandemic, HHS said.
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ADHD Drug Use Growing Fastest Among Adults
The use of prescription drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is rising faster among American adults than children, says a study by Medco Health Solutions, one of the largest prescription benefit mangers in the United States.
The research, released Thursday, found that between 2000 and 2004 the use of ADHD drugs doubled among adults aged 20 to 44, compared to an increase of 56 percent among children. ADHD drug use increased 113 percent among women aged 20 to 44 and 104 percent among women aged 45 to 64, the Associated Press reported.
Those increases among women were far higher than among men. The study also found that spending on ADHD drugs quadrupled between 2000 and 2004. Overall, nearly 1.5 million Americans aged 20 and older are using the drugs, which are meant to help the mental focus of people with ADHD.
Improved drugs and advertising are among the reasons for this increase in adult use of ADHD drugs, according to experts. Another factor is that some parents of children newly diagnosed with ADHD realize they have the same symptoms, the AP reported.
While about 1 percent of American adults are being treated for ADHD, about four times as many are estimated to have the disorder, Dr. Robert Epstein, Medco's chief medical officer, told the AP.
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Erbitux Warning Label Revised
Doctors need to monitor patients who receive the colorectal cancer drug Erbitux for an hour after they are given an injection of the drug to watch for possible reactions such as difficulty breathing, dangerously low blood pressure, or hives, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Wednesday.
The monitoring advice was among the changes made to the drug's warning label announced Wednesday by the FDA and drug makers ImClone and Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Associated Press reported.
The warning label advises doctors that about 3 percent of patients who receive an injection of Erbitux suffer a severe reaction. The label also notes that deaths are rare -- occurring in fewer than one-tenth of 1 percent of patients who are given Erbitux, the AP reported.
Periodic monitoring for severe electrolyte depletion is recommended for patients who receive Erbitux for several weeks, the label says.
